# My cool thrift store find last week



## Evil Eyes (Aug 23, 2007)

Look what I found for $5 at a thrift store! This 70's fountain lamp actually plugs into the wall and has a light inside with water that shoots down the wires to look like rain. It can get a bit messy but I fully intend on adding it into my haunt. I'm going to change out the bulb with a colored one and maybe make the woman a vampire or change her out with a skeleton or something. Anyone have any other ideas?


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## beelce (Jul 21, 2007)

I like your idea...nice find...how about blood dripping down the wires


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## Wildcat (Nov 3, 2007)

Nice find.
I agree with the blood idea. If you left the bulb white but use a dimmer bulb and colour the water red it should be a pretty cool prop.


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## Liam (Mar 23, 2007)

That is a great find! I totally agree about the blood - there's a great fountain blood recipe at Wolfstone's page. Much better and more realistic than just water with red food coloring. Oh, and while you're at it, why not add some red or green LED eyes to the statue? That would RULE.


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## meltdown211 (Aug 2, 2007)

My friends family use to have one of those as a kid. The liquid was not water but oil, clear and slow dripping down the wires. We played with it for awhile until his mom and dad yelled at us to not touch it again. The oil dripped down in individual balls all along each strand had to be at least 10 balls on each wire...water wont cling to the strands, it has to be thicker.

Google it to find out what the liquid is inside that fixture...

They are called "Rain Lamps"

http://www.simnia.com/rain_lamps/

How rain lamps work
The oil droplets that course down the stands at regular intervals are not controlled by any dispensing mechanism other than gravity. Apparently the oil's high viscosity and the lamp's drip hole diameter and fiber thickness were all carefully matched so that the rate of drip through the remaining space when the fiber is inside the hole is fast and regular, and allows the oil droplets to retain their shape as they flow, which is something water droplets probably would not do very well. 
There is a hidden collecting basin at the top of the lamp that distributes the oil to all the holes at once, and a hidden collecting basin at the bottom of the lamp that collects all the oil that has finished dripping down the strands. A hidden motor attached to the underside of the cage part of the lamp controls a small oil pump that extends into the oil in the bottom basin, and pumps it back to the top basin via a hidden tube inside one of the posts, in an endless circular cycle. The oil pump uses propeller-like blades to push the oil up the tube.

There is a simple mechanism to keep the oil in the top basin from overflowing. A hidden tube inside a second post carries any excess oil back to the bottom basin, like the overflow drain in a sink or bathtub. As long as the pump can pump the minimum amount of oil needed, the oil level in the top basin remains constant.

A third post contains hidden wires that power the bulb at the top of the lamp. Therefore all three posts have important functions other than merely physical support: (1) oil flow upwards, (2) oil flow downwards, (3) electricity flow. On a few rain lamps, these three posts/functions are grouped together into a single central post. Jonas reports seeing different models of rain lamps with 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 posts.


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

You can still add red food coloring to the oil though. My friend had one and put vegy oil in it..I think it ruined it..LOL!


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## Cassie7 (Sep 16, 2007)

Yeah, my mother had a huge one and I recall her using mineral oil in hers.


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## joker (Sep 25, 2007)

Cool find. My grandmother had one of those years ago. If you change out the woman she would make a good addition to a tombstone.


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## Sickie Ickie (Jun 20, 2006)

joker, are you talking about the wife, or the statue? LOL


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## Evil Eyes (Aug 23, 2007)

Meltdown211, wow, you're awesome! Thanks so much for all of your help. I had no idea it was actually oil in these things but I do remember as a child seeing the little beads dropping down. When I poured water in it to see if it worked it was shooting all over the place and since I planned on putting it in my house, it would've been a mess. Can't wait to try it with oil. I thought about making it red but may use a red bulb instead because if that oil should spill in my house and it's red, YIKES!


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## joker (Sep 25, 2007)

Sickie Ickie said:


> joker, are you talking about the wife, or the statue? LOL


I'll never tell mwahahahaha:voorhees:


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## Monk (Aug 26, 2008)

Cassie7 said:


> Yeah, my mother had a huge one and I recall her using mineral oil in hers.


Same here.


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## Sickie Ickie (Jun 20, 2006)

> Yeah, my mother had a huge one and I recall her using mineral oil in hers.


Cassie, I'd make a dirty statement here...but somethings are too easy. LOL


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## meltdown211 (Aug 2, 2007)

THATS WHY YOUR CALLED SICKIE ICKIE!!! LOL 

Glad to help!! I would hate to see you damage that great find! It looks like that piece has some value! If you read some of the webpages out there you can sell those for a nice profit on Ebay! Anywho, I dont know what type of oil is best in those things but you have as start on what to look for.

Let us know what you decide to do with it.

Melty


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## Sickie Ickie (Jun 20, 2006)

Looks like these are selling for roughly $50 ea on Ebay...sue ya want to mess with it?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Goddess...oryZ4054QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


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## Evil Eyes (Aug 23, 2007)

Ya know, after I was reading more about these things I think I will not paint it. The statue just pops right out so maybe I will keep it and temporarily replace it with a skeleton or something the same size. Just doing that and having a colored light, maybe a few spiders on it should be sufficient. I'll post some photos when I'm done with it but it may be a while since I now have about 15 different projects going (I'm not kidding). I really do have adult ADD I believe. Everything I look at is something to transform for Halloween. I'm obsessed with this holiday!


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## Haunted Bayou (Feb 16, 2007)

Yep, those were popular in the 70s. My brother had one. He thought it was great. I thought it was tacky, which makes it great for a halloween prop. 

It would look great with a skeleton in it.


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## GothicCandle (Mar 26, 2007)

Sickie Ickie said:


> Looks like these are selling for roughly $50 ea on Ebay...sue ya want to mess with it?
> 
> http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Goddess...oryZ4054QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


OMGOSH Look how much it sold for!!!!!!


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## HalloweenZombie (Jul 22, 2007)

Well then, it looks like $5 well spent. I kind of like it the way it is. I wouldn't mess with it at all.


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## meltdown211 (Aug 2, 2007)

Only 15 Projects At Once??? You Better Get You Butt In Gear!! We All Have At Least 25-50 Projects Going At The Same Time!!! Your Slacking!!! Lol Jk


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## HibLaGrande (Sep 25, 2005)

my aunt had one just like that, it had oil in it. not water.


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