Mmmm... 97 good vintage.

In all seriousness if it got shaken when hot it is most likely toast. The Goo Kits from Magma Tower work well and it is a really easy to refill them; you will just need a bottle capper to seal it back up.

I'd make sure the kid's parents know that he destroyed a $150+ lamp.

Otherwise, he is never going to learn not to touch things that don't belong to him (like when he finds one of your hidden guns).

I've never been able to fix a shaken one that was that cloudy.

Goo kit is OK, but it wont flow anywhere near as good as that Midnight.

Midnight is super toxic, so if you Goo it, pour old wax and fluid into a jar and seal tight. Don't put down the drain.

I've had one of the giant ones for years but I never turn it on. I will start doing that.

Those Colossus are excellent !!!!

I had one of the last made Humungo and the movers broke it, creating an instant toxic waste site. We settled at $4700

I wonder if enough centrifugal force could separate the solution? Find some way to secure it into a front load washer and let it spin on max. Could be a fun science experiment, or a colossal disaster. My bet is on the latter.

You do not need an adapter or transformer for a Neo. All you need is a nonpoloarized power cord like this...

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/insignia-6-2-slot-nonpolarized-power-cord-black/6239016.p?skuId=6239016&ref=212&loc=1&extStoreId=164&ref=212&loc=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsLfP9-SE7AIVAxLnCh2H_AZVEAQYASABEgIpdPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Neo’s are made to run from 100-240v and 50/60Hz. The power cord will plug into the transformer. You might even have an old one lying around from an old CD or DVD player. I use them on my Neo’s.
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I just redid 2 cloudy lamps with goo kits. I like how the “goo” seems to transmit the light better. The lamp on the far left (mostly cut out of the photo) is an original Lava Lamp.

They are turned on every day! Love the lava- and the goo!

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Yeah, the goo kits seem to be more translucent.

I have to put the goo kit lamps on dimmers, or they quickly overheat and all the goo gets stuck at the top after only a few hours.

Where do you all dispose of your liquids? Rock garden where you never want grass to grow again?

I leave them sealed in glass jars.

At some point in the future, someone may figure out how to filter the liquid, and nothing flows better than those old toxic lamps.

Blue one got a sister, Violet/Red

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Mechanical filtration alone will not fix the cloudy liquid (because the cloudiness is due to emulsification of the “lava” in the solution, rather than suspended solid particulates), so de-emulsification is required, which is a complex process that requires specialized (expensive) thin-film polymer-based micro-membranes and is probably out of the scope of the majority of hobbyists.

Original 1960’s lava formulation consisted of paraffin wax+mineral oil+carbon tetrachloride; the CCl4 is the key ingredient that modifies the wax’s buoyancy in water to just the right degree to endow it with its unique floating characteristics. Problem is, CCl4 is carcinogenic, mutagenic (causes birth-defects), and significantly toxic to liver, nervous system, and bone marrow, and was therefore highly regulated starting in the early 70’s.

The replacement formula is a “trade secret”, but it simply doesn’t seem to work as well; the lava flow is good, but it tends to emulsify a lot more readily and is much slower to clear (if it does so at all). I recall a case study in the 90s where someone ingested the contents of a late-80s lamp (alcoholic looking for a substitute for booze) and suffered acute kidney failure; I don’t remember all the specifics, but they determined that the contents included chlorinated paraffin, mineral oil, kerosene, and low molecular weight polyethylene glycol, and concluded that the PEG was likely responsible for the toxic effects (he needed dialysis for a time but recovered).

The black ferrofluid-based lamps shouldn’t be too toxic. Typical ferrofluid consists of magnetite nanoparticles coated in surfactant (often oleic acid, soy lecithin, or citric acid) and suspended in water or kerosene and isn’t terribly toxic if ingested, however it will irritate skin and eyes and permanently stain most surfaces.

Carbon tetrachloride was used pretty heavily in my household when I was a kid. My dad worked in the chemistry department of a university, so we kept a jug of it in the laundry room.

Hmmmm. That might explain a few things about me....

