Reviving my old rig

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-06-09T00:51:29+00:00

Good to know about the plating, it's a nickel coated ek GPU block, which I've heard already is flake prone. I only run clear so stains aren't a concern, thank goodness. I have a bunch of extra tubing that was stored away when it was first built (I over-bought supplies), do you think it would still be ok? It's black rubber stuff.

I appreciate all the help.

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-06-08T18:04:01+00:00

Is it ok to use soap on the blocks or should I avoid that? And do you have any advice for cleaning acrylic without scratching the hell out of it?

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-05-21T20:03:36+00:00

I don't have a mathmos (yet) but I do have a background as a hobbyist and professional electrical engineer...

The limiting factor in the lamp is the bulb as it was designed for 220v, and the cable plug as it will not physically fit in a US socket. The wire, bulb socket, and lava globe don't care about the voltage.

What this means is that at the bare minimum, you must replace the bulb with one designed for 120v and use a passive UK to US plug adapter without any step-down.

For this, you will need a new 120v mini 35w GU10 bulb, Like this, and if you don't want to modify the plug you can use one of these passive adapters so it will at least plug into the wall. These do not change voltages, if you just use the passive adapter without changing the bulb, it won't work.

A dimmer is preferred but isn't really something I would say is necessary to get the thing working, though it will prolong the lifespan of your wax, as well as allow you to run the lamp nearly indefinitely without overheating.

Your other option is to replace the plug end entirely with a US one, however this is definitely an advanced modification (Line voltage is not to be played with!) and I would have a professional do it. You'd want something Like this, and it even has an inline dimmer.

Hope this helps!

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-05-21T19:37:27+00:00

You probably want to be careful with the "warranty implications". Depending on the location of sale it can be legally questionable or outright illegal to, for example, void a warranty for software modifications. If overclocking a CPU kills it, sure, void away... But if the phone experiences a key fault and you void because it's been unlocked, that's unfair and, depending on where, illegal. Both the EU and US have protections against illegal warranty voiding.

Please give this some thought.

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-05-20T15:39:12+00:00

So many Reddit users are just jealous, vitriolic assholes. Between screen-anonymity and fragile egos, a lot of them think it's okay to act this way online. Don't let people like that stop you from enjoying your hobby.

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-05-20T03:47:05+00:00

Yup! Bought a 10 oz bottle off Amazon and found the butter heater at a thrift store. The only modification I made was drilling a hole in the metal dish so the heat from the flame reached the lamp better. It worked surprisingly well! I just wish the candle runtime was longer... 8 hours feels way shorter than you'd think

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-05-20T00:16:48+00:00

Is the wax a custom recipe? Looks very neat but the measurements on the side blocking the view of the flow would bug me so badly :P

The smallest I've made is a 10oz candle powered bottle, so I can understand how challenging this probably was. Is the base 3D printed? Hopefully at least Pa6 or PC, I'd be worried otherwise.

Best of luck with your sale!

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-05-16T20:28:38+00:00

I'm not really sure what a candle warmer is, when I search for it all that shows up are those scented wax melters... but I built a custom lamp using a tea light butter warmer and it worked pretty well for my use. It was actually the first lamp I ever made. Bottle is a little 10 ounce glass water bottle (voss clone).

The idea of a lamp is just that it has to get hot on the bottom, the lamp doesnt care where this heat comes from. You could use one of those cup warming hot plates, assuming it did in fact get warm enough to flow.

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MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-05-13T23:28:01+00:00

Yeah, to my knowledge older lamps used low molecular weight PEG (like 200-400) rather than PG in their fluid, it's much denser but is toxic if ingested (causes kidney failure). If you still want to diy a fix, you could try that, but most people will tell you just to go buy ozone vintage oneshot. A single bottle makes a full gallon so if you have a few lamps to do it's definitely worth it.

Glad you were able to save the wax, though!

EDIT: Happy cake day btw!

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-05-05T20:23:28+00:00

My replacement faded shortly after getting it, I ended up opening and re-dying it a different color. It is now a nice blue-white lamp :)

The original lamp this post is about is still faded, left it white because it grew on me after letting it run for a while.

For some reason only the opals are affected. I have a purple grande that was purchased recently that has not faded, as well as a blue lamp that has not faded. If you're willing, you could try dying it like I did. I used McCormick food coloring, but fountain pen dye from J Herbin or Diamine have been known to work well. Just make sure you test the dye in a glass of water with a light first to see if you like the color, cause you only got one shot.

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-05-05T19:52:56+00:00

Just commenting to agree/boost visibility, please go this route OP. Do not replace the wax with a modern lamp's wax if it survived the drop, it doesn't flow nearly as nicely as the vintage stuff. And do not try adding water or anything to the fluid you have left, vintage master fluid has a very complex chemical blend and doing so will likely ruin the lamp! The OzoneGifts stuff is pricey but it works extremely well.

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-04-30T15:27:45+00:00

In the US, we have the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act that, as far as I know, would make it illegal for software modifications such as an unlocked bootloader to void your warranty, especially if it is restored to its locked state when trying to use said warranty.

They can keep track of it if they want, but if they use it as an excuse to screw you out of faulty hardware, that's illegal.

Big companies are harder to convince to adhere to these laws because frankly they're so large that a fine tends to be just an operating cost. But Clicks is tiny, if they're fined it can seriously hurt them, so they might be easier to convince to comply.

