I Think I Am Done With Lavas

[Kris]

I might follow in some other footsteps here and give up on lava lamps for a while. Seems like everyone I get - it's junk, I have to filter it, it doesn't flow right or just doesn't flow at all. I have wasted more time and money fixing them, than enjoying them.

I have only 3 or 4 lamps that actually work. 2 are china lamps that I had to fix. One was filtered and one had to have the coil replaced. I have 2 midnight lamps that just work. The others are crap. I have lava lamps in boxes I have never even used - god only knows what they look like and if they work.

I am just really tired of throwing my money away on these things. They are cool and beautiful and all that, but not worth the headache. Either the lamp is china junk, the midnights/older lamps are at the end of their lives or you pay out the arse for a mostly new lamp. It just sucks. Really frustrating at this point.

For instance, I have 3 red/clear china globes. Two form the store, one from lava world. NONE flow. They blob up and thats it. One I replaced the coil on, lets off 2 blobs. That's it. Crap crap crap!

[2bp]

mathmos lamps are expensive but they are worth every cent, great quality! i never thought about buying cheap lamps...it's a disgrace that it's so hard to get mathmos lamps in the states!

[john]

I bought a lava lite and had it imported in the ninties and this was made from Haggerty Enterprises i have sence bought lava lite lamps that are china made and they are so cheap they only last a year or two I would take astrobaby's advice and buy a mathmos this was the first lamp i bought and the quality is second to none. try ebbay theres los about.

[Kris]

Well, at the rate I am wasting money, it would be cheaper to import the Astros than to fix most of the lamps I have now. I'm not buying crap lamps either. I have paid a pretty penny for these things and they are junk.

[Kris]

I'm gonna have to save up for Mathmos lamps. They are going to run $120 per lamp. Ugh. I guess that's not bad if they actually work. I like the screw tops too incase I want to make a clear/blue one day.

[Modulo '70]

They should be ashamed of the product they purvey nowadays, not a patch on the stuff from the good old days, i.e. the 60's 70's and 90's! Not sure about the dark ages of lava - the 80's. It's such a shame. Perhaps you should concentrate on your other passion for the great fibre optic lamps of Fantasia and others. At least you know what you're buying into.

J

[Woodvetch]

I'm with ya buddy.
I got completely turned off after the huge hassle, mess, filtering fluid sometimes 3-4 times, poor results, expensive refills from new lamps. Bleh! Too expensive, too much hassle, lousy lamps, low pleasure.

All I wanted was some water clear lamps with nice flowing goo that I never have to mess with. Just turn them on and enjoy. Looked like there wasn't any option but give it up then I remembered reading about Lava Louie gave him a call for the hell of it and we talked for hours. Louie does his own lava thing. He does not have or even know much about old LL and Mathmos lamps. He doesn't care. He is does his own goo thing.

LL, LW, Mathmos none can compare to Louie goo and water. I now have, easily, exactly what a want and am very happy and love lava once more. To have a pristine Grande buy the $59 delivered from Amazon plus $40 Louie qt kit = $100 total cost for a large pristine lava lamp you will never ever have to screw with again.

Effort expended to fill with louie goo; heat the goo in the microwave for 3 minutes and pour it, with the provided funnel and long fat straw, into the empty globe. Let wax harden. Fill with 1.5 gal distilled water. add 50 mil surfactant. put on base and plug in. Seal with engine gasket sealer when satisfied with flow. That's it for perfect lamps that will knock your socks off. The colors are so vibrant and you can make your own colors/shades with clear goo and Louie dye. You can even add the wax dye to a running lamp by dropping in the water, talk about a cool watch and great way to get exactly the shade you want.

I''m keeping my collectable LL lamps and one each of the original midnight USA made colors. All the 52z lamps will be dumped and Louiefied. I have 5 grandes in louie goo and one more to do just waiting on clear goo.

About 50 of the 32z midnights will be on long term "loan" at my local pub. We have some cool decorating ideas for them. We'll take pics when done.

[MattMJB0188]

yeah I'm pretty much done too. They're never gonna get decent again so the hell with them

[Woodvetch]

Oh I'm not done with lava I'm just done with LW,LL Mathmos. I now have perfect goo and 2 talented lava men to custom make bases for me so all I have to do is find some interesting heavy glass bottles and my goo's flowing beautifully in something other than "the shape of cool" and in any flipping color I want with literally about 5 minutes total, (including the 3 minutes in the micro to melt the goo), to fill a lamp.

I'm free from LW,LL Mathmos. I have my goo the way I want it.

[MattMJB0188]

Yeah thats what I meant, I will forever hold onto my wonderful American lamps but I'm completely done with this new Lava world.

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

The reason, unfortunately, that Lava Lite keeps making crap...



...is because the general public keeps on buying it. We collectors don't, but we're not their main sales base.

[Kris]

Thanks for the comments guys. It's just really frustrating sometimes. I think I am going to just sell/ditch any lamp that is not working and stop messing around with it. Just keep my eye on used lamps locally. Maybe.

I just don't get how a lamp can start good and flow good and then 10 minutes later, flow like crap or not at all. I really just don't get that.

[Kris]

I was going to try Louie Goo but I don't know if I want to throw anymore money at the problem. Oh, and yes - his silence is another deterrent. Not sure why he would not answer any of the questions here :(