The new LL lamps can be mechanically filtered through a ceramic filter, and come out crystal clear; but I'm not sure if anyone has tried it with the toxic masterpieces.

Customers seem willing to pay $$$$$ to import Mathmos lamps.

That should be a clue to LL that they should offer the old 1960-2000 USA formula as a premium product.

The last time they did that was "The Humungo", those lamps were friggin amazing

Or maybe another company could license the old formula from LL, and release a premium product.

Same way luthier's license the Fender guitar neck, and then release necks made of exotic woods.

Does anybody here do the mathmos with a transformer / adapter? I've been thinking about it but haven't pulled the trigger due to the $$$ and completely unfounded concern about the transformer as a heat / fire hazard.

My new medium size lamp will not flow.
I found the cap was not sealed tight and when hot was weeping liquid.
I assume that is why it does not flow, it needs to be air tight?
Can I reseal it with a black rubber stopper (something from Lowes/Home Depot?
Thx,

Yes, I have 2 dozen Mathmos lamps from all the lines they sell. Going to buy a few more in the near future. Waiting for the black iO to be available again. It’s sold out at the moment.

Read this if you want to know more about obtaining and using Mathmos in the US.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Lavalamps/comments/izo6ai/okay_so_you_are_interested_in_knowing_how_to/

I use Grainger’s voltage converters for all of my lamps except the Neo line. Neo’s have there own transformer that will work with 110/120 volts. Using a transformer or voltage converter does come with a risk. You need to be cautious with the transformer you buy. Read reviews on them. Be cautious of the ones made overseas.

Ask any questions you have and I will do my best to answer them.

Edit: I live in the US.

One more thing...I have NOT converted any of my Mathmos lamps to 120 volts. But others have and you should read the Reddit lava lamp site for more information on how to convert them.

still got mine from 1999, back then they were almost $300 retail.

How did you handle the clean up?

Movers hired clean up company.

I'm sure the new owners loved the adventure

I have a new grande lava lamp that was cloudy when I received it and never cleared up. They were kind enough to send me a replacement globe ... which, of course, was cloudy as well. So I had 2 cloudy grande lamps, and took the plunge - took off the caps, emptied the liquid from each and replaced it with distilled water, some epson salts in solution, and a few drops of clear dish detergent. It actually worked really well - but I'd like to add a dimmer rotary switch to the front. Can anyone recommend a good rotary dimmer for this application?

You want it on the front where people will, no doubt, fool with it?

I usually only adjust the dimmers for winter and summer. Otherwise I'd rather just turn it on and forget it.

An inline dimmer is more stealthy. You can even wrap it with electrical tape to keep inquisitive fingers away, lol

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Grande uses a 100w bulb, so if you really want to drill a hole on the front, make sure you get a dimmer with a high enough rating.

The Colossus and the Humungo both come with a dimmer on the cord already.

Thanks vid1900 - I would like to put a rotary knob on the base of the lamp - no kids, just my wife and me, so nobody will mess with it. What's a high enough rating for something like that? I think they're usually rated for wattage and list the resistance, but I don't know what's suitable for either of those specs.

I got a grande a couple years ago, and it had a nice rotary dimmer built-in to the base, but the new ones didn't.

Why not just have the one that goes between the plug and the wall?

I could...but I already drilled a hole in the base - put in a rotary switch, but it wasn't a linear resistance switch - just 3 settings: on-full / on - partway / off.
But I could use the inline dimmer if I can't get the right rotary one.

Your bulb draws 100w, so give yourself some breathing room and get a 500w or larger dimmer.

Since it's an incandescent bulb, make sure the dimmer is for incandescent.

Since you don't want to loose your settings every time you turn it on, make sure you get a dimmer knob you push for on/off, turn for dimming.

Also, a good trick for the large lamps, is you can make a mark on the dimmer that becomes your **simmer** mode.

You turn down the lamp to keep it warm, but not flowing.

This way you don't wear out the wax running it 24/7, but you can bring it up to temp in only a half hour (instead of 5 hours).