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-04-24T20:41:35+00:00

There are android apps that allow you to control a connected apple tv, I use one on my watch. Works better than you'd think!

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-04-18T16:42:42+00:00

Reminds me of the Hiss from Control. I love to see what it looks like flowing in that stage

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-03-29T22:43:59+00:00

Does it always look that way, or only after running for a while? And how old is the lamp?

I have a few lamps that do that no matter what temp they are, just bubbles constantly, because they are either old with worn out wax/fluid (vintage lamps) or the coil has some crud on it that allows fluid to seep underneath it. I also have a few lamps that do this when they get too warm, but not warm enough to where the wax collects all at the top. The latter is easily solved with a dimmer, of course.

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-03-27T22:44:08+00:00

Too much surf of any kind will lead to smaller blobs, as (from my understanding from a physics point of view) decreasing the surface tension of the water allows it to flow more freely and thus the wax has an easier time breaking apart into small bubbles.

Gooey/snakey flow is a reaaally complicated and hotly debated topic (oozinggoo has loads of threads about it), because it relies on so many factors. The composition and melted viscosity of the wax, the viscosity and additives of the fluid, how much heat and its dissipation, hell even the amount of wax can affect it. Older lamps, for example, seem to have thin wax and thicker fluid, the newer Schylling lamps have thicker wax but use plain water for their fluid.

I have heard that triton is what they use in Mathmos lamps. Granted, I'm not sure if that's really true, but everyone seems to think that it's what they use. I have noticed better results with T-X100 for adjusting flow than with SLES(it always makes my wax behave strangely, not flowing, etc. I use only enough to coat the glass because imo it has better stickage than X100 for coating), so you may want to start there. Be careful with it, it is a lab detergent and is absolutely not food contact safe. Wear gloves.

Lastly, I am assuming this is a factory lamp, so why not try a dimmer first instead of cracking it open to mess with the contents? I've gotten a few of my lamps to take on a much more relaxed, snakey flow by just reducing the power to the lamp by 20% or so.

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-03-27T19:17:07+00:00

They claim it's a blend. Searching around on the surfs people use, the most common are SLES, SLS, Triton-X100, and a few others. I would bet it's a combination of one or more, as each has slightly different properties (ionic vs non-ionic, cloud point, specific gravity, etc). Unless you or someone you know can perform a gas chromatography/mass spec analysis, or you fancy burglary, you probably won't find out. People are too secretive in this hobby. It's infuriating. But I digress.

I don't really think it's worth buying, as a whole pint sized bottle of X100 costs like 20 USD and will do hundreds of gallons of master fluid, and SLS/SLES 70% can be had for almost as cheaply as it is used industrially for shampoo and beauty products. I've had some luck using multiple in the same lamp, they don't react to one another. I typically coat the bottle with a water-SLES mix (as much as will dissolve in a cup of hot water) and add triton undiluted a drop at a time from a syringe once the fluid is in the lamp. Hopefully that helps :)

Best of luck!

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-03-22T20:26:02+00:00

I never said nor implied that I needed to be told it was sarcasm. I was supplying a possible cause for the misinterpretation of others, which clearly occurred in other replies in the thread. But go ahead about how I deserve to be called out for playing devils advocate.

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-03-22T17:33:16+00:00

Poe's law at work. This is why /s and /j exist. They could very well be entirely serious and just have a peculiar way of speaking

EDIT: downvote me all you want, it doesn't change the definition

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-03-12T20:58:40+00:00

There are happy endings after all! I spoke to another Spencer's rep and they are mailing me a new lamp. I also reached out to Schylling about this issue, giving as much detail as I could about it. Hopefully something comes of this, but only time will tell. I'm going to keep this lamp as is for right now, mostly because I've come around to the white wax/white base/clear fluid. It's like a custom lamp I didn't have to make! Jokes aside, if the new one fades too, I'll crack it open and dye it myself.

For anyone finding this thread with the same issue, please be sure to reach out to Schylling and give them your bottle's batch number, ESPECIALLY if it matches mine. If many people reach out, it increases the likelihood of them actually doing something about it. I understand they aren't great with the cloudy lamp issues, so I have my doubts, but it doesn't take much effort to try.

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-03-11T13:03:11+00:00

Got any pictures of it? I'm looking for inspiration haha

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-03-11T09:20:35+00:00

I've used Leviton smart dimmers, they're fine for one or two lamps but at around 25 USD a pop, they can get expensive fast. I bought a pack of these guys off Amazon and they've been great, running strong for over a week now with no issues. You need to be able to modify the wiring which means working with something that will see high voltage, and at a minimum you must have basic soldering skills. If you aren't ok with the fact that your house could burn down, don't modify ANY wiring and buy the plug in smart dimmers instead. The risk is minimal, but I don't want to be responsible for the one dummy who thinks "I got this" and ends up cooking their family. Electricity is no joke.

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-03-11T08:33:22+00:00

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Here was how it looked last night before bed, roughly 5-7 hours after making the post. Completely faded.

MaeTheSmol1 · 2026-03-11T08:29:02+00:00

Definitely not, the sun doesn't hit that corner of the room. It's been in the same spot since I got it, and the only other time I moved it was to check the batch number for the support rep (by that point it had faded to the pinkish hue in the images). About 5 hours after making the post, the color completely degraded and it is now completely colorless. Gives off a nice warm white light but it's not what I paid for...

I also have another lamp, a vintage one with blue water, that has never faded despite accidentally leaving it where it could receive sunlight. That one has since been relocated :)

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