the Original 16.3-Inch Silver Base Lamp with Yellow Wax in Purple Liquid, Yellow / Purple / Silver

In case it makes a difference, after reading all these reviews, all I wanted to do was keep it still for a long time after it was shipped, hopefully to recombine anything that may have separated. It ended up being 3 months. And I hadn't taken it out of the box first, so I don't know if the fluid was cloudy. In any case, it works wonderfully and now the fluid is clear. It's been plugged in about 5 hours now - it took 1 hr. to begin moving and didn't really start flowing well until 3 1/2 hrs. Very beautiful colors. Looks great against our cream-colored wall. I'm so glad I purchased the bigger lamp. The larger volume allows more flowing shapes and color gradation. The yellow-orange color, shaded with red, at the bottom really looks like lava and also the cooler reddish-purplish colors at the top. Very pleased with it. I hope you have the same experience. Good luck! UPDATE: 3 months later. The flow does take a while, couple of times using the lamp and cooling it completely, to get going really well. But I really liked it then. Connected flow, very soothing and smooth. Unfortunately, after a couple of weeks of daily use, the flow separated into the globs seen in the pictures. So it's not as neat-looking or soothing. Also, a small piece has permanently split off and always floats to the top, preventing proper temperature flow for it to work best. I've followed tips posted here to gently twist the COLD lamp back and forth while keeping it firmly on the table so that the circular motion bumps the hard quarter-sized wax back down and where it can heat up with the rest of the wax. But alas, it doesn't mix back in and as soon as the wax begins flowing again, it floats right back up to the top, covering the surface of the liquid, impeding proper flow. But it's still a nice lamp and the rest of it is working well..

I ordered this for my daughter for Christmas because for some reason, she saw a picture of a lava lamp and really wanted one. Now you could spend up for a Mathmos and go through the trouble to import one in from the UK but I'm telling you you really don't need to. Bottom line is this unit is offered at a nice price, is attractive, and functions exactly as advertised and hoped given the really simple care it requires. First of all, the liquid was crystal clear. The issues with the cloudy salt water seems to have much decreased over the last few years. And liquid and wax colors are quite vibrant. Second, if you give it sufficient time to heat up, it'll work just like you hope. That said, there are a couple of important points to remember. 1. Don't shake the bottle at any time, whether the wax is cold and solid or melted and flowing. If you shake it cold, the puck or pieces will leave waxy marks on the inside of the bottle. Shaken hot, you'll make a million little wax droplets. Neither situation is fatal. If you have wax marks, simply wait for the wax to melt then gently tip the bottle over and roll it slowly so the melted wax blob picks up these marks. Give it a moment to do so. If shaken hot, just let the lamp run and in 30 minutes or so, all the small droplets will have coalesced back into the main blob. 2. If there is cold wax stuck at the top of the bottle that simply won't get warm enough to melt and combine with the main blob, use a heat gun set at around 70% (same setting you would use to shrink wrap or window film) to warm the bottle wall at the neck near the cap to get it to melt and drip down. Go slowly and be gentle. This will clear every last drop of wax to join with the big blob. I have not tested it running for more than 5 or 6 hours but in that time frame, it is truly delightful. As good as goldfish.

Guess I got lucky on this. My lamp is clear and the bubbles form and move how they should. I didn't need to change the bulb or anything else. Just plugged it in, waited, and it works great. It does take a few hours, especially the first time. But lava lamps have always taken time to get going. I haven't had to replace the lightbulb, but they are inexpensive and should last awhile anyway. You can get the right bulb at a hardware store or just order online. I would suggest the hardware store however. I don't know the life on these, but I've read they're typically 2000 hour use. You can use them after that of course but it will be cloudy and not work as well. The lightbulbs should last about 1000 hours. So 1 replacement should be all you need and then very likely when it dies you just throw it out. The problem with lava lamps is you have to replace the container, I guess that's a reason they lost popularity. I've liked these since I was a child and I visited my cousin who had one. I couldn't afford one back then and hadn't gotten a chance to get one until now. For me it's nice and relaxing. I would warn on the price however. They should only be $30 for the 16.3 oz. And only $20 for the 14.5. This is regardless of the color combination. It's probably a good idea to just get it off the lavalamp site if there is price gouging here. They should also be available at Walmart and Target.