So you might keep a Goo Kit lamp at 100*F while idle . Then move the dimmer to the **flow temp** of 117*F to run.

Different formula lamps need different temps to flow, so your flow temp might be as high as 145*F. You'll figure it out.

Thanks, Vid - that's the kind of information I was looking for. I like the idea of keeping the wax warm, but not flowing as it takes 4 hours for the grandes to get flowing from a cold start. I've read tons of your pinball information also - thanks for being such a big part of this community!

Appreciate it!

Paul

Here is what I did with my imported Mathmos Giant IO - YMMV, You accept all risk, etc., etc.

Details on my blog

https://thepinballloft.com/2021/02/09/uk-lava/

I cut off the UK plug
Wired up a new US plug
Checked wire temps after the swap and it barely gets warm so no issues with resistance/heat build up
Ordered a 100 watt US bulb and tossed the UK 240 volt one (it was 80 watts, so when you do the math, you'll need around 100 US watts at 120 volts)
Bought a dimmer but like vid1900 says, I only need it when there's a huge temp variation (winter I left it off, now that warmer temps are here I have it "slightly" on)

NT

NT

WTH - I'm stopping while I'm behind ..

So same bulb socket just different bulb and plug? Sounds easy enough.

Essentially - yes.
The bulb you get from Mathmos runs on 240 volts and produces a completely different heat output in its rated watts than the US 120 volt standard
The change from the Giant IO 80 watt bulb to the US 120 volt 100 watt bulb has been (for me) a perfect match
Make sure the US bulb you order is the correct size/type of bulb so it fits the holder properly (in this case T3 J-Type RSC Base Halogen Bulb, 100W, 130V, 2700K , Dimmable, 78 MM)
The plug replacement can be had at any hardware store or Home Depot - it's a 2 wire type
The only wild card is to ensure that Mathmos is using wiring that is thick enough and low enough in resistance to handle the higher current needed to provide the same wattage needed (heat) to work the lamp
Most US lamps will use a form of "zip cord" or 16 gauge 2 conductor insulated wire for lamps that will accommodate up to 100 watt light bulbs
The Giant IO appears to have 16 gauge (might even be a tad heavier at 14 gauge)
Anyway, in my case the wire on the Giant IO is just fine and never gets hot
Image is of the wire on my Mathmos Giant IO

Copied from the net for reference:
The second consideration is that any electrical appliance requires power to operate. Now, power = voltage x current. The power is measured in Watt and current is measured in Ampere. Thus, for same wattage, an apparatus running under 110 V will require twice the amount of current compared to that required in 220 V. This means, the wires carrying 110 V needs to be thicker (to carry more current) than wires carrying 220 V
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I'm quite fond of my Neo wall model that I display in my game room.

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Ooooo no wires I like it!

I liked a couple of the wax / water color combos on Spencer's but I dont like the lamps with art or whatever on the outside.

That is way cool. Can you provide any info where you got it? Never saw that before.

Joe

https://www.mathmos.com/neo-lava-lamp-wall.html#silver-violet-turquoise

At least when you go to Covid Gifts, you can open the box and make sure the liquid is clear.

At Amazon, they are always cloudy upon delivery (especially the Grande size)

That lunar one is crazy cool

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Here is a guy filtering a cloudy lava lamp the quick way:

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CMu2UqMDK4n/?igshid=1h3r8etnpcl9s

Note, he uses a coffee filter as his pre-filter so the large chunks don't clog up the membrane in the vac filter

LukyDuck provided the link below your question but Mathmos unfortunately does not ship to the U.S. So you have to use a UK address that will, in turn, forward your package to the States like I used with forward2me.com.

Hey guys, I got a little project I am working on so I am collecting globes like these. If anyone has ones like these that are different colors, I’d be interested in buying or trading glass. PM me if you have something!

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Correct...here is a good link with lots of information on buying Mathmos...

https://www.reddit.com/r/Lavalamps/comments/izo6ai/okay_so_you_are_interested_in_knowing_how_to/