Retro Rocket Ship Ferrofluid Lava Lamp with Magnetic Black Wax and Clear Liquid, 18"

I am a teacher and I ordered 4 of these lava lamps for the chemistry club at my school. 3 arrived in good condition but one had a broken bulb. I contacted the seller who responded promptly and offered to send a replacement. The liquid in the lamps is a little hazy and has a faint brownish color (sort of like lamp oil), but it's easy enough to see the ferrofluid. As advertised, it takes about an hour to get the ferrofluid wax to start to rise and fall although the wax becomes liquid in about 30 min. Given that it's just a black blob periodically rising and falling, the lava lamp part is not that impressive. What makes this lava lamp amazing is what happens when you start putting magnets against the glass. Based on past experience with ferrofluid, I wasn't expecting much with the 4 hematite "stone" magnets and 1 thin circular disk magnet that came with the lamp (they frankly just aren't that strong) but I was very pleasantly surprised. When I brought the hematite magnets up to the glass, the ferrofluid was amazingly responsive. You get the characteristic spikes that ferrofluid is known for and by moving the magnets around you can get the ferrofluid to flow from one magnet to another by adjusting the distance from the glass. The ferrofluid can also be made to dance in the clear liquid by rapidly sliding the magnets near the glass. It's a lot of fun and a little hypnotic. Please note that the ferrofluid moves between the magnets if the magnets would normally attract. If they are positioned to repel, the ferrofluid does not flow between the magnets and blobs attracted to the magnets will repel each other. Considering what the magnetic field lines would look like, this makes perfect sense. A single one of the hematite stones can grab the entire ferrofluid blob. Even tiny blobs of ferrofluid will immediately migrate toward the magnet so it's easy to "clean up" the liquid if the ferrofluid breaks up into lots of little blobs. I had ordered some of those super strong neodymium magnets, but they aren't necessary for this lamp and that's a plus from a safety perspective. The neodymium magnets can pinch the skin if brought too close while the included magnets present no hazard (except to really small kids that might try to eat them). As I noted, visibility in the liquid is good, but if you are expecting the liquid to be crystal clear, you might be disappointed. The liquid is slightly hazy so the view is pretty good if you are looking in with the magnets on the sides of the lamp, but if you have the magnet in the back of the lamp and you have to see through the entire mixture, it looks fuzzy. Given how you normally play with the ferrofluid (hands on the sides), this is not likely to be an issue. I asked about the haziness when I contacted the vendor and was told that it will improve over time and by cycling the lamp on and off for a few hours at a time. Time will tell if it will become completely clear, but it's still amazing as is. There is a sticker on the "rocket" base saying that you shouldn't touch it during operation but my experience was that it got warm but not actually hot after a few hours of playing with it. All in all, this is a great item and the customer service is excellent. I'm sure my students will love playing with it. I am buying a few more as gifts for my nieces and nephews. If you have a science person in your family this would be a great gift!

I've included a video so you can see it in action. I am so in love with this thing. (my monitors behind it are black so it might be hard to see. And I think it was really hard for my phone to focus, but hopefully you will get the gist of it) This was shipped very well, arrived in great condition, and setup was super easy. It doesn't take long to heat up. It's smaller than my regular lava lamp, but I am actually glad because I have it between 2 of my monitors so it can catch my eye, and still not be too much in the way. The color of the light is very warm and orange. It's not overly bright, more like very soft mood lighting. The ferrofluid is black, of course, so when it's all down at the bottom, there is not very much light at all. But that's not why you would get it anyway, lol. It came with 5 magnets. 1 is a rather large disk that I think is mainly used to keep all the ferrofluid together during shipping. The other 4 magnets are rare earth magnets. They have a rainbow sheen to them, which I think is super groovy. The shapes are each a bit different, and they aren't overly strong, which is good. I don't think it would be good if they were. They are really perfect for what you use them for. So, it's a regular lava lamp, but then you can play with it like ferrofluid with the magnets. Make sure to follow the initial directions which are clear and easy to follow. It needs to be sort of calibrated when you first use it. Easy peasy. If it's cloudy when you first get it, it should clear up after several times being turned on. Mine was overly cloudy, but when I contacted the seller, he was super helpful and responsive and fixed the problem for me. If all the fluid goes up to the top and just stays there, the light is a bit too hot for it. The seller recommends a dimmer, which I don't have. When mine gets too hot (probably because my desk is warm from all the electronics), I just give it a break and turn it off to chill out. I love to just watch it. It's very meditative. Every time you turn it on, the flow pattern is unique. So it's so pleasant and wonderful to watch, and then play with. Which makes it better than a lava lamp, because they can't be played with. Don't leave it on unattended. This is my opinion. In other words, if no one is home, or you are going to bed, give it a rest. It's not something to leave on 24-7. The bulb is only a fraction as hot as the regular lava lamp. But in my correspondence with the seller, I got the impression that you'd only want to leave it on for a day and then give it a rest. This is honestly the best desk "toy" I have. I love love love it.

This $50 lava lamp worked for about 12 hours. My daughter was so pumped to get this, then less than a day later It stopped working. The black ferrofluid sunk to the bottom, we couldn’t get it to work properly. Also unlike the picture it was very yellow & cloudy not not clear. Definitely don’t waste your time this, you will just be turning around & sending it back.