Replacing Colossus lava a bad idea?

[Vadeem Beginnin]

A restaurant that was closing gave me a big lava lamp called a Colossus:

http://www.lavalamp.com/products/lava-lamps/colossus/

I came here to look for directions on how to get the wax out and switch it (I wanted green lava, clear water), but now that I read more, I see that it might never work the same way as the original.

Does the fact that LavaLamp does not offer that color combination mean that the green wax is unsuitable for such a large lamp?

If the green wax has the same properties as any other, do I have any other recourse than shipping this 110 pound thing back to the factory in Illinois?

[Jonny Magma]

Vadeem,
You can purchase my companies refill kit. I have had many people use our kits for the colossus with great success. If you search "louie" in the pics page you will see a few of the refills done by people here on the site. You can email me through this site if you have any questions.

Jonny

www.gookits.com

[Vadeem Beginnin]

Thank you for the quick reply Jonny,

I see that your lava flows at a cooler temperature than the OEM wax. Will the rheostat on the Colossus have enough range, or will I need to secure a lower wattage bulb? I ask because it is quite difficult to get the lamp apart - I'd rather just do it once!

Is the included coil in the kit large enough for the Colossus? Is it "matched" for your wax, or will the OEM coil be sufficient?

I know your website is under construction, but what is "Premix to secondary"? Secondary colors?

I then see an option for Color Packs. Do I need to order this in addition to the standard kit, or only if I was doing more than one lamp in different colors?

The Surfactant treats how much water per 4oz? The Colossus has 10 gallons of water in it.

How much wax do I need for the Colossus? I could not find this data in my search.


Sorry for all of the questions, but there are usually 10 people afraid to ask for every person that does.

[Jonny Magma]

Vadeem,
You will need to pick up a dimmer switch for your lamp. You can find them cheap at "Home Depot" and similar stores. Using a dimmer is also beneficial for start up time. You can start it quicker with it all the way up and then throttle it back to your preferred flow. Note: Be sure not to leave it on full blast for too long and cook the wax.

Upon special request we have a 10 gallon lamp kit. It comes with:
2 gallons of Goo premixed to secondary colors or black light orange
1 Oversized coil replacement
16 Ounces of surfactant.
1 Funnel
1 Tube
1 Instruction manual

E-mail me for pricing:
[e-mail]

[Vadeem Beginnin]

Believe it or not, the dimmer is built in to the Colossus from the factory. I just wondered if it had enough range for your wax.

The directions even tell you to test the light, before you put the globe on; because it is a 2 man job to get it back apart!

I'll email you for pricing.

Thanks.

[matt01165]

Let's see some pics of your colossus before you empty it. We are trying to learn more about these monsters as they are currently on sale for half price until Dec.20 '09 Yours sounds like a good example of what to can expect if I buy one (or 2).

[Vadeem Beginnin]

I will take a bunch of pics for you guys of the whole project.

I have a laser thermometer, so I will document the temperature that the factory wax flows compared to the Gookit wax.

Assuming the current bulb will dial down enough on the rheostat, I will put a fresh one in (who knows how many hours are on the old one). I will measure the heat of the old and new bulb and see if there are any differences. Someone drew a line on the knob where to leave the lamp running at. This will change both with the brand of bulb and the new Goo.

Remember, this thing was running in a restaurant for years. It may not be the same as one you would buy today. I'm sure it was never turned off and ran 24/7. It runs great, just the pink/purple colors are just too girlie for my tastes.

I saw the Colossus for $499 on sale. If I did not have one, I would take advantage of that price for sure (I'm addicted now). Clear water with red lava, if I had to pic from their available choices...