I purchased the 16.3 inch Yellow/Purple Lava Lite (#5225) and experienced many of the problems others have already mentioned. The first lamp arrived promptly, was carefully packaged, and would have been perfect if it weren't for the fact that the base did not work. I couldn't turn on the light. Fortunately, Amazon's return policy is wonderful. They covered the costs of shipping back the item and even had UPS pick it up at my home. Within a few short days, my replacement lamp arrived. The replacement lamp was awful! It appeared to have been opened prior to shipping, operated, repackaged and returned already. I was upset that I had not received a brand new lamp fresh from the factory. This lamp had murky liquid and an odd layer of white foam (1/4 inch thick) on the surface of the liquid. I complained about the condition of the replacement lamp and returned it for a refund. Then I placed another order for the same kind of lamp and that one arrived in near perfect condition. The liquid looked a little bit murky at first, but after the first usage, it cleared up a great deal. After the third use, the liquid looked perfectly clear. Other than the aggravation and annoyance of receiving and returning the first two defective lamps, my only other disappointment is that the illustration used in the advertisement for this item is not an accurate depiction of how the lamp looks when it is in use. When the lamp is cool, the wax is a dull orangish-yellow color, much like bees wax, and the liquid is a deep, dark purple. When the light is turned on, however, the bluish tones disappear almost entirely. The wax becomes a brilliant sunny yellow and the liquid becomes a deep red color. Another reviewer described it quite accurately as "pomegranate red". Don't get me wrong - I find the red liquid and bright yellow wax beautiful to look at, and even better when the wax starts to flow. Then the wax globs start out bright yellow as they rise up from the bottom of the lamp, turning quickly to orange and then red as they float to the top of the glass globe. The color transitions are wonderful to watch. But if, like me, you looked forward to seeing the multi-hued purple, red, yellow and orange coloration patterns depicted in the advertisement for this product, you will surely be disappointed. (UPDATE: Since posting this review, I discovered that the blue tones in the liquid can be seen during operation when the lamp is back lit from an external source of light, such as a lamp or when the lamp is placed near a window on a bright day.) The first time I used the lamp, it took 3.5 hours to warm up and begin flowing properly. Since then, however, the lamp warms up in 1.5 hours. The lava flow is stunningly hypnotic to watch. The wax breaks up into 2-6 large egg shaped globs that gently ease past each other as they slowly make their way from the base of the globe to the top and back down again. And when all the lights are out, the lamp casts a beautiful red glow throughout the room. BOTTOM LINE: I LOVE my new Lava Lite 5225! And, yes, I intend to buy others. If the size you want to buy is available in a local store, I would recommend buying it there. (I suspect the transportation by UPS vans may cause some of the cloudiness that so many buyers have reported.) A little bit of cloudiness might disappear after a few uses, as mine did. If you get a defective one, just send it back and get another. They're such fun and definitely worth the aggravation! (P.S. I would recommend that Amazon.com label their shipping boxes "FRAGIL" and "THIS SIDE UP" to reduce the amount of jostling the Lava Lites must endure during transport.) (UPDATE 3/25/14: Since posting this review, I purchased two more 52 oz. Lava Lamps - one with yellow wax/purple liquid and one with yellow wax/blue liquid. Both were shipped together in the same box. The lamps were adequately cushioned with heavy paper prior to shipping, but the box was left lying flat on its side on my front porch. As a result, the wax chunks in both lamps were found floating loose in the glass globes and had to be positioned manually before I dared operate the lamps. I was able to accomplish this by laying each globe flat on its side and rolling it slowly until I could see that the wax was not touching the glass. Then I turned the bottle upright and the wax fell into its proper position at the base of the globe. When they first arrived, both lamps had thin streaks of wax clinging to the inside of the glass globe. Those streaks disappeared after the first few uses. Unfortunately, the liquid in the yellow/purple lamp was somewhat murky. I plan to try cycling the yellow/purple lamp (8 hours on/8 hours off) for a couple weeks in hope that the liquid will clear up. If it does not, I will probably return that lamp. The liquid in the yellow/blue lamp arrived in crystal clear condition. The colors are absolutely beautiful - even prettier than those shown in the advertisement. That one is a total delight and most definitely a keeper.)

I read a lot of bad reviews but don't let that get you down. I have one lava lamp that the wax got dry and the water lost color, i've been using it for the last 10 or 15 years. I decided to buy a new one for a change and bought a bigger one. Best Choice i've made this year. It takes a little longer than expected to get the lava to flow but in my country it's winter so i understand why it takes long. I suffer anxiety attacks from time to time and i get insomnia most of the time, this lamp really helps as a relaxation technic, just to concentrate on the lava flow makes me feel relaxed and comfort, specially when im trying to sleep. POINTS TO TAKE ON COUNT BE PATIENT, lava lamps are not going to magicly function right away, you have to wait between 2 o 6 hours (depending on the size of the lamp, the power of the bulb and the room temperature to make it flow) The colored water is so clear that you can really appreciate the color of the lamp and the movement. JUST ONE THING: i don't know why the top metal thingy does not entirley fit but is not a major problem. I love it.

