F$#%ING FedEx and Cloudy Giant

[Sentrex]

Tagged a NIB Red/Clear Giant but this jackass FedEx delivery guy always puts the boxes on my porch upside sown no matter how much writing there is on the box showing arrows pointing up.

Needless to say, my lamp is extremely cloudy. I am going to cycle it for a couple weeks and see what happens. That cleared up one of my pink Giants but hasn't done shit for my blue/white or blue/green lamps.

Any chance it comes back or do I need to filter it?

On that topic, I have 5 cloudy Giants that are still not too cloudy to sell but drive me crazy when comparing them to my crystal clear ones. A Red one that I picked up 6 months ago appears clear during the day but smokey at night.

I guess it's time to do a search here for the best filter remedy because that is a lot of fluid to filter 

[Sentrex]

LMAO - Option #3 is how I got to Florida for spring break when I was 17

I like the one with the pump. When I get it drained the 1st time I will add some homemade fluid to it and pump it out again to ensure that I get as much of the original fluid out as possible. Note that I am going to try the gravity filter method first and if that doesn't work then all new fluid.

Thanks again, Claude!

[Claude J]

good Luck

[Joshua Dreger]

I haven't tried this! What is the effect of the mineral oil? And do you mean after you've got it working with distilled water and surf, just add a small amount of mineral oil to the liquid or do you mean mixing mineral oil into the wax before adding it?  I've had some goo kits treat me really well and then some that didn't flow quite right so this might be the tip I've been missing!
Claude J said:

Add a little (Few tablespoons one at a time) of mineral oil to the goo kit and watch the results

Sentrex said:

Again, always appreciate people's replies / advice! I have atteched some pics so you can see what I am dealing with.

Terry - not a big fan of the goo kits flow and the wax is still viable so likely just PG and DI and some surf will do it.

Trevor - I ordered the MSR MiniWorks and may try to filter, just depends on how patient I can be to see if it clears up as I would rather not crack it open.

Marcel - I am gonna just let it sit for a while after I cycle it for a week or two. I already have 2 red Giants that flow nicely. One of them appears clear during the day but at night it appears cloudy. Also have 3 or 4 other giants that are cloudy but not sure if it is just from age or shipping or use.

Claude - So 60/40 DI/PG to start with?

Any opinions on the best way to seal a giant back up? Zip tie or grande cap or???

[Claude J]

Ive added it to the goo and it seems to make it more