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Rain Lamp |
Luckydesigns
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 15, 2002
Posts: 1214
From: Costa Mesa
|  Posted: 2006-05-04 08:40 am
Wow, that pretty much takes care of that. I ended up just buying a new old rain lamp on eBay recently. Maybe I'll open up the old one again and give the motor another shot. Thanks.
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Tacky Tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 27, 2002
Posts: 233
From: Tackyville, N. CA
| Posted: 2010-04-04 6:01 pm
Thought I'd revive the ol rain lamp thread.
I bought one a few weeks ago and it's been tikified. I'm still messing with the plants...won't they make a huge oily mess if the original plants are touching the wires? Or do we really care...that's the nature of these things??
I have a tiki in the center, and a red party light at the top. It looks volcano-ish....I'm thinking of getting some aquarium rocks or something to make it look more volcano-like. I'd love to see pictures of what people have done with theirs. Mine looks like the one at FI...rope on the bottom and 4 layers of grass skirt on the top.
So let's see those rain lamps! Sorry but they are BlackBerry photos, but that's life for right now.
Tacky
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[ This Message was edited by: Tacky Tiki 2010-04-04 18:39 ]
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VampiressRN
Grand Member (3 years) 
Joined: Nov 23, 2006
Posts: 3550
From: Sin City Lincoln Hills (NorCal)
| Posted: 2010-04-04 6:48 pm
Looking pretty good Barb. I used to hate those lamps, but have a different appreciation for them now. 
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tikipaka
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: May 31, 2006
Posts: 580
From: New York
| Posted: 2010-04-05 06:56 am
www.oillampman.com/bottlewick.html
Check out this site, it has the specific oil on it for the rain lamps.
Good luck!
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Tacky Tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 27, 2002
Posts: 233
From: Tackyville, N. CA
| Posted: 2010-04-11 3:41 pm
When I clicked on 'buy me'on that page I got a message that said it was no longer in their catalog!! I'll do a Google search. May have to use regular mineral oil after all!
Thanks for making me aware of the product. Maybe I can find some on eBay??
Tacky
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On board the Tikiyaki Airways flight, waiting for a Mai Tai!
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Tom Slick
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 26, 2005
Posts: 940
From: The Beaches of South Bay, SoCal
| Posted: 2010-04-11 10:33 pm
Everyone pretty much covered exactly what needs to be done. But here is the Clifnotes version of what has already been said:
Mineral oil is what was used, and can still be bought at cvs, rite aid and most other pharmacies. It has the correct consistancy for most pumps, and mine(a 32" from the 1970s) called to use this in the instructions manual that someone had uploaded to the internet a few years ago.
http://www.simnia.com/rain_lamps/fluids/fluids.htm
The above is a site that points out different types of oil, but at the end it also states that the major manufacturers who supplied the majority of rainlamps to the public in the 70s, also called for using regular old mineral oil(not to be confused with mineral spirits!).
Also, the best way to keep a motor running is to keep the fluid clean, and at the right levels. Never run your rainlamp without fluid(dry run)for more than just "testing times".
Imagine it like a Ferrari of lamps; If you use the lamp frequently, keep the oil clean. If you don't run it often, use moist(not dripping) watered paper towels to clean off the strands prior to using, because they will catch household dust like flypaper catches flys. Wipe the (outer-top)basin out as well, before restarting the lamp if it has sat unused with liquid for any period of time. A clean motor, is a running motor.
Lastly, I would also agree with others not to use any scented oils, as they have potential to gum up the motor, and eventually burn it out.
[ This Message was edited by: Tom Slick 2010-04-11 23:04 ]
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Tacky Tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 27, 2002
Posts: 233
From: Tackyville, N. CA
| Posted: 2010-04-13 8:48 pm
I purchased some rain lamp oil on ebay...hopefully it is the real deal. It's supposed to be drakeol 35. I do have mineral oil, but read a little online about it smelling bad after awhile. Like it went rancid. Mineral oil also has 'vitamin e' as a stabilizer...maybe that is what smells bad and perhaps the drakeol 35 has a different stabilizer? I could not determine if mineral oil (sold as an 'intestinal lubricant') is the same viscosity as drakeol 35 or kaydol 35. There were many numbers after 'drakeol' and 'kaydol' which I assume means the viscosity. I read a bit about mineral oil gumming up after awhile, but perhaps these peeps didn't keep their lamp clean or run it regularly.
I'm still messing with the fake plants...got some small aquarium plants as possible additions. Won't the plants get all oily? Or is that supposed to happen, just as long as they don't drip oil out onto the carpet?
I haven't seen a rain lamp in action since I was about 10, so I just don't remember how the plant thing works!
I love my rain lamp...it's just so TACKY!!!