After reading the reviews, I was worried about this purchase. Cloudy liquid, bad bulbs, and shipping from the Amazon warehouse can really be hit or miss. It arrived in a box that was 3 feet longer and 1 foot wider than needed, but it was PACKED with brown paper and the Lava Lamp box was wrapped in bubble wrap. So A+ on that. The liquid was not cloudy at all and the video really doesn’t do it justice. I followed the instructions in the box. Put together, allow to heat for about 2 hours, check to make sure the little metal ring is in the bottom. Once I did all that, I shut it down for 1/2 and hour, then powered back on. After about 2 hours it was blooping away. The reviews about how the light bulb sits in the base seem to be correct. It does actually touch the glass of the lamp. It is screwed in completely and I checked the socket to make sure it was connected well and seated. That may be part of the design for better heat transfer, I am not a lava lamp technician. Either way it works amazing, looks awesome, and the way the color changes with the motion is amazing.

No, the title isn't a reference to The Empire Strikes Back - it's a reference to the sad fact that not 1, but 2 of these Lava Lamps purchased from Amazon arrived cloudy, and have stayed cloudy. I will be looking to try and change the water in one of the lamps using advice from the internet this weekend. If it works well, then I think the Amazon price is probably fair for a do-it-yourselfer who is willing to replace cloudy water with an ad hoc solution (pun intended) - but if it doesn't work, then I'm sending the 2nd lamp back. Either way, I will update this review with the results. EDIT: 09/02/12 Changing the water was a successful and fairly easy project! I am keeping the 1-star rating though, as I think most people want their lava lamp to work straight out of the box How To Fix Your Cloudy Lava Lamp You will need: 50+ oz of distiller water (any bottled water will do fine) at room temperature Kosher Salt 1 package of Wilton Neon Gel Food Color Set Liquid dish soap Plastic bowl/container large enough to hold 50+ oz of water Bottle/can opener Needle nose pliers Spoon or other stirring utensil Step 1 - Start with a "cold" lamp bottle. Make sure your lamp has been off for at least 3 hours. Step 2 - Carefully pry off the bottle cap on the top of the bottle with your can opener. The goal is to gently lift the bottle top ridges a little bit, one at a time, until you can remove the bottle top with your fingers using a little force. Step 3 - Pour out that cloudy water! Rinse the bottle with distiller water (extra water - not the 50 oz we will use later) several times to try and remove any of the remaining particulate matter that was clouding you up. By the way, this is a great time to remove any wax bubbles that are sticking to the inside wall of your bottle. I used a paper towel wrapped around a chop stick to clean off the offending wax bits and it worked great. Step 4 - Dissolve 2 tablespoons of Kosher Salt into 8 oz of distilled water. I used a 16 oz bottle of water, poured out half, poured in the salt, capped the bottle and then swished it around until the salt was dissolved. Step 5 - Pour the 8 oz of salt water and remaining 42 oz of distilled water into your plastic container. Step 6 - Add three (3) drops of Purple food coloring (from the Wilton Neon Gel Food Color Set) to your water in the container. Step 7 - Add one half or one (1/2 or 1 ) drop of Magenta food coloring (from the Wilton Neon Gel Food Color Set) to your water in the container. Half a drop would probably be ideal to retain more of a yellow color to the wax when it is in the bottom of the bottle, but the water ends up more on the royal blue side of purple than a true purple (IMHO). I chose to use a full drop of magenta so that the water would have a true purple, even though the wax takes on a slightly more orangish tint. Forewarned is forearmed, so please experiment with the combinations as you see fit. Also, please note that this water coloring looks very true to the original in daylight - but not at night. I'm not sure what the correct coloring would be for night-time viewing of the lamp, but i suspect that it would perhaps be twice the amount of food coloring that I've described above. If you experiment on your own and have results to share, please feel free to comment! Step 8 - Stir gently until the food coloring is fully dissolved. Depending on your container, this may look differently than it does in the illuminated bottle later, but trust me - it does look good in the bottle later. :) Step 9 - Add one (1) drop of liquid dish soap to your container of colored water. (This evidently ensures that the wax won't stick to the bottle, and has the right surface tension for ideal wax blob size. It works) Step 10 - Pour your new colored water into the bottle - but only fill the bottle up to a level just below the bottom of the silver cap (if it is on the bottle). We will use this extra volume for adjusting salinity of the water later (if needed). Step 11 - Put the bottle back in the lamp stand, turn in on, and let it go for 2 hours. (To give the air bubbles time to work themselves out and everything to get working in what should be a normal fashion.) Step 12 - Evaluate the action. Case A: If the wax is more or less sitting in the bottom, or not rising and falling very quickly, prepare some additional salt water and pour in an additional ounce. Wait for 10-15 minutes and see if the wax has the desired action. If not, repeat step 12. Case B: If the wax is hanging out at the top and spends most of its time dripping down from a huge molten glob at the top then there is too much salt in the water. You must pour out 4-6 oz of the colored water out of the bottle, and replace with filtered water. Wait for 10-15 minutes and see if the wax has the desired action. If not, repeat step 12. Adding and removing water will slightly dilute the color of the water, but not by much. If this step gets repeated frequently and you are not still satisfied with the color of the water, it may be best to start from scratch and go back to step 1. It is an experiment after all, so chalk it up to experience and move on. :) Step 13 - Replace and crimp the bottle cap. Once you have successfully replaced your cloudy water with new clear beautifully colored water, put the cap back on your bottle and crimp it back down using the needle nose pliers. Be Gentle! Just like you lifted each of the ridges in step 1 bit by bit, you will gently bend each of the ridges back down until the cap is sealed tight. Do Not Use Force! You will break your bottle top if you are not gentle! Step 14 - Enjoy!

