Lava Lamps - the Big conclusion

Appears to be a nice enough piece of kit, but for that kind of money you'd want a CD transport that doesn't look like it was taken from a base model Iaptop circa 2007.

I bought a lava lamp from a discount store call Ollie's. They had one sitting around for $12. I never had any interest in lava lamps before watching your videos. The lava lamp now sits next to my nixie clock.

I am happy to see the small one with the candle. I have kids though, so I don't entertain as much and I can tell you I am not organising a wedding. Yet it would probably be the most practical device, to gather dust with my Philips coloured lamp thingy. I expected it would help with the winter blues. It turned out, it wasn't the winter

I have one of these timer plugs, would be useful for having the lamp shut off after 6h https://www.amazon.com.au/Digital-Automation-Electric-Countdown-Appliance/dp/B098SXGZ92

I teach middle school (Year 7s for those in the UK), and I bought a lava lamp for my classroom a few weeks ago. The kids love it! (I've also got a few rotary phones, retro handheld video games, and vintage cellphones that they enjoy playing with…might as well bring that old tech to a new generation!)

Just today I walked in a store that sells clothing but also some decorative stuff. They had a lava lamp box on a shelf. Upon closer inspection, it's just a three-pack of colorful socks. And they weren't even my side. What a bummer.

Oh - something just clicked - I think your vid showed the Rokit giant lamp has a normal plug and is just AC powered? If that's the case, get a plug in dimmer - can be had for £6-10. Can get a fancy smart one if you like, but in my experience you'll probably want to find a level and leave it there. It'll take a tiny bit longer to warm up but should prevent it overheating (which is what's happening at the end when it's stopped flowing). Will also save you a smidge of energy, particularly if you're gonna have this running on a timer. I've never seen one myself - I presumed they'd use a 12v socket like the Neos (which can't be dimmed, might be worth noting). Seems reading the manual I'm wrong about that.

Well, you've convinced me. I will get one for her birthday.

Morning Mat, Watched late on Tuesday and made a comment on YouTube about waggling your lamp around while mentioning adhering to the instructions. I regret the glib tone but the point is valid - it's hugely important to keep the lamps still when the wax is anything other than completely solid as additional movement causes emulsification of tiny particles/blobs of wax, it's hard to notice at first but this is almost always what's happened when you see 'cloudy' lamps, they've taken a knock or fallen and a significant amount of wax has emulsified in to the water (it doesn't take much). A couple of other points - you mentioned about heat not dissipating... it does, just through the bottle/base. AIUI the 6 hr limit relates to preventing emulsification of the wax more than bulb lifetime. The popping of bulbs comment was likely from someone who bought a load of Chinese mini GU10s, which are awful. Unfortunately the only decent life mini GU10s I've found are the ones Mathmos sell, the cynic in me thinks this might have motivated their change from E14s - reliable/cheap E14 globes can still be purchased from Toolstation/Screwfix as "appliance/oven bulbs". I'm currently investigating moving my GU10s over to G9 but Mathmos advise to only do this with silver ones for some reason. Bit of a mystery. You mention the licensing agreement with Lava Lamps - you're absolutely right except the exclusivity arrangement actually ran out last year. You can see on Mathmos FAQ that they do plan to release a range for the US, AIUI tariffs are the blocker - they'll already be launching in to a market used to paying <$25 for a lamp with prices starting at $150, so I can see the concern about making sure they're not immediately written off as intolerably expensive. I was actually thinking there is an interesting story and stuff behind the inventor, his backstory, happening across the concept, the deal with Lava Lamp co (and how that ultimately nearly killed Crestworth), the sell out to somebody who'd sold lamps on Camden Market, the inventor's attempt at competing with his old company in the early days (Glitterama) before going back in with his old lot as consultant, and how Mathmos really came back from the point of Crestworth being almost dead in the late 80s. Maybe that'd be fodder for you to do a 4-track style deep dive at some point? Happy to help with research for that if it's of interest. Either way I'm glad you love the lamps though. They are pretty special.

Matt making assumptions about peoples ages. I was one when the Lava Lamp was invented :-) Some more trivia. A friend who is far more into these than me (I only have five) reckons that when the lamps were out of fashion Crestworth survived by doing metal spinning for various other companies.

Makes me want an Irn Bru

Clever way to bring their production costs down by using a giant whiskey bottle instead of having custom bottles made.

RTFM 😸 Thanks for showing! Still like the effect, but not enough for wanting one at home, although, that little tealight-powered one... 🤔

Thanks for the followup video! I really love the little tealight ones. Its a shame the Lava Lamp brand doesn’t seem to include them in its US lineup.

Nice video. I might ask myself a Neo for my birthday. About the Neo: first thing that came to mind when you mentioned it can be bolted down was would it work upside down mounted to the ceiling? Of course it wouldn't... Other thing about lava lamps: I once heard about a company which had a cabinet full of lava lamps with camera's, to power their true random device for cryptography or something.... That's another use...