Tacky Tiki
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lefthandedgoth
Member
Joined: May 07, 2010
Posts: 4
From: oooooooooooklahoma
| Posted: 2010-05-07 11:15 pm
Hi!
I found Tiki Central because I was looking for info about rain lamps -- wow... I love this site.
Actually -- somehow I came across TikiSkip's tiki rain lamp and just went NUTS over the idea of modding one for myself. I didn't used to like tiki stuff, but I think it's because I had never heard of a tiki bar (I live in *Oklahoma*) and since hearing of the idea a year or two ago, I've experienced it properly. I bow down to the mysterious and awesome tiki now. And some day, I think I might just open a tiki bar of my own.
Anyhow. I didn't want to just rip off TikiSkip's idea, because 1) it's not my own idea and 2) wouldn't fit too well with my home decor. I'm a huge fan of Halloween and so after a little thought it was obvious that MY rain lamp needed to be a gothy type. Maybe with red-tinted mineral oil. Muhahahahahaha
So, I've been restoring an ancient rain lamp. It's the 3ft high swag lamp type. I painted it first with black enamel (uh-oh... mineral oil + enamel = not good...) and then used acrylics to mottle and daub it to look more like stone. I will seal it well with polyurethane, oh yeah. Couple coats at least.
The Venus chick in the middle looks like she's disrobing, has a scarf or toga or something draped over her shoulder. The scarf comes from beneath her bare butt (?!), drapes over her shoulder, across her boobs, covers up her privates, and then cascades to the ground along her left leg. She's no longer gold toned, and the horrible casting job now looks like pits in the statuary. I painted her like stone and then draped black and white tulle over her where the scarf thing was molded in. I'm not done yet. I'll seal that with a satin polyurethane and go over that with a black wash to add dimension. Maybe a leetle eety bit of sparkle. Then I will add some small silver silk flowers to her hand so it doesn't look like she's playing with herself anymore, perhaps some to her hair as well.
I picked out some plastic ferny type foliage -- all mine came apart when I washed it. I tried to find black and silver aquarium plants in bulk but never did, so I wound up with a grey-green from the silk flower aisle. I might spray paint it black but I'm pretty sure the mineral oil will eat off the spray paint. I also got some red and black roses. The bands around the outside were a crusty metal, so I'll put a black ribbon there instead and a thinner silver ribbon over that. I have some very small rhinestones, but ya gotta be careful with the glitz. I just want a highlight here and there, not Elton John.
I knew already that the motor was frozen. I got it from someone on Craig's List, paid $20. The motor was covered in a thick stinky orange goo (the seller said they used crisco oil in it). It's the type where the motor is not supposed to be submerged in anything and there was orange goo caked inside the electric box, so I cleaned it out as best I could, plugged it in and... nothing! (The light works, though.) The cord looked quite mysterious anyway, like chewed, so I just chucked the electrical.
I had to use a whole box of baking soda to absorb the goo so it could be scrubbed away. Then an industrial degreaser on the rest with a lot of elbow grease. Finally I got it to the point where I could soak it in the bathtub with detergent. It's clean now, but it took a LOT of work.
Finally got round to painting it this week and looking forward to installing a brand new submersible pump in the bottom. I actually had a little color changing LED I took out of a different fountain and wired it into the electrical, but when I plugged it in to test, I got an arc between a couple of the connections that were too close to each other and zap! Fried the light. I hadn't soldered or wrapped the connections yet because I wanted to test it first. Um. Oops.
I'm now using a 6 volt pump from a "fountain magic III pump kit". It says it can pump water 18", and the rain lamp innards are about that high. It has two "layers" of fishing line, one at an angle and the other vertical. I think baby oil (light mineral oil) will flow through it pretty well.
This is not the one I'm using -- but I can't find the one I'm using. If this project works out pretty well, I'm going to make more to sell. I googled "indoor submersible pump lights".
Here's what I will probably use if I do another (or fry this one, ha ha).
http://www.amazon.com/Submersible-Aquarium-Light-Fountain-PP-300L/dp/B0017CVC3O
This site has a whole line of the submersible pumps with replacement bulbs, too
http://www.fountainsnslate.com/pumps_with_light_combination
And finally a large supplier (probably has a minimum purchase requirement)
http://www.micostore.com/aquapump.html
My plan is to use silicone to glue the pump to a metal plate (or possibly a frisbee CD) so that it won't fall over in the bottom. If I adhere it to the bottom of the reservoir I won't be able to get the pan back off to clean it, ha ha. If I need to add weight, I'll silicone some of those flat marble things to it. Mineral oil does not eat silicone so I think it should work.
I've seen posts from people who say they've had good results from baby oil, so I'll start with that. If it's too loose I'll add some heavier mineral oil.
Sound good? Bad? Stupid? Let me know what you think...
Ande
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