problem getting wax to rise with propylene glycol

[Alex Johnson]

hi everyone Im just trying to get some help with my original lava lite. it was time to restore my lamp because it was just too cloudy and the liquid had to just be changed. so now Im at the point where i have tried to get the wax to rise. i cleaned out the cloudy liquid with nice clean distill water. after waiting for the wax to heat up i started slowly putting in the in propylene glycol. ive been putting 1ml at a time after every 20min and it hasent  been rising. its a 32 oz lamp so i dont know how much i need to continue to add but it just sit there. i also tried it with Epson salt and it still wont rise. i would appreciate any help to restore my lamp.        

[Keith]

Keep adding the PG.  I would use at least a half ounce or more at a time until you start getting results, then you can use smaller amounts to dial in the flow you want.  You didn't mention a surfactant so I will also say you should have that in at the start, at least some.  Surf will affect the size of the globs so you might need to adjust that also but definitily should have surf to keep the wax from sticking to the sides of the globe.

[Alex Johnson]

Oh ok so you add the surf at any point? Because im going to use a hand soap for surf called softsoap. I hope it works. Thanks for the reply 

[Keith]

I would mix the surf with the distilled water before adding to the globe, but if you have the distilled already in the globe you can add the surf.  

[Alex Johnson]

Cool I'll see if it gets things going 

[Claude J]

Seems odd question,  but have you changed the light bulb?
Sometimes filament gets issues, it will light up but not produce the necessary wattage

Change it out and make sure you have the correct wattage replacement

PG is @ a 10/30 mix with PG being the 30 (@9.5oz)

I always mix SURF with distilled water and shake vigorously before adding Goo so it doesn't stick to the sides

If you have no surf at all, the surface tension will not be broken and it will just sit there trying to rise

[Alex Johnson]

so this is an up date on the 32 oz lava lite and i would like to get some feed back before i begin on this again.  so after adding hand soap for surf in my lava lamp and adding 1 ml of pg ever 15-20 the whole day i failed to get the wax to rise. so im starting again. if i can get some some step by step help that would be super awesome.    

[Claude J]

when you change out the fluid, premix a 70/30 mix and tweak it from there once it heated

make sure your not near a AC vent or fan

[Alex Johnson]

70 being distil water and 30 been pg? Or is it the other way around?

[Claude J]

correct.

accept friend request, I will walk you through it on the phone

[Claude J]

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Claude J said:

correct.

accept friend request, I will walk you through it on the phone