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Rain Lamp |
Chip and Andy
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 13, 2004
Posts: 2079
From: Corner table, Molokai Lounge, Mai-Kai.
|  Posted: 2005-12-06 08:29 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2004-08-27 17:55, martiki wrote:
I was going to add some scented oil to the mix but haven't yet?
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Be very careful of using scented oils. It sounds like a simple idea, but most of the fragrance oils will eventually gum up the motor or rain pours. The oil that is the carrier of the fragrance is usually vegetable based and is designed to evaporate to carry the fragrance which ultimately leads to a thick gummy mass that is the death of the motors.
Someone else mentioned glycerin... Again, be careful for the very same evaporation reason.
Ultimately you have to treat a rain lamp like you would an aquarium. Frequent monitoring of fluid levels and regular cleaning of parts.
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tikiskip
Grand Member (6 years) 
Joined: Nov 26, 2005
Posts: 2085 | Posted: 2005-12-06 09:33 am Permalink
I took old venus de rilo out! And put a tiki in it's place, so it would fit in with my decor. I also added two rattan hats on the top and bottom. for that tropical look. I trashed the venus, Now watch, plastic venus de milo dolls will become realy rare!
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mbonga
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 04, 2005
Posts: 556
From: La Mesa, California
| Posted: 2005-12-06 6:30 pm Permalink
Trashed it? You could've sold it on eBay!
Seriously, though, trashing the centerpiece of a 35-year-old lamp doesn't sound very wise. What if you want to resell it? And maybe somebody just bought a vintage rain lamp with a tiki inside, and they want to restore their lamp to the original look, and they're willing to pay a bundle to do so, but they just can't find anyone who will part with their Venus de Milo...
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tikiskip
Grand Member (6 years)
Joined: Nov 26, 2005
Posts: 2085 | Posted: 2005-12-06 8:35 pm Permalink
The lamp was 10 bucks, the hats were 10 each. The tiki was 14 Bucks. Ok now we have 44 dollars. On ebay on the right day, I know I can Make that. But I love my lamp! And will not be selling it until I have to go to the nursing home. I hear they only let you take one or two mugs tops!
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mbonga
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 04, 2005
Posts: 556
From: La Mesa, California
| Posted: 2005-12-07 05:42 am Permalink
Yeah, considering how many rain lamps are probably discarded in their entirety due to burned out motors, vintage parts for them are probably pretty cheap. On the other hand, some rain lamps sell for over $100, both old and new.
So how did you get access to the inside of the fiber cage to replace the centerpiece? On my lamp it looks like the posts would have to be removed first, and I'm afraid I might mess up the seals or hoses or whatever to do that.
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tikiskip
Grand Member (6 years)
Joined: Nov 26, 2005
Posts: 2085 | Posted: 2005-12-07 11:32 am Permalink
All you have to do is pull up on the venus doll. Mine came right out. you can now pull the wires apart some, And pull out the doll. then there is a small post under the doll on lamp base. (I used cork floats as a base to raise tiki) The floats and tiki can be put in the same way. I took two cork floats and drilled a hole in them to match hole in lamp base.the corks and tiki must be put in one at a time, and glued inside lamp. now put tiki on corks, and then corks on lamp. I used wire and glue to do this.
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mbonga
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 04, 2005
Posts: 556
From: La Mesa, California
| Posted: 2005-12-07 7:33 pm Permalink
Aha. I guess I've been too afraid to touch, stretch, or otherwise molest those fibers. That method makes sense, though, thanks.
Were it not for the sentimental value of the Venus statue, I'd actually prefer to see a tiki inside. A tiki sounds like a great combination with the rain and shrubbery. Maybe I should get another lamp... If you have any good photos of your final lamp, especially in operation, I'd be interested in seeing those.
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tikiskip
Grand Member (6 years)
Joined: Nov 26, 2005
Posts: 2085 | Posted: 2005-12-09 4:23 pm Permalink
Here are the pictures you asked for. Hope you like...
Replaced pictures due to Shutterfly pics being lost.
