I've searched this website & couldn't find an open discussion to place the following post & I didn't think it warranted starting a new one. So I suggest that this thread be used by anyone wanting to do the same & I really hope that others start using it also to show us their lamp(s).
Are finally using the two Mathmos lava lamps purchased after setting them up the way I wanted & have pictures. I watched for weeks on eBay & quickly realised most decent lamps sell close to their respective new prices. Ended up buying an Astro with violet water & orange wax which unexpectedly goes red when above the first 1/3rd of the bottle. But if at the bottom or cold it remains orange which is what the wax is claimed to be. I don't know if this is normal & would like know if other Astros with this colour combination do the same? It's using a 40w lightbulb as I couldn't get what they recommend. Which is over heating the contents forcing more wax to rise quickly in much smaller blobs. Are concerned this would be detrimental to the life of the lamp so are using a dimmer. The cooler the contents the bigger the blobs & the slower they move around the bottle. Also have an Astrobaby with blue water & green wax which looks dark green on the box but is a far lighter & looks fluorescent when the light is on. I get another it'll probably be a Telstar with the dark plum wax & clear water. If I can justify the expense of the lamp & cost of getting it here again. As for the Neo, I really like the copper with the yellow water & orange wax. Unfortunately they're not available outside of the UK & the Australian website isn't good at keeping their advertised lamps in stock. I would really like a Metallic blue Astro & are keen to hear from anyone able to help make this happen. They're obviously something new as I've never heard of them & the concept is absolutely brilliant. Good on ya Mathmos keep it up & please do something about the no worldwide shipping. I don't see how one manufacturer can dictate how & where another can ply it's trade in a different country.
Anyway, here's a few pictures of relics of another age. The Nintendo NES Classis, a USB Plasma Orb & the two lava lamps.
Edit: the pictures aren't very good using an iPad & don't portray the colours correctly which explains the difference in colour mentioned previously. I have to find the camera then try different angles using the light & the background lighting. Am I correct in thinking it's helps to turn the lamp light off while the wax is flowing to get better colour shots?
It turns out the touch dimmer won't work with the Wemo Switch as once the power has been cut the dimmer goes back to it's default setting which unfortunately is turned off. Are going to try installing a "White In line Lighting Lamp Dimmer Switch Slider, 40W - 160W ,220V - 240V" onto the power cable of the lamp. Which shouldn't be affected by the power being turned off & allow the use of a 40w bulb in the Astro as I can't get what is recommended for that lamp. The blue Astrobaby looks amazing in a dark room & lacks the fluorescent glow of the wax in the other two lamps. I've attached pictures of the dimmer unit which I've had to resort too because the old dial type plug in dimmer with NZ plug is unfortunately no longer available.
Permalink Reply by John on November 5, 2017 at 5:41pm
Someone is selling new Mathmos Telstars on eBay that come with everything except for the bottle which I already have. They’re selling several of these packages if anyone else likes the idea & they’re ten pounds less than what Mathmos are chargingng. Due to the cost of Mathmos products + the cost of getting them here the Telstar will probably be the last new Mathmos lava lamp I get.
Permalink Reply by John on November 20, 2017 at 5:30pm
As it turns out their are more Australians who have made lava lamps in the past & the manufacturer has disappeared from existence. There was also Mirabella making them & I’ve picked up one of their blue floor standing monster of a lava lamp. The bloke I got it from purchased it years ago & never took it out of the box. So I’ve got another new lamp on it’s way here & will add pictures of it working once it’s set up. Now there’s another manufacturer to look out for online & these floor standing lamps occasionally come up for sale like this other blue one on Gumtree with the link below.
Permalink Reply by John on November 26, 2017 at 7:13pm
Have taken a few more pictures of the Mirabella floor standing lamp which works really well & hopefully won’t require a dimmer. I see that like Carramar Lighting they make different types of lighting & no longer make lava lamps. Unlike the Volcano I suspect there was plenty of Mirabella lava lamps made & they shouldn’t be so hard to find? Does anyone here know of any other Australian outfits that made or are still making lava lamps? It looks like the colour in the wax is still to mix in evenly so hopefully a bit more use will change this. Is there anyone here that has been collecting Mirabella lamps or knows the different colour combinations?