I was cleaning my closet out and found my Lava Simplex 18” Caribbean Wave Machine! The problem is there’s no more color to the wave. I watched your video and was wondering if it’s possible to add a food dye and would it color everything or just the wave. I would appreciate your thoughts on this.
The dye I used was simple food coloring added to the water, which makes the lower blue layer. The upper clear layer was a clear baby oil I found in Walmart. If your wave machine has a removable plug in it, it may be possible to pull the plug and add more color to the water layer. The danger is in reseating the plug. If it ever worked loose and leaked it would make a nightmare of a mess. Lacking a plug, you could drill a hole, add the dye and plug the hole, but the same leak hazard applies. Good luck!
Hey Wayne I’m trying to re-fill an 18 inch motion wave cell that I have. I used water and food dye like you did filled about 1/3 and then the rest baby oil. But when I put the vessel on the motorized base that it came with it rocks back and forth like it should, but I’m not getting a very realistic wave happening. When I originally purchased this machine, it came with a jug of clear oil and filling instructions. There was some kind of liquid dye that smelled like a magic marker already inside the vessel that I had to add water to and after that I added the oil. The machine worked well but there was some kind of debris inside the vessel that shouldn’t have been there floating around. So the company I purchased it from told me to remove the oil and strain it and then toss out the coloured water and told me to get a blue marker and use the dye/chemicals in that with new water and then put oil in. I tried just using your method of water mixed with food dye and then oil on top but it didn’t give me the wave action that the vessel had previously. Is it possible that the chemical in magic markers (alcahol) would make a difference in regards to how the oil and water work with or against each other ? Is it possible that there needs a something besides water, food dye and oil ? Any idea ? I did read up on magic markers and it would have to be non-permanent to mix with water.
Interesting! I would think that the alcohol of the magic marker dye would mix with the oil instead of the water and cause everything to dye the same color or leach into the oil and separate from the water and cause clear waves inside of a blue sky or vessel.
Think I’ve got it figured out. I took a blue marker and swished it into some water and the water turned blue; so they probably used dye from a marker for the colouring. The chemicals in a marker are probably not important. They told me that I would have to re-use the oil that it came with. It certainly looks like baby oil and doesn’t have any real odour. So I’m betting that it’s a different viscosity than regular baby oil, because I think the motorized base might rock the vessel slower than yours does. If this is the case, I don’t know if it would be better to use a lower or higher viscosity oil. ??
My guess is that a higher viscosity oil would act like a thicker liquid and dampen the appearance of the waves. Low viscosity, thinner, oils would permit the waves of water to more easily penetrate into the oil creating more detailed action. Thanks for commenting!
@@wayneschmidt490I wonder if there's a good way to thin the oil to get the wave action that someone else might need, like if they built the wave mechanism that runs faster or slower, and stay in the oil and stay clear?
A search for clear oil viscosities might turn up liquids that are thicker, slower wave action, and this that are thinner, for fast wave action.@@bodeine454
It’s going to be hard to make that happen because it needs space and the current of waves behind it to cause the barrel effect but putting less water will create more room for the water to roll over like a wave does.
That would require a hole large enough for the ship and a plug large enough to seal the hole after inserting the ship. The hazard is that a larger plug will be easier to knock loose and cause a leak. Thanks for commenting!
0 I'm having the same problem I use baby oil distilled water but I can't seem to get that wavecrest action any ideas? Does the vessel need to be totally filled with either oil or water?
Hey Wayne I tried thinning the oil with gamsol (odourless turpentine) but this didn’t have any positive effect. The thought was by possibly lowering the viscosity or the weight of the oil that it would create more wave action, but after trying this with no positive effect, I now actually believe that a higher viscosity or heavier mineral oil might be better, perhaps the weight of the oil would push down more on the dyed water when the vessel tilts on its motorized base and create more wave action ?? The other thing that might be worth trying is putting a little isopropyl alcahol in the water, this mixes with water and not the oil l, but it does makes oil heavier, so we will see .
When I made mine I didn't do any tests to see which oil worked the best, baby oil, and it worked great. I guess I got lucky. Good luck with your tests!
@@wayneschmidt490That's interesting too, baby oil I would think is thinner than regular mineral oil so it sounds to me like thinner oil gives better wave action than thicker oil. IDK
@@bodeine454 The oil is lighter than the water so it makes sense that the lighter the better.. Been wanting to build one of these things for years - now might have a go..
I'm trying to add a picture or video and it won't let me I wish you guys could see it looks great but no real wave-action just a big swell I have the older version with the two dolphins
Awesome 👍
Thank you.
Mesmerizing toy!!!
I was cleaning my closet out and found my Lava Simplex 18” Caribbean Wave Machine!
The problem is there’s no more color to the wave. I watched your video and was wondering if it’s possible to add a food dye and would it color everything or just the wave. I would appreciate your thoughts on this.
The dye I used was simple food coloring added to the water, which makes the lower blue layer. The upper clear layer was a clear baby oil I found in Walmart. If your wave machine has a removable plug in it, it may be possible to pull the plug and add more color to the water layer. The danger is in reseating the plug. If it ever worked loose and leaked it would make a nightmare of a mess. Lacking a plug, you could drill a hole, add the dye and plug the hole, but the same leak hazard applies. Good luck!
