WTF ??? Lava lamp

R

RFR

Well-known member
Got a lava lamp. Original bulb burned out after a few months.
Inside it says "Replace with 40watt appliance bulb type A15"

So I buy a 2 pack of GE bulbs. The right kind
Burns out in 24 hours, put the other one in, 2nd time I turn it on poof! That bulb burns out!

Bought an other pack. First bulb blows after 8 hours


WTF? ????????
I know light bulbs are shit nowadays but this is absurd.

Suggestions?
 
No leaks.
Yeah just a bulb switch and the wiring, bulb heats up wax and it does it's thing.

I just think todays bulbs are shit.

Maybe the heat causes premature failure....that and the bulbs are shit.
:D
 
I buy these for my electric ovens (got two of 'em) and they last about 1 year in nearly 500-F of daily use.

The bulbs for refrigerator look identical, packaging and all - don't last long in heat. Oven bulbs are labelled for fridge and oven usage and have icons on visi-pak for visual referrence.

ifzJSpf.jpg
 
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Gonna check that out. Silly as it may sound, I use it as a nite light on my beside. :D it's very soothing to go to sleep. In the morning it's turned off.

So my usage hasn't changed, and blowing two pkgs of bulbs makes me think it's heat related.

That lamp generates quite a bit of heat.

Now......off to find oven rated bulbs.

Thanks for the tip. :thumbs up:
 
I guess today is bitch day I complained in a PT thread too.
:D
Anyway, tried a GE bulb specifically rated for hot and cold temps.

Sucker blew out after a few hours. Grrr.

Nothing has changed except for bulbs. Same socket, same voltage. Older bulbs good, new bulbs shit!

So I bitched to GE. Their website is a disaster. The amount of personal info they want, plus you have to dig up a product code, just to send them an email is outlandish.

Gave up on that and called them.

Bitched to a real person on the phone who actually happened to be American and in the US Wow!
If you call UPS nowadays, they'll transfer you to a Malaysian call center.

Anyway, the lady was real nice, they're going to refund my money and send me free shit. :)

But still, I just want a damn lightbulb for my lava lamp that doesn't burn out after a few hours.

Oh well. First world problems.
:D
 
They say don't sweat the small stuff, and I generally tend to agree. But with all of the crap one has to deal with negotiating your way through the complexity of life, is it too much to ask? Just give me the small stuff!

Good luck, man. There's an answer out there, somewhere.......probably in a Malaysian call center. :facepalm:
 
Haha I don't think it's too much to ask for a decent light bulb. In this modern complex world simple things working as they should DO make a difference.

If everyone complained about being sold junk, maybe manufacturers would listen and make better products.


There's a fire station in California that has it's original light bulb that's been continually on for over 100 years!

They CAN make em last.....if they wanted to.
 
Since it would appear to be heat-related ... Have you double checked the fixture? When the bulb goes out, put a voltage tester on the socket. Maybe there's a bad solder joint you can't see that is opening when hot enough.
 
mmm, maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, but is it maybe not the bulbs and the problem is with some circuitry within the lamp itself?
 
Yo RFR brother you are not alone in your situation...just google "lava lamp light keeps blowing" all kinds of people with the same issue. But Wait! There are no problems only solutions and here are several for you...AMAZON is your friend...Definitely requires a special "high intensity" bulb not your typical Home Depot / Walmart typical home use types...them suckers have a magnifier in em to intensify the heat so baby it gets hot inside.

I just dig figuring shit out so I dug in for ya...They require high intensity bulbs...If you read through some of the reviews on amazon for the various options in that link you'll see their are several bulbs that will work...One person in particular has several lava lamps so I'd say she / he was more experienced than others...that user has chosen a 25 watt E14, S-11 type bulb...which led me to the Amazon site....I think you'll be fine with that. There is a dual set at the top of the page that is reflective kind of like a mini flood light but at @$9 for two I'd go for the pack that comes up in the link or the two pack up at the top for @ $3
 
I've checked the circuit and voltage. All good.
It's pretty simple. Two wires, a switch, and a bulb socket. Not rocket science. :)

[MENTION=1094]TAE[/MENTION], I've done the search too. :)
Which led me to Amazon.

There are two types. A 14.5 inch tall and 18 inch tall. The big one is the one I have and that takes a 40 watt A15 bulb. The 25 watt doesn't get hot enough to melt the wax. (and might be a for a smaller socket size. Mine is regular lamp size)

I don't fully trust Amazon as the reveiws are mixed. On the very same link you posted, there were a few complaining that those bulbs blew too. Or didn't get hot enough. Lol :D

The design is pretty ingenious and simple. A bulb is in an enclosed aluminum container and it generates light and heat. Directly above the bulb is a bottle filled with colored oil and wax. At the bottom of the bottle there's a coil that looks like a bigger circular spring, much like your guitar pickup springs.
Being metal it gets hot and helps get the wax molten faster. The wax rises, cools, and gravity takes over and the process repeats. :D

I think I may contact the company itself.

Buying bulbs that are 'supposed' to work seems like a crapshoot.

Ahhh. First world problems.
:D
 
Have you tried an LED lamp?? j/k :D

Just for reference, my lava lamp requires 25w bulbs. Maybe your replacements are the wrong wattage.
 
Hah! No not really. :) not on a smartphone screen anyway. And when I blow up the pic it just gets fuzzy. Thanks for trying though.
:D
 
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