Marx Bubbling Water Tower "pops" when it begins Bubbling

GeoPeg posted:

Today, after a bit of repair, I set the bubbling tube on my newly acquired Marx water tower into position, directly on top of the bulb. The tube fits somewhat sloppily into the red plastic center hole, where it can rest on top of the light bulb to get maximum heating. The top "water tank" has a rubber grommet that securely holds the tube when all assembled, but I wasn't quite ready to finish things at this point, so I just turned on the juice to see if the bubbler would bubble. 

I watched for a few minutes, got tired of that and turned my back on it to smash some eyelets in the arbor press with my grandson. All of a sudden there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my post to see what was the matter, wait … different story. Anywho, I did hear a clatter and when I turned around, the glass tube was merrily bubbling away. The noise sounded like something associated with the tower had fallen and hit something plastic. Then I noticed the glass tube had shot out of the hole in the bottom, and was now resting on the round, red plastic piece. This was the second time I have heard a noise, almost like a popping noise, on the Marx tower and once before on my Lionel bubbling oil derrick, always at the same exact instant the bubbling began. I actually saw it happen on the oil derrick - it caused the tube to visibly move and begin bubbling, all in an instant.

Has anyone else seen or heard this phenomena?

George

I’d like to think of myself as a bubble light aficionado.....I have them everywhere, I have 7 bubble light towers, bubble lights on the tree, on my mantle.....you get the picture....anywhoo.....yes the sound you heard is normal if the bubble light has been sitting for a long time, the chemical in the bottom of the “test tube” gets compacted from the weight of the fluid sitting on it...and when it heats up, POP...I’ve had good luck with the Marx and Kline bubbling water towers by every now and then shake the **** out of them...of course take the bulb out first, and don’t do it while it’s on.....shaking loosens the chemical packed down in the bottom of the tube....this also works if you get one that won’t bubble after being heated up...hope that helps.......Pat

Oh, and keep a gap between the bulb and the bubble tube, don’t need much, a 1/16th , or an 1/8th of an inch should do, that’s gotta be done on a case by case method...if you let the bulb touch the tube, if it does pop on you, it could break the bulb, or worse....the bubble tube........Pat

harmonyards posted:

Oh, and keep a gap between the bulb and the bubble tube, don’t need much, a 1/16th , or an 1/8th of an inch should do, that’s gotta be done on a case by case method...if you let the bulb touch the tube, if it does pop on you, it could break the bulb, or worse....the bubble tube........Pat

Yeah, I can see where the bubble tube could shatter the lamp - I mean my tube popped right out of the hole! That was nearly a 1/4" jump, as it pushed away from the lamp!

My marx tower does this a lot. Turn it on and all of a sudden you hear POP than bubbles. I love it part of the old school feeling.

E-UNIT-79 posted:

My marx tower does this a lot. Turn it on and all of a sudden you hear POP than bubbles. I love it part of the old school feeling.

Not gonna lie, ....so do I sometimes....it’s pretty neat....startles the grandkids.....then they yell, “look it’s bubbling!”..........priceless!...........Pat

You might be starting your bubbling water tower at too high a voltage level.  I usually start mine low, then gradually work up to operating temperature.  It runs off a small dedicated transformer, rather than the accessory terminals of the main transformer.

My Marx water tower makes a sorta "pop" or "clock" when it finally gets hot enough to bubble. Never had the tube move though. 

O-gauger posted:

My Marx water tower makes a sorta "pop" or "clock" when it finally gets hot enough to bubble. Never had the tube move though. 

My tube doesn't move either … I was restoring mine when it popped and jumped - the tube was literally just sitting on top of the light bulb and leaning against the interior of the tower (water tank was removed.)

Balshis posted:

You might be starting your bubbling water tower at too high a voltage level.  I usually start mine low, then gradually work up to operating temperature.  It runs off a small dedicated transformer, rather than the accessory terminals of the main transformer.

It's set to 12 volts and I have a 12.5 volt bulb installed, a GE #428, rated at 3.125watts @12.5v and .250a. The correct bulb should be (from what I have read) a GE #430, rated at 3.5 watts @14.0v and .250a. So if anything, I'm a bit on the "light side" with my setup.

As others have suggested, I may add foil inside the light box or even dab some thermal compound around the point of contact area between the lamp and the tube. Right now it takes 20 to 30 minutes for the bubbling to start, which seems a bit long. But when it does start, I always know it! 

GeoPeg posted:

It's set to 12 volts and I have a 12.5 volt bulb installed, a GE #428, rated at 3.125watts @12.5v and .250a. The correct bulb should be (from what I have read) a GE #430, rated at 3.5 watts @14.0v and .250a. So if anything, I'm a bit on the "light side" with my setup.

Actually, you're probably not on the light side with the heat.  Ohms law again.   Since that bulb is a lower voltage rated bulb, it's probably running at or very near it's full rated current.  However, the 14V bulb is not getting it's full rated power and is producing less heat as a result.