I have the Classic Rocket which I think looks good even when not on

Great sequel video! Amazed how well the small tealight one worked. Great gift idea, indeed...

The giant, heavy lamp on a glass shelf at the end. Yikes. And of course your videos have made me want to get a Mathmos lamp again, maybe the mini one this time, which I’d never seen before.

I am loving the surprised we are here start to the videos

Having just taken delivery of the 4K bluray of Barbarella, today, I'm now debating buying one of those small candle powered ones... Going to check out your referral link! EDIT: annoying that Amazon don't carry the candle powered ones, was hoping to reward you beyond my (minimal) Patreon contribution.

one of the few sequels that lives up the original.

Pronounce the manufacturer of the bulb and you might get demonetised!

The lava looks like this fire whirl: http://youtube.com/post/Ugkx7xOXw6N9_DSyZ1VZkdqYClYdCTG4xO_m

For videos that people want to watch a Nakamichi tape deck like CR7 or Dragon would be how you say 'porn' for us analogue fans of old defunct formats. It will set you back thousands of pounds but honestly could be the video to make it back. I know you aren't a high end Hi-Fi channel but the pinnacle of older formats is interesting.

Oh that's cool for Sam Battle ! Best luck! And thanks for this vid - I want to see em all! 👌

The one with green wax and clear liquid is also my favorite combination. Unfortunately, here in the US the only lamp with clear liquid that the Lava Co. sells is paired with purple wax which just doesn't look as nice so I guess I'll just have to carry on lampless for now, but who knows what the future could bring.🙂

Just bought a Neo. Intrigued whether the cat will pay any attention to it. Probably not.

I don’t know… so often when you show something that’s a modern version of older tech that I remember, (advancements in projectors, for example), I’m just blown away at the advancement in technology. But these lava lamps are more like time capsules, locked in a more relaxed time when the novelty of the effect was eye-catching. And that was enough. Though, they’ve pretty much stayed the same compared to more advanced technology, this ‘old school’ tech makes me smile, and harken back when times were simpler. They really were, “the good old days.” Thanks, Matt.

A couple years ago I had a work trip that took me to Barcelona. I was so determined to get myself a Mathmos Astro, that I shipped it to myself at my hotel and carried it home to the US in my hand luggage. Converting it to 120v was as easy as simply ordering the corresponding 120v GU10 halogen and converting the plug with a simple adapter. Now I wish I would have ordered a Fireflow too! Also, I noticed that the Neo looks to use a multi-voltage adapter, so that would be even easier to adapt.

Thanks for the videos, I was pretty happy to see a follow up! I bought my first lamp in the late 90s after seeing a friend's. I thought they were the coolest. My earliest internet searches were to find information about Mathmos and Lava Lite (I'm in the US) but the differences have never been clear as a consumer. I have collected four or five more over the years, but always felt the quality was a little off. Mine had a visible water line at the top from day 1, which led me to take the top off... a plastic screw top and I was in, but that was NOT a good idea and I've had an unfulfilling (pun) quest for the past 25+ years trying to repair it. If you make a part 3 someday, I could watch you futz with the chemistry of it for hours... but I wouldn't wish that on anyone so please don't! I may have inspired my own lifetime of tinkering with that one mistake, though. One bizarre novelty, a town here in Washington State has supposedly been trying to build a 50+ foot tall one for years and years as a tourist trap.. unsuccessfully!

"Sometimes bigger isn't better, it's just bigger." I think, given the somewhat...suggestive shapes of these devices, you should put MORE innuendo in for when it goes live. Views will go, well, up. It worked for "Bake Off"

Watching those lava blobs I can't help hearing Eight Miles High and wondering what my draft number will be.

• Nicely done follow-up. Lava lamps are retro-groovy with a futuristic flair. Just like your channel. • I wish the champagne in the promotional picture was included with the purchase of the Fireflow. 🥂 That'd be a phenomenal advertising kit for a wedding reception. 😁 • I unreasonably feel bad that I don't prefer the Giant over the other three. I'm agreed that it doesn't look good on your shelf. • The off-camera director at 28:05 must have given you a rude gesture. 😡 Flip him! Here's hoping your dental odyssey is at an end, for now anyway. Take care 🤍.

Thanks for the unwise investment on our behalves. While I'm on: can we now expect you for Eurovision 2027?

I've had a Lava branded green with blue wax for years. After the first video, I bought another one by Schylling this time, black wax in green fluid. I started that one up and after a while it just made a ball towards the middle and wasn't moving. I'm assuming it was overheated. I was using the same bulb as the other. I haven't tried the base that came with it and it's own bulb. I'll habe to give it a go to see if it's a defect or whatever.

Have 2 smaller from china red and green port&starboard uppset here And old saylor couldn’t set them wrong 😁⚓️⚓️⚓️