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Rain Lamp |
Luckydesigns
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 15, 2002
Posts: 1893
From: Costa Mesa
|  Posted: 2004-08-27 12:05 am Permalink
I just won a pretty cool rain lamp on Ebay and it arrived a couple of days ago. So I go to the grocery store looking for mineral oil and all I could find was vegetable oil. Now, I know why you don't want a whole bunch of vegetable oil out open in your house. It turns out that the smell from that stuff gets pretty bad in a warm house for a couple of days.
So here are my questions to you; Where the hell do you get mineral oil? Why is that the magical sauce to put in the lamp? Do you need to change the stuff periodically? Will mineral oil smell up my house like the vegatable oil?
Thanks for the responses. The lamp looks so cool lit up and running that I want to get it back in working/ smelling good order again.
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Spike
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stuff-o-rama
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 20, 2003
Posts: 751
From: Central Coast of California
| Posted: 2004-08-27 12:10 am Permalink
Baby Oil is essentially scented mineral oil. You can usually find mineral oil in the drug store near either baby oils or rubbing alcohol.
Happy hunting!
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TNTiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 15, 2004
Posts: 464
From: Knoxville, TN
| Posted: 2004-08-27 04:53 am Permalink
[ This Message was edited by: TNTiki on 2004-11-06 15:13 ]
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Futura Girl
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 01, 2002
Posts: 933 | Posted: 2004-08-27 06:45 am Permalink
wal mart sells unscented mineral oil - look for it in medicinal supplies.
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Futura Girl
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 01, 2002
Posts: 933 | Posted: 2004-08-27 06:46 am Permalink
p.s.
you don't want to use ANYTHING but plain mineral oil - trust me i messed up a really cool vintage oil lamp through experimentation 
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Luckydesigns
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 15, 2002
Posts: 1893
From: Costa Mesa
| Posted: 2004-08-27 08:36 am Permalink
I think that pretty much covers it. Thanks everybody.
How'd you mess up that lamp Futura? I took apart my lamp last night and totally cleaned the whole thing with dishwashing liquid and water. I'm hoping that none of that leads to any kind of rusting.
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Unkle John
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 22, 2003
Posts: 1216
From: Middle-of-the-Ocean, TX
| Posted: 2004-08-27 10:55 am Permalink
I have a rain lamp of a nekkid chick (WHOO HOO) i love it, but my problem is the motor is burned out. Is ther ea way i can fix it so it will rain again?
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martiki
Official Mixologist
Joined: Mar 29, 2002
Posts: 3056
From: http://www.smugglerscovesf.com
| Posted: 2004-08-27 5:55 pm Permalink
My rain lamp is filled with a half gallon of fresh mineral oil after a thorough cleaning, and it still stinks. I was going to add some scented oil to the mix but haven't yet. Anyone try that?
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Futura Girl
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 01, 2002
Posts: 933 | Posted: 2004-08-27 6:00 pm Permalink
i tried various thin viscosity vegetable oils but they still clogged up the pores above the rain wires - even though i was able to clean them out the old oil had mucked up the pump so badly - it eventually stopped working.
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dogbytes
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: Mar 24, 2002
Posts: 2240
From: seattle, wa
| Posted: 2004-08-27 8:55 pm Permalink
i'm pretty sure you can get mineral oil at the drug store ~ but if not, veterinary supply houses stock the stuff by the gallon! (although they dont use it for rain lamps, instead, you should read the product use details here..)
Valley Vet
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Philot
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 04, 2003
Posts: 187
From: The armpit of Florida
| Posted: 2004-09-05 11:55 pm Permalink
DogBytes:
You got your link wrong. Vetrenary uses of mineral oil for dummies.
And I think "naked chick" is unfairly slighting to the Venus de Milo. Harumph!
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ttfn
Member
Joined: Apr 02, 2005
Posts: 1 | Posted: 2005-04-02 08:15 am Permalink
How much mineral oil do I use in a rain lamp? I have one that is about 30 inches high. Though the pump runs, no rain falls. I put in about 1 pint of mineral oil. Suggestions?
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TTFN!
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mbonga
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 04, 2005
Posts: 556
From: La Mesa, California
| Posted: 2005-12-04 09:31 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2005-04-02 08:15, ttfn wrote:
How much mineral oil do I use in a rain lamp? I have one that is about 30 inches high. Though the pump runs, no rain falls. I put in about 1 pint of mineral oil. Suggestions?
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I have a large rain lamp and it didn't start working until I put in 1 1/2 pints of mineral oil.
I just started a web page of miscellaneous info about rain lamps, since I just got one myself from eBay, and such information is hard to find. Here's the link:
http://www.simnia.com/rain_lamps/
There are several things I haven't found out yet myself, like: (1) Why is glycerine often said to work in rain lamps when I can find no documentation to support that, and how is glycerine different than mineral oil? (2) Are there schematic diagrams anywhere of rain lamps, of how they're constructed, and how they work? (3) Are replacement parts available, and if so, where are they obtained? (4) How does one unclog the channels when individual fibers stop dripping? (5) What is the history of rain lamps, who invented them, are they patented, etc.?
Anyway, thanks for the info, everybody. I just came across this forum today and learned a lot already.
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martiki
Official Mixologist
Joined: Mar 29, 2002
Posts: 3056
From: http://www.smugglerscovesf.com
| Posted: 2005-12-05 08:16 am Permalink
Here's who invented it:
http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=11431&forum=6
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mbonga
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 04, 2005
Posts: 556
From: La Mesa, California
| Posted: 2005-12-05 6:38 pm Permalink
Awesome. I'll have to add that info to my site! He's already my hero. 
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