Introduction: This company claims to make the "original" lava lamps because they invented the "Lava" name, but they licensed the actual product from the British company Crestworth, which started the production of this kind of lamps in the early 1960s and changed its name to Mathmos in the 1990s. A friend of mine has a truly "original" Mathmos lamp from the 1990s, which has pretty uniformly-colored water and wax from the bottom to the top when it is on. I have never seen a lamp of this quality from Lava Lite, but the Lava Lites are also much cheaper than corresponding products from Mathmos (which are not officially sold in the U.S.).
I got my first Lava Lite 16.3" lamp about 1 1/2 years ago. When it was on, the water and the wax showed the color of the (white) light bulb at the bottom and became more colorful towards the top, but the water was clear and wax bubbles were going up and down as they should. I liked it. Unfortunately this lamp was destroyed by a cleaning lady a few weeks ago.
My new lamp from Amazon is exactly the same model, but when it arrived two weeks ago, the water was very cloudy, and this has not changed so far. When the lamp is on and I look at it from a close distance, I can see the wax bubbles, but while the water is more cloudy than in the old lamp, the wax seems to be more transparent the desired effect of colorful wax bubbles moving in clear purple-colored water does not occur at all; from a distance it looks like an illuminated bottle of thin pomegranate juice. I am too lazy to send this $20 item back to Amazon, and some people say the cloudiness may disappear in a few weeks, thus I will keep this lamp and see what happens, but I am disappointed. And I don't understand why this new lamp is so much worse than the first one is it from a different factory? Was it shaken too much during shipping? Is it a "refurbished" lamp that was not treated right by its previous owner? Many other customers seem to have very similar problems with Lava Lite lamps. On the basis of these experiences I cannot recommend this product. Try to get the British one if you can.
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Alot of folks have had bad luck with their LL's, so here are your LL basics:
1 If you receive a lamp with the liquid so cloudy that you cant see the lava, send it back for replacement.
these require special handling in shipment and must not be shaken or rattled. It should be shipped in an upright
possition.
2 After removing your LL from its box, you will see a round coil, possibly imbedded in some solid lava.
Try to get that coil down to the bottom near the bulb. If the coil will not lay on the bottom because of the wax,
just place the lamp in the base and turn the lamp on. It may take several hours for the wax to
melt enough to free the coil so it can rest on the bottom but do not leave the lamp on for more than 6 hours even
if the coil is not yet on the bottom.
Wait until the lamp is room temp and try again, NEVER leave the lamp on more than 6 hours.
3 Eventually, the wax will melt and the coil will settle on the bottom.
4 Never shake or even move the lamp while it's hot and the lava is flowing.
5 Check the bulb placement. The light bulb MUST be exactly dead center. If not, you can move it while it is cool.
6 Do not place your LL in a cold room (50 or less) because the wax will solidify too fast and eventually, it will
break-up into tiny globs.
7 One more time, most important (I dont care what someone else said), DO NOT leave your LL on for more then 6 HOURS.
If you do, the lava will break up into tiny beads and will never form a solid mass again. It will look like a mess
and it wont even move.
8 Buy your LL from someone you can trust and has a good return policy (like Amazon) because alot of LLs are received
damaged in shipping. Rough handling will cause the "cloudy" look where the wax has been mixed with the liquid.
9 If you want to see the lava at it's best, avoid the ones with dark colored liquid and light color lava because it
will be difficult to see the lava through the liquid. Clear liquid, or light blue or green works best for lava visibility :)
I have owned dozens of LLs in my life. Got my first one back in the 60's, and they made them much better back then.
Have fun with your LL and remember the 60's when life was less stressfull :)
Best Deals for Lava Lite 5225 16.3-Inch Silver Base Lava Lamp, Yellow/Purple
Reading the reviews here, I was really wary of buying this item at all... It seems that the lamps with the "clear" fluid have issues with being very cloudy. So perhaps steer clear of those. I went with the version that has yellow lava and purple fluid. At first I thought that this combination of colors was going to look kind of tacky and not as classic as the red lava/clear fluid versions. I went for it anyway. I love the colors. The lava at the bottom looks like molten gold and as it rises, it looks reddish at the top. It pretty much looks like the cartoon image they show on the product page. The fluid is a pale purple and very clear. When it arrived, there were little flakes of "lava" (the wax) all throughout the fluid and I was a little worried about whether the flakes would disappear with use or if they would always "dirty" the fluid. Well, after running the lamp for about 4 hours, all the flakes of wax melted into the main blobs and the fluid is totally clear. It looks great and I'm really happy I got this larger size. So nice and way more affordable than the tiny ones I saw locally for twice the price.
I haven't had a lava lamp since I was little and I forgot how fun and hypnotic they are to watch! Recommended!
I have to say that Amazon shipped the lava lamp package in a box with no packing material thank goodness it didn't break. Not impressed with that part, but of course that's no reflection on the product. I haven't had it long enough to comment on the longevity of the lava lamp but it's off to a great start.
Honest reviews on Lava Lite 5225 16.3-Inch Silver Base Lava Lamp, Yellow/Purple
After reading these reviews, I decided to roll the dice and see if I could get a good lamp. I got a murky disgusting looking swamp bottle. I saw someone posted that the company has discovered a flaw in their manufacturing process, but I have no idea if that's true. Even if it is, who knows what that means or when/if we will be able to reliably get a good product from the end retailers. Steer far clear of this product. I posted some pictures here so you can see what you're probably going to get.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Lava Lite 5225 16.3-Inch Silver Base Lava Lamp, Yellow/Purple
Lava Lites were first popular when I was a teenager. I was glad to see they were making a comeback and have been for several years. I bought two at the same time; this one and a glitter Lite. The glitter works fine but this one doesn't. I followed all instructions and the light worked but once. Each time I turned it on the Lava sits on the bottom and doesn't move.
I contacted Lava lite who told me to return it to Amazon. Amazon is just terriffic about returns. In two days I got a shipping label and the defective lite was on it's way. 1 star for Lava Lite but 5 for Amazon!