So much negative stuff on the Amazon Lava Lamps. First time purchasing a Lava Lite here and I'm super impressed. I received this lamp at 10:00 am today. Globe is clean and clear! Setup took less than 2 minutes... a bulb, set glob on stand, plug in, turn on, add cap. This was the first run for the new lamp and it took just over 2 hours to get the flow going. Lava looks amazing! Closer to the bottom of the globe the lava looks orange-ish yellow-ish. As it flows to the top, it becomes more neon RED. This has such a warming and unique feel to it. Growing up as a boy in the 80's, mom always had the lava lamp on and running. This is the size of lamp she had, and I have always wanted one like it. I have 3 other lamps; two 14-inch globe, and a 19 year old 17-inch globe (which started my collection in 1998). I have read that after around 2007 or so, the lamps were manufactured in China. They don't make um like they used to. I believe this is correct since my old lamp is going strong for nearly 20 years. Oh, and mom's lamp was around since around 1978 or so? Pay attention to today's globes and take care of them. Do not run them excessively (over 8 hours). Only use the approved/specified bulb. DO NO SHAKE when HOT! I have had good success so far. There are also ways to clear up a cloudy globe. Do a wee bit of research with google to help you if you run into problems! I will say I was disappointed and returned only 1 globe in the past 20 years, due to excessive bubbles in the lava (the globs looked like swiss cheese there were so many bubbles). Ordering from Amazon was painless. Very glad I made the choice to select this globe. I'm into my 4th hour of enjoyment, and I expect many many more. If things should change, I will edit my review to reflect so. Thank you for a great items :D

Takes about 3 hours to warm up, this is pretty standard and says so in the instructions. If yours isn’t warming up in that amount of time make sure the metal coil is laying flat on the bottom, not propped up or on its side. Mine was a bit cloudy at first because the amount of air bubbles in the wax material. I followed the instructions on how to reduce the cloudiness and it worked. I think that it is a bit murkier than other ones I’ve seen but I quite like it. I also think it could be because there is technically glitter in this one even though you can’t see it much. All in all, I really like my new lava lamp, I turn it on all the time!

Antes de hacer mi compra estuve leyendo muchos reviews y tuve muchas dudas sobre adquirir o no esta lampara. Despues de tenerla usando por mas de varios meses, puedo decir que estoy bastante satisfecho con ella y no me ha fallado ninguna vez. Como toda lampara de lava, una vez que la enciendes tienes que esperar un par de horas para que empiecen a burbujear y esta lampara lo hace sin ningun problema. La recomiendo ampliamente tanto por el precio como por su tamaño, en otros lugares estan mucho mas caras y de menor tamaño

Attention les ampoules nécessaires ne se trouvent plus dans le commerce et j'ai un peu galéré à trouver un modèle adapté sur internet. Mais sinon le produit est conforme aux attentes esthétiques ! :)

Lava did not flow, just created balls of wax, probably not enough wax to flow properly.Originally had a lamp costing twice as much and needed to replace worn unit but firm no longer in business so got this new lamp instead. Just goes to show you get what you pay for

The colour combination in this lamp is stunning and, in my opinion, the best of all the combos. The wax glows iridescently yellow near the bottom and changes through fiery orange and red tones as it rises up through the beautiful purple liquid, for a truly hot lava-like effect. Size-wise, the difference between this 16.3" and the next size down,14.5", doesn't seem like much, but it makes a huge difference in the lamp's majesty and affect. Before ordering this one, I had a 14.5", blue liquid with green wax. There's just no comparison. This one looks awesome even when it is first turned on and still inactive. Just the lit-up liquid with the glowing blob at the bottom is beautiful. Tip: Placing the lamp in front of a white background makes a big visual difference. It accentuates the colour of the liquid and gives added dimension to the floating wax.