Anyone Got A Lava Lamp (poss OT)

[Stuart B]

I was given a Mathmos lava lamp on Freecycle recently and was wondering about it's construction . The bottle sits loosely on to the base and the 40 watt golfball bulb is in the base . When switched on the base which is plastic ( poss bakelite or similar) covered in aluminium gets very hot ...so hot you can only touch it for about a half second .There doesn't seem to be any way of ventilating the base . The bottle itself only gets warm .I was just wondering if there is a part missing between the base and the bottle .It doesn't seem right that the bottle sits loosely and also that the base gets so hot .

Does anyone here have one of these lamps ...does it also get very hot ?

Stuart

[mogga]

I don't pick it up when it's on but I will go and have a look at it now...

OK ours says "danger too hot pls don't touch"

So there you go, don't touch it.

[Stuart B]

Thx for that . I guess if you had kids youd keep it well out of reach . Can I ask about the bottle .Does it just sit loosely on the base ?

Stuart

[mogga]

Oh yes it does - not fixed on at all.

[aejm]

If it didn't get hot, the wax wouldn't melt, and it wouldn't work.

Alex

[Stuart B]

Yeah I had managed to figure that out but unless you own a lava lamp you will not know how hot it does get .It is VERY hot ,hence my question..

Stuart

[The Medway Handyman]

Yerbut isn't the heat meant to go up towards the lamp & not out through the base? My daughter had one & I don't recall that getting hot.

[Si]

I have two - the glass gets warm, the bottom of the base gets hot, the top half of the base gets very hot.

[Simon Stroud]

Mine has a small REFLECTOR type bulb, 39mm I think. This must help with making the heat go where it's wanted - into the bottle rather than out the sides. The whole base does get hot though.

Regards, Simon.

[Si]

In message , Simon Stroud writes

Both mine came second-hand from ebay and neither had reflecting bulbs in place. Reflector bulbs make sense.

[Matthew Ames]

I am sure mine does not have a 40watt bulb in it (and its a proper one - like yours)

[Stuart B]

It's hard to tell from the website what type of bulb they supply as a replacement but the label inside the base has a diagram showing a golfball shape bulb and it says 40 Watt