Lava Lamp troubles

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RideTheCrash

RideTheCrash

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Figured I'd post this here since so many of you guys own lava lamps. I've mine (teardrop style) for 2 years or so. When the bulb burned out, it wanted an R14 replacement with 40 watts or less. I went through a new bulb and recently got another like 2 months ago. One thing I noticed is that the "lava" doesn't float around as much, like it's not hot enough.

Anyway, the bulb just died. It's supposed to have 1500 hours of life and it's barely on, so what gives? As far as I know I'm using the right bulb -- even if it is less than 40 watts. What gives?
 
...Is that a joke?

It's a 25 watt Sylvania Mini-Floodlight.
 
You need a 40 watt bulb. A lower wattage won't have enough heat to make the lamp work.
 
I figured that's why it didn't work quite as well, but I wasn't sure because it says "40 watts or less" on the bottom half. But would using only a 25 watt bulb in the lamp pretty much kill it, because it's not enough wattage? Either way, I'll definitely look for a 40 watt version, but it's not easy to find these bulbs around here.
 
25 watts puts out just over 1/2 the heat of a 40 watt bulb, so yes, it's too cold.
 
RideTheCrash said:
I figured that's why it didn't work quite as well, but I wasn't sure because it says "40 watts or less" on the bottom half. But would using only a 25 watt bulb in the lamp pretty much kill it, because it's not enough wattage? Either way, I'll definitely look for a 40 watt version, but it's not easy to find these bulbs around here.
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No, it won't kill it. Bulbs don't work that way.

The lamp doesn't provide a certain amount of power (wattage). It just dumps all the power available from the wall, The wattage rating of the lamp itself specifies the lesser of A. the maximum amount of heat dissipation that is guaranteed not to cause a fire or B. the maximum amount of power draw that is guaranteed not to melt the wires/connections in the lamp. Of course, they include a large safety margin in that.... :)

Similarly, the bulb isn't rated based on the amount of power it can handle. The bulb provides a resistive path between power and ground. Like any conductor, it will only pass a certain amount of power (though it dissipates a bit more as it heats up). Some of this will be dissipated as light, some as heat. The wattage of a bulb represents the amount of power that it draws from the source, not the current handling capacity.
 
Right, but not having a high enough wattage bulb will keep the lava from flowing.
 
Farview said:
Right, but not having a high enough wattage bulb will keep the lava from flowing.
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Quite true. It's the waste heat that causes convection in the fluid.
 
Okay, but is there any specific reason why this 25 watt bulb died so soon? There is no way it hit even remotely 1500 hours, and the lamp isn't on a whole lot.
 
RideTheCrash said:
Okay, but is there any specific reason why this 25 watt bulb died so soon? There is no way it hit even remotely 1500 hours, and the lamp isn't on a whole lot.
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bad bulb???
 
Perhaps. Though I think the other didn't last too long. Can't remember.
 
Light bulbs don't like a lot of vibration. I have flood lights in the studio that keep going out no matter what bulbs I get. I assume they are getting rattled to death.
 
Yeah .... if you happen to have the lamp on a speaker it would get vibrated a lot .......... that might do it.
 
Get a heat sink - oh - you have - it's the lava lamp. Hot lava rises. Luke warm lava warms Luke.
 
And it could be

that the bulb may be rated for 1500 hours, but that's in a perfect scenario. The application you are using it for traps a lot of heat, keeping the bulb hotter, which might shorten it's life.

And as was previously mentioned, the fixture is rated at 40W or less, meaning that's the maximum you can use and not be a fire hazard. The lamp itself requires the 40W bulb to create enough heat. That's essentially wax in there, and it needs to be hot enough to become 'molten', or lava.

I've had a couple of glitter lamps that quit circulating with the right bulbs. I've never figured that one out. :confused:
 
I picked up a bulb the other day and it seems to work fine so far, definitely a lot better anyway.
 
RideTheCrash said:
I picked up a bulb the other day and it seems to work fine so far, definitely a lot better anyway.
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Thank god! We were all worried sick!

;)
 
andyhix said:
Thank god! We were all worried sick!

;)
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Yeah, I was going to recommend Craig Anderton's "Guide to Home Recording Lava Lamps", but it's out of print anyway.
 
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