Lava lamp's log, supplemental.
So, I've been living with my lava lamp(s) for a while now, and thus came to certain conclusions so far:
1. The reason why most brands include a spare bulb straight out of the box is NOT because they have a short life span, but rather because they are impossible to come across ... especially in Europe, where incandescent bulbs had been outlawed, unless they serve a special (usually industrial) purpose.
2. Lava lamps are friggin' awesome! Kinda makes me wonder why I didn't buy one (or two?) decades ago...? Still, better late than never, as traditional lava lamps seem to be phased out & substituted by LED counterparts. Yeah... don't ask!
3. The three of my "InnovaGoods" lamps are almost perfect, I only wish they were ever so slightly larger & came with included (built-in) dimmer, rather than a toggle switch. Then again, if they were any taller & wider, I probably couldn't place them on top of my desk and coffee table.
4. Despite looking the same (and using the same base, with the same R39 25W bulb) not all the lamps behave the same way. For example, blue one doesn't seem to overheat, whatsoever. Even after running 8 hours straight, I could probably keep it lit up all night long without any problems. Both red and green also put up a visual "show" during the start up procedure, always featuring unique shapes and forms:
Red one on the other hand seems to overheat after 3-4 hours, usually resulting with minor bubbling but nothing serious. Unfortunately, there was several situations where the lamp developed air pockets which "exploded" due to bumps & collisions inside the bottle, resulting with blown up wax particles all over the place as if someone shook the bottle pretty hard. Still, there's no permanent damage & wax always clumps up back together after the cooling period.
5. The more I run these things, the faster they seem to warm up to their operating temperature. It only takes 30-45 minutes for the blobs of wax to start moving up & down and merely 20 minutes (or less) for the wax to be affected by the bulb (picture above). Wax consistency also seems to be a lot more compliant now, meaning that it looks more natural, dynamic.
6. The best possible way to utilize these is through the power of automation & WiFi smart plugs. I got the blue one hooked up to a smart plug & set to activate at exactly 16:30 every day, up to 00:30 before it gets switched off. Red one remained fully manual though, at least for now. Then again, I've been using the red lamp as an actual lamp (light source), rather than just a mood lighting.
7. I'm planning to mess around with the light bulb eventually, to try out several different shapes and perhaps even lower wattage. Oven (or refrigerator) bulbs in particular are the most suitable choices as most of them are 15-25W and long-lasting, which should make a good combination for the lava lamp.
I'm also considering the possibility to use G45 bulb in place of R39 (same wattage, 25W) as some lava lamps seem to use G45 straight out of the box, anyway and seems to be the most common bulb available making it (somewhat) easier to come across.
The logic behind this is heat dissipation, as both oven (T8) & G45 bulbs will dissipate heat all around them, wasting some of the energy in the process. Where reflector bulbs will focus all the energy to a single location, upwards & into the bottle. Which as I already explained seems to be ever so slightly too much for the red lamp.
