Carramar lava lamps

[John]

Hi team. My name is John & I've purchased a few lava lamps online & picked up a blue volcano lamp. I thought it looked cool & like the previous owner I originally had no idea what it was. Fortunately there's one listed on eBay with a good description & a Google search led me here. I'm in New Zealand so using a 120 volt bulb was not an option & it took awhile to find a bulb that will work in this lamp. Eventually finding the GE Lighting "Light Bulb Lustre 25W Clear E27 Edison Screw" bulb fits & works well. I'd be keen to know more about these vintage lava lamps - how many colours was made available & how many of these lamps was made? Now that I've got a blue lamp it's motivated me to look for more. Alas it's clearly going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack to find another & it's shear luck I have one at all.

[George]

Here is another photo of a bench at the Carramar factory

[Joel]

Haha thats my lamp (and my dog!) can confirm this is 5 legs mate, same as your above photo! I think the crown base always had 5. Cant believe my photo made it back here. Wish these were still made as I have ruined 2 of these trying to restore the water :(

[George]

Haha looks like the 4 legged one. Too funny. I only have the 5 legged one. Shame. Would Mathmos fluid work?

[Joel]

My Carramar 5 leg and 3 legs Ft. Lunar. Ive since ruined the orange one with a fluid replacement gone wrong 

:( Does anyone know what would be the best fluid replacement?

[George]

Awesome photo. Love the orange.

[John]

Those pictures are brilliant thanks & it's easy to see why they're called crown bases now. There's a picture of a black Volcano on the side of a Volcano packaging box in one of those pictures. Good to know they're all Volcano lava lamps & that rocket is a term used to describe them. It's a shame the company folded because in this day & age I can imagine they'd sell really well. I could live without all of my new Mathmos lamps if it'd get me a Volcano of every colour combination.

[George]

Yeah sorry we do use the Rocket reference for a lot of lamps.

I have to say the Volcano's are beautiful lamps and very well made , the bases are heavy and the bottles are of high quality, love the dimple underneath the bottle to house the light bulb.

I also have to say the wax and the flow of these lamps are comparable to the Mathmos lamps and the colours are very bright.

It's a real shame they folded, I believe the first Volcano lamp was first made in 1996 as per the patent details I found online. 

If I had the money I would of bought that factory myself.

They also made a Fibre Optic lamp in brushed metal, but the fibers were plastic and did not revolve like the Fantasia lamps.

Keep looking on Ebay tho , they do pop up every now and then and are worth collecting. I would love to get a couple more of the other colours I don't have.

Just warming up my 5 Legged version , it was in storage and had to come out :)

[John]

Are wondering if the majority of the lamp made are the three legged version as I've just picked up my third which is red & come with the original packaging. If I could choose the a colour it would be black as everything is better when it's all black.

[Mark]

Hi Joel, Mathmos fluid is always a safe bet for replacements.

[John]

Well The Lord takes with one hand & gives with the other. Turns out the seller of the red lamp had issues as they initially offered to send at my cost. Then the next day they'd cancelled the sale, refunded & gave me a huge story which turned out to be untrue. They'd sold it immediately to someone else just to do something similar to the new buyer & has relisted it for considerably more. I wouldn't have minded at all had they been able to be honest as to why but that's their burden. Today I find another yellow lamp cheaper & they're more than happy to help. This will be my second yellow lamp so if someone is willing to trade bottles for a colour I don't already have then please let me know. Are beginning to wonder if there's more of these around based on how often they've come up for sale in the short time I've been looking but that could be purely due to luck. Nice to know that they're about if you have the patience & a seller willing to help. As it's been my experience that most will only sell them if they're picked up from them & are not willing to send. Probably a good thing really as to limit how often I buy something the cook thinks is not worth having at any price until she sees it working. Have managed to collect a decent selection of different bulbs & something that works better after getting hold of an original lightbulb.

[John]

Have been finding more than a few Volcano lava lamps but unfortunately several really aren't worth having & lately almost everyone expects an arm & a leg for theirs. Have learnt quickly that some people will say anything for money. Are having to be really careful when looking at them are having to give it a miss if there is any doubt & walk away. Are only finding them in only a couple of colours so are wondering if they made more of the lamps that sold well which makes sense when considering supply & demand. At least all of the nackered lamps make the really good ones even more rare & collectable. Lately I've been finding mostly red with a bit of yellow but not even a hint of any other colour. Has anyone else noticed any trend in colour availability over the years of looking?

[John]

It's been awhile & while I've found several more lamps. They're either too overpriced for my liking, in poor condition or both. But I've finally found a red lamp worth having & I believe it has the screw in legs. I still have the two yellow bottles/lamps should anyone be interested in a trade for a different colour. I've also got several brand new Mathmos lamps I'd be willing to trade for a four or five leg Carramar lava lamp. As I've decided that at this stage I'm going to limit my collecting to this type of lamp at the moment. Anyone wanting a new used Glitterbaby let me know especially if you bring something to trade. Cheers & Merry Christmas everyone!