BillyBatts
ALOHA!
How coincidental. Sounds like you are describing employees at a place I used to work at back in the 70's.
Lava Lamps
- Thread starter Valveglow
- Start date
How coincidental. Sounds like you are describing employees at a place I used to work at back in the 70's.
Valveglow
Super Member
You know, this thread really is cool. I was just thinking about how cool it was when I read your post...Thanks!
It figures though, that when I finally think of something cool to offer this site with my thread, it has virtually nothing to do with audio...
...I may be an AK failure after all!...
LordOfTRings
Be Cool with the Blues
Lava lamps on top of subwoofers are manly. 
BillyBatts
ALOHA!
Audio is cool, but so are Lava Lamps. 
BTW, the S.O. told me she got our lamp at K-Mart. Surprised me because I did not even know she shopped there, but in Hawaii, you don't exactly have many big box stores, so I guess she would.
Anyway, I perused their site, and they have Lava Lamps on sale.
$13.49 for the Molton Lava Lamps 14.5" 20 oz., and only $11.69 for the Lava Accent lamps. Sheesh. For that price, I have to stop and pick up a few. Why not?
BTW, the S.O. told me she got our lamp at K-Mart. Surprised me because I did not even know she shopped there, but in Hawaii, you don't exactly have many big box stores, so I guess she would.
Anyway, I perused their site, and they have Lava Lamps on sale.
$13.49 for the Molton Lava Lamps 14.5" 20 oz., and only $11.69 for the Lava Accent lamps. Sheesh. For that price, I have to stop and pick up a few. Why not?
I've tried several different bulbs in my vintage Century lamp. Whether I used a 25, 30, or 40 watt bulb, the result was always the same (little blobs of lava spurting up from the bottom, filling the bottle with little red balls), it just takes longer to get started. I even tried running it on a variac to simulate various different bulb wattages, but it mattered little. :sigh:
Most of the newer lamps I've had have been somewhat similar, but usually with large balls of lava floating around in the bottle, or something similar.
One thing I've read is that lava lamps are sensitive to the ambient temperature in the room. They like to be run in rooms that are between 70 and 78ºF, and if run in rooms which are warmer than that, it can affect the lava. Not entirely sure if this is true. Another thing I've heard is that they don't like to be run for more than 8-10 hours at a time. I try to abide by this, though I can't be sure if the previous owners of my older lava lamps have.
-Adam
Most of the newer lamps I've had have been somewhat similar, but usually with large balls of lava floating around in the bottle, or something similar.
One thing I've read is that lava lamps are sensitive to the ambient temperature in the room. They like to be run in rooms that are between 70 and 78ºF, and if run in rooms which are warmer than that, it can affect the lava. Not entirely sure if this is true. Another thing I've heard is that they don't like to be run for more than 8-10 hours at a time. I try to abide by this, though I can't be sure if the previous owners of my older lava lamps have.
-Adam
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Valveglow
Super Member
Lava lamps on top of subwoofers are manly.
That way, you can feel the eruption AND see the lava!
LordOfTRings
Be Cool with the Blues
Lava lamps on top of subwoofers are manly.
Right on right on right on! :thmbsp:
Treker
Super Member
It is my understanding that the smaller "specialty" incandescent bulbs like what are used in most of our Lava Lamps are not being discontinued. I could be wrong on that I suppose, but that is what I have come to understand.
Ed in Tx
Super Member
Recall reading the same thing, like small 40W appliance bulbs. No substitute for a bulb that can withstand 450° in an oven or work at -10° in a freezer.
Up here in Canada they are not being discontinued("specialty" incandescent bulbs) and there seems to be no plans to do soAs far as all the problems associated with Lava's especially how they tend to change how they work/flow needing less or more heat it's not just the heat it's also the liquid and how their properties change over time.I have a friend who specializes in refurbishing all manner of lamps of the ilk Lava/Glitter and so forth,he basically has spent a lot of time researching how the work etal and has experimented for years how to fix them and he has done many of mine that are now working like new.He changes the Wax,liquid as such by reheating higher or lower.Many Articles on the Net on how to do this.I'm lucky to have a friend who can do this as he has brought back to life a whole lot of my older 60/70's and a few that seem to be from the 50's 2 of which with Black Bases covered with Roswell Alien Figure and colored glass Flying Saucers on top of what looks to be Beams rising up & down.These 2 have very old wax and he is repairing them now trying to keep the original flows working instead of just replacing the old wax with new! Can hardly wait to get them back and place them in my collection where they belong
As far as all the problems associated with Lava's especially how they tend to change how they work/flow needing less or more heat it's not just the heat it's also the liquid and how their properties change over time.I have a friend who specializes in refurbishing all manner of lamps of the ilk Lava/Glitter and so forth,he basically has spent a lot of time researching how the work etal and has experimented for years how to fix them and he has done many of mine that are now working like new.He changes the Wax,liquid as such by reheating higher or lower.Many Articles on the Net on how to do this.I'm lucky to have a friend who can do this as he has brought back to life a whole lot of my older 60/70's and a few that seem to be from the 50's 2 of which with Black Bases covered with Roswell Alien Figure and colored glass Flying Saucers on top of what looks to be Beams rising up & down.These 2 have very old wax and he is repairing them now trying to keep the original flows working instead of just replacing the old wax with new! Can hardly wait to get them back and place them in my collection where they belong
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Pio1980
AK Member
It was when the whipsockets came off dashboards that I lost it and ran the bastards off my lawn. But seriously folks, reduced energy demand is necessary and inevitable.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk
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Lava lamps on top of subwoofers are manly.
How did you know my Lava Lamp is sitting on top of my DQ-1W?
Valveglow
Super Member
Since you seem unfamiliar with this segment of the Green movement, Doug, let me explain a bit of what is transpiring. Use of incandescent bulbs requires burning of too much fuel which pollutes the environment. Replacement with a spiral, fluorescent bulb for example, will partially fill the room with a less desirable light. At that point, you go back to the store to get a bigger sprial, which wastes more fuel in transportation, or, if you own an electric car, primarily exhausts supplies of fossil fuels at the utility company's plant. Once you have succumbed and accepted the type of light seemingly produced by 100 year old technology, the only thing to do is to contemplate how to dispose of said fluorescent, since it contains mercury. Oh and, do remember to get the kids and pets out of the house should one break, just as recommended by the manufacturer, since its contents are toxic. Better get out yourself too, for that matter.
Hi Pio. Just a note from a guy who agrees with you conceptually on energy reduction but who is hypocritical enough to own multiple mono bloc vacuum tube amplifiers...
I do personally like LEDs. Generally, though I hate the price, I do like the light and also the energy reduction. Interesting bit of trivia: in an effort to conserve energy and money, many municipalities have switched from the old fashioned traffic signal lights to the new LEDs. Here is the intrigue, especially in cold climates. Nobody bothered to realise that the LEDs run so cool that they do not melt snow and ice off of the traffic lights. I have heard that the light boxes are now being retrofitted with ELECTRIC HEATERS to melt the snow. How's that for energy reduction and saving money?
BS!!!!!!
I live in Manitoba Canada and our surplus Hydro is sold to the USA cheaper than we pay for it! And to top it off the Billions invested to Build Hydro Dams to get this surplus energy,we the Citizens of Manitoba pay for in our bills and never see any Profits or reduced Energy costs for us! Nice deal if you can get it!:scratch2:
BillyBatts
ALOHA!
Try buying Pineapple in Hawaii. It's damn expensive. I have to fly to the Mainland to get it cheap. Buy it in Hawaii, the price will shock you. Yet, it's grown 4 miles from my condo. Go figure.