[ This Message was edited by: tikiskip 2012-08-29 07:07 ]
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mbonga
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 04, 2005
Posts: 556
From: La Mesa, California
| Posted: 2005-12-09 9:37 pm Permalink
Wow, nice! I'll bet it looks particularly good in the dark. And putting bamboo where the posts are was a great idea, too. Is it OK to repost your pics, like on my site or elsewhere?
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tikiskip
Grand Member (6 years)
Joined: Nov 26, 2005
Posts: 2085 | Posted: 2005-12-10 06:32 am Permalink
I'm glad you like! Yes you can post the pic's in your site. I also covered the gold with paper. So it's a little more envolved than ripping out o'l venus, But not that hard.
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mbonga
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 04, 2005
Posts: 556
From: La Mesa, California
| Posted: 2005-12-10 11:11 pm Permalink
A couple more questions: (1) How did you get the bamboo over the existing posts? (2) Did you change the original light bulb, or did it always have that yellow color?
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tikiskip
Grand Member (6 years)
Joined: Nov 26, 2005
Posts: 2085 | Posted: 2005-12-11 08:05 am Permalink
To fit the bamboo over the posts I split the bamboo. you will need to find bamboo large enough to fit over the post, but not too large or bamboo will hit the wire that the oil comes down on. You will also need to use your dremel tool to grind out the center of the bamboo to make it fit.Especially at the nodes. be sure to have nodes at different levels. low, mid, high. It looks better. Plus the nodes are what make bamboo cool. Now all you do is glue the two halves toghether, be sure you use the same two halves so they jive. use wire to hold till glue dries. Now on the light mine came that way, But I checked and you can just pull it out through the wire. to build this light get all of the oil out or it will be a mess. plus on the top I took out the gold plastic top, made a spacer out of foam then covered it with the paper. Then topped off with a hat. Good luck.
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mbonga
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 04, 2005
Posts: 556
From: La Mesa, California
| Posted: 2005-12-11 1:13 pm Permalink
Thanks for the info and repost permission. I already created a separate web page about your lamp yesterday, and I'll add your new info today.
http://www.simnia.com/rain_lamps/featured/tikiskip.htm
[ This Message was edited by: mbonga 2006-01-31 22:36 ]
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AkVirgo_75m
Member
Joined: Apr 22, 2006
Posts: 1
From: Anchorage, AK
| Posted: 2006-04-22 04:21 am Permalink
Luckydesigns, mineral oil can be found in the pharmacy section of most stores near the laxatives. Also, you really don't have to change the mineral oil at all... we rarely ever change the mineral oil in ours. If you open up the base and there is alot of sediment in the oil, then I would change it. This link might help on why its the magical sauce: http://www.answers.com/topic/mineral-oil. Ya gotta scroll down past all the definitions that pretty much say the same thing. lol
Unkle John, are you sure the motor is burnt out? It might just be gummed up. Try taking off the base and spinning the motor shaft by hand. If it starts to spin on its own, or seems to want to, lube the top shaft bearing (at the top of the motor) and the middle shaft bearing with WD-40 or Gunk Super Oil and see if that helps.
Mbonga, I found that the tip of a dart cleans them quite well. A needle works too... but a dart tip seems to clean it better. Also, on the colored lights... just buy party lights... thats what my mother did... blue or green look really cool... but she doesn't like red, so I don't know how that looks. I'm assuming it'd look awesome because I used to put 3 red party lights in my ceiling fan, and with a blacklight added, it gets really trippy... =D
Futuragirl, the bearings are probably gummed up pretty bad... but the cylinder on the motor shaft that sits inside the motor is probably caked even worse. It's pretty easy to disassemble and clean.
TTFN, most 30" rain lamps take 1 quart of mineral oil.
If anyone needs any help fixing a rain lamp or has any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Take Care,
AkVirgo
[ This Message was edited by: AkVirgo_75m 2006-04-22 04:22 ]
[ This Message was edited by: AkVirgo_75m 2006-04-22 04:25 ]
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Unkle John
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 22, 2003
Posts: 1216
From: Middle-of-the-Ocean, TX
| Posted: 2006-04-30 11:59 am Permalink
Thanks AK Virgo!
I'll take her apart in the next few days and check her out.
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