Bottle glued to base, I think... Ideas?

[Steven Marra]

Hey, all. New member, first post.

I bought (through pictures, no hands-on) what I thought was a twin to what I think is a Century 100 I have (with the star light base). The original has a black cord and no id markings that I can tell. It is a single piece base and takes a 40w bulb.

The new one is a two-piece base, much older looking white cord, star light holes, no markings that I can see to id, and the bottle is stuck into the base with some kind of goo. I thought it was a gasket of some sort. I've shimmied a blade down between the base and the glass and picked out some of it after the lamp was on for hours. It's dark, opaque, slightly gummy. and it's got the damn thing stuck in there pretty darn tight =(

There's a small rough mark where someone tried to pry the bottle out at some point (I'll try to fix that at some point (it's tiny, but bugs me).

I'm not clear what else to try and do besides shimmying a thin blade in, and trying for hours to see if I can pick away at it enough to free the bottle.

Has anyone else ever come across this?

Thanks for the help and advice!

-Steve(n)

[Steven Marra]

Twinsies!

I let it run for 8 hours to get really hot. Then I picked about an inch of goo out with a long thin blade, then couldn't get and further =(

Moved it to the worktable to try a combo of acetone and heat tomorrow night.

[bob]

Good luck , and just go slow !! , I was told that this lamp mine I mean was late 70 early 80s but idk , maybe yours is also . I know this is the oldest lamp I seen in person and never seen a cord like this .  

goodluck on your quest to free the globe ! Keep me posted 

[KS]

This looks a lot like the earliest versions of the original century base. The first models were gold but the bases tend to turn silver over time- I have an early 70's century and the poor base is no longer a shimmering gold. As far as the goo stuff, maybe it'll heat and melt once you leave it on for a bit. May or may not work, but worth a shot. From then on you could try gently twisting the globe out or rocking it back and forth while holding the base.

[Steven Marra]

SUCCESS!

Jeezus!

And the bulb is cross-threaded... I think it's more than 40w, too.

Had to heat and use spudgers to break the bond. PAIN IN THE ARSE!

Now, how to get the damn bulb out without breaking it?

[bob]

Congratulations !!! , how come the bulb is stuck now ?

[Steven Marra]

It was cross threaded and REALLY scratchy in the socket. I used a piece of thin rubber to grab the bulb and work it out. It was a YUGE pain.

bob y said:

Congratulations !!! , how come the bulb is stuck now ?

[bob]

Double success then , great news . Once the lamps up,and running let us know , I am glad to hear it’s working out . 

[Steven Marra]

I'll post some pics of it and the Gen 2 I have that I got first (a few years ago at Goodwill for $3'ish bucks (I figure $50 for the new-to-me Gen 1 is still a cumulative bargain for these two lamps).

The goo in the Gen 1 is a little chunky, now that it's running. It also has wax stuck around the clear air pocket I really want to scrape off, but I've never opened one of these before...

The basket where the bottle sits in the Gen 1 gets BLISTERINGLY hot. The Gen 2 gets burn-you-hot, but the Gen 1... Yowza! Is that normal?