Lava lamps- Can they 'break'?

[Wolfeman]

I know I'm not the only one with a lava lamp, so maybe someone can help me out with this.

My lava lamp has kinda died today. It has worked as it should for the past 2 years, then all of a sudden today it started doing something weird. The main 'lava' stuff now just sits in a ball half way up the lamp. It's just like suspended there. When I shut it off and it cools down, the ball drops and solidifies again at the bottom. Turn it back on, and it just balls up again in the middle.

Is this normal? What the hell would cause this? Time for a new lamp maybe? I just don't get it, I know some people with lava lamps from the 70's that still work. Anyway to shock it back to life? Someone recommended trying a slightly higher wattage bulb, but that didn't make a difference.

 

[Mattayus]

Mine did that I don't know what happened to it because I moved out (it was at my mum n dad's a few years back) but yeah... it just started going shitty and eventually stayed as a pool on the bottom, maybe the bulb's going or something? I dunno

 

[Mutant]

I saw a Mythbusters episode about lava lamps, the main warning about them was to NEVER put any nonstandard heat sources on them (i think this includes higher wattage bulbs).

It most probably has a pressure emergency valve on the top so it won't explode, but it may spray hot liquid on everything nearby.

 

[ratsapprentice]

It most probably has a pressure emergency valve on the top so it won't explode, but it may spray hot liquid on everything nearby.

nope, from what I remember they are just regular metal screw-tops

 

[TheWinterSnow]

They use alcohol to balance the buoyancy of the "blobs". Over time you might have burned off some of that alcohol and broke it down to something else like a gas at the top of the vase, that would couase the density of all the materials to shift around which is probably what is causing the issue.

Best bet if you want to fix it is to pop off the top and turn it on, and add various amounts of 70% and 91% isopropyl alcohol to get the density back to where it needs to be. Once it is all set up, put the cap back on.

 

[Chris_P_Critter]

http://www.spencersonline.com/product/52-ounce-lava-lamp/

 

[Wolfeman]

http://www.spencersonline.com/product/52-ounce-lava-lamp/

I was thinking more like this for the next one-

 

[Wolfeman]

They use alcohol to balance the buoyancy of the "blobs". Over time you might have burned off some of that alcohol and broke it down to something else like a gas at the top of the vase, that would couase the density of all the materials to shift around which is probably what is causing the issue.

Best bet if you want to fix it is to pop off the top and turn it on, and add various amounts of 70% and 91% isopropyl alcohol to get the density back to where it needs to be. Once it is all set up, put the cap back on.

Experiment, now that sounds like fun.

 

[narcossintese]

Mine did that too, but as it was the cheapest lava lamp ever ($17) I thought it was due to the shitty quality of the product.

 

[Wolfeman]

Just to let everyone know, I took the cap off, added one small drop of dish washing soap, and it works better now than it ever did. Cheap fix.

 

[narcossintese]

Just to let everyone know, I took the cap off, added one small drop of dish washing soap, and it works better now than it ever did. Cheap fix.

 

[Dimaura]

 

[Wolfeman]

Is that Xzibit? I don't get it lol

 

[JayB]

 

[arv_foh]

I'm buying a lava lamp because of this thread, you can't argue with a huge ass lava lamp for 20 bucks

 

[Vinny]

 

[ahjteam]

Is this normal? What the hell would cause this?

When I owned a lava lamp about 7 years ago, IIRC the instruction manual said that the paraffin wax and liquid should work for several years

 

[Dimaura]

meh, something last minute before i went to work. xzibit dresses up broke down stuff. Macgyver rules.

But, who the hell is the dude giving the thumbs up?

 

[azistenostora]

NSguitar from this forum. Never mind, long story...

 

[antiheroinc]

where is user @amarshism?
i remember seeing several lava lamps at his studio