Is this typical flow for a 90s lamp?

[Chris]

So as some of you probably know from my old thread, I acquired a Lava Lite a few weeks ago that was made in 1997. I owned a 90s model back in the day, but I really don't remember how it flowed at this point, so I wanted to ask if this is a typical flow for a 90s lamp, or if I should attempt to rebuild it with a goo kit. It seems to have the following pattern of flow over an 8 hour run:

1. Has a really nice spike after about 30 minutes of being on.

2. Starts pea shooting after about an hour and a half.

3. Starts a continuous column after about 2 hours and does that until the wax is fully gooey and free of speckles.

4. Column breaks off when all the lava gathers at the top in one big blob, then starts falling to the bottom in large blobs. When they hit the bottom, they release again in long stringy pieces. It alternates between this and columns for awhile.

5 After about four hours it consistently alternates between columns and cherry tomato sized blobs, sometimes more medium sized blobs.

6. After about six hours, the collumning stops and it alternates between small blobs and larger blobs.

7. After about 8 hours I start getting lots of bubbles in the lava, which is when I usually shut it off.

I've had a lot of time to observe all this because I work from home and it runs right next to me on the desk. At first its weird patterns kind of bugged me and I tried a dimmer, but in the end, all the dimmer does is slow down the pattern, not change it. Over time I have come to appreciate this lamp. My other 90s model I own is an off brand of some kind and the lava flows in really large boring blobs and turns translucent when it heats up, so compared to that, this lamp is far more entertaining to look at.

Anyone have any opinions on this? I'm reluctant to mess with the wax since it's flowing so freely.

[Carol]

Sounds about right to me!!  If it starts producing a lot of smaller globes it could be overheating.  Some of my vintage lamps overheat after they're on a few hours.  Transparent wax might also be a sign that it's getting too hot.

[Chris]

Well, this particular one doesn't get the transparent wax--that's my other one, and it's transparent from the get go, just because it's not a very good lamp at all. The Lava Lite one gets small globes on and off but they don't stick around very long. After a minute or two, they all float back down and melt back in and then I get bigger globes on the next cycle. It's just never one big long blob with a medium sized circular blob like you see on Lava Lite's site. It's much more active than that.

Carol said:

Sounds about right to me!!  If it starts producing a lot of smaller globes it could be overheating.  Some of my vintage lamps overheat after they're on a few hours.  Transparent wax might also be a sign that it's getting too hot.