Awesomee video! it looks amazing! 💗💗😍😍
Thank you!
Hey Wayne
I’m trying to re-fill an 18 inch motion wave cell that I have.
I used water and food dye like you did filled about 1/3 and then the rest baby oil.
But when I put the vessel on the motorized base that it came with it rocks back and forth like it should, but I’m not getting a very realistic wave happening.
When I originally purchased this machine, it came with a jug of clear oil and filling instructions.
There was some kind of liquid dye that smelled like a magic marker already inside the vessel that I had to add water to and after that I added the oil.
The machine worked well but there was some kind of debris inside the vessel that shouldn’t have been there floating around.
So the company I purchased it from told me to remove the oil and strain it and then toss out the coloured water and told me to get a blue marker and use the dye/chemicals in that with new water and then put oil in.
I tried just using your method of water mixed with food dye and then oil on top but it didn’t give me the wave action that the vessel had previously.
Is it possible that the chemical in magic markers (alcahol) would make a difference in regards to how the oil and water work with or against each other ?
Is it possible that there needs a something besides water, food dye and oil ?
Any idea ?
I did read up on magic markers and it would have to be non-permanent to mix with water.
Interesting!
I would think that the alcohol of the magic marker dye would mix with the oil instead of the water and cause everything to dye the same color or leach into the oil and separate from the water and cause clear waves inside of a blue sky or vessel.
Think I’ve got it figured out.
I took a blue marker and swished it into some water and the water turned blue; so they probably used dye from a marker for the colouring.
The chemicals in a marker are probably not important.
They told me that I would have to re-use the oil that it came with.
It certainly looks like baby oil and doesn’t have any real odour.
So I’m betting that it’s a different viscosity than regular baby oil, because I think the motorized base might rock the vessel slower than yours does.
If this is the case, I don’t know if it would be better to use a lower or higher viscosity oil. ??
My guess is that a higher viscosity oil would act like a thicker liquid and dampen the appearance of the waves. Low viscosity, thinner, oils would permit the waves of water to more easily penetrate into the oil creating more detailed action. Thanks for commenting!
@@wayneschmidt490I wonder if there's a good way to thin the oil to get the wave action that someone else might need, like if they built the wave mechanism that runs faster or slower, and stay in the oil and stay clear?
A search for clear oil viscosities might turn up liquids that are thicker, slower wave action, and this that are thinner, for fast wave action.@@bodeine454
@@wayneschmidt490 I'll see what I can find, thanks.
Hi Wayne,
awesome video! Do you still have the plexiglas box to this Wave Motion Machine?
No. Sorry.
Ah, too bad, but thanks for the quick answer!
Why do you ask that? The plexiglass box is what he made so you can make one if you need it. I can make you one and mail it to you
@@joejones2847 I asked because of a project for university, but we've already found an alternative. Thank you in any case!
Would a "reef" attached to the bottom make a barrel or surfing type of wave?
That's an interesting question. I'm not sure what shape would create the best wave effect.
It’s going to be hard to make that happen because it needs space and the current of waves behind it to cause the barrel effect but putting less water will create more room for the water to roll over like a wave does.
How to do add a little plastic ship to it?
That would require a hole large enough for the ship and a plug large enough to seal the hole after inserting the ship. The hazard is that a larger plug will be easier to knock loose and cause a leak. Thanks for commenting!
0 I'm having the same problem I use baby oil distilled water but I can't seem to get that wavecrest action any ideas? Does the vessel need to be totally filled with either oil or water?
I found 1/3 water and 2/3s baby oil worked best. It looks better if there aren't any air bubbles in it.
@@wayneschmidt490 thank you 👍
How do I am I supposed to fill the entire vessel so there is no air at the top or do I leave a space for air
I stood mine on end so the filling hole was at the very top, filled it all the way up then inserted the rubber cork.@@markcallahan-qk7dt
Hey Wayne
I tried thinning the oil with gamsol (odourless turpentine) but this didn’t have any positive effect.
The thought was by possibly lowering the viscosity or the weight of the oil that it would create more wave action, but after trying this with no positive effect, I now actually believe that a higher viscosity or heavier mineral oil might be better, perhaps the weight of the oil would push down more on the dyed water when the vessel tilts on its motorized base and create more wave action ??
The other thing that might be worth trying is putting a little isopropyl alcahol in the water, this mixes with water and not the oil l, but it does makes oil heavier, so we will see .
When I made mine I didn't do any tests to see which oil worked the best, baby oil, and it worked great. I guess I got lucky. Good luck with your tests!
Interesting thoughts 👍
@@wayneschmidt490That's interesting too, baby oil I would think is thinner than regular mineral oil so it sounds to me like thinner oil gives better wave action than thicker oil. IDK
@@bodeine454 The oil is lighter than the water so it makes sense that the lighter the better.. Been wanting to build one of these things for years - now might have a go..
I’ll bet that you used heavy mineral oil.
This is the kind people ingest as a laxative .
I used baby oil, I think it’s too light .
no, he used baby oil
Maybe you can mix a heavier mineral oil with a less viscous baby oil and get the viscosity that you need.?.?.?
I'm trying to add a picture or video and it won't let me I wish you guys could see it looks great but no real wave-action just a big swell I have the older version with the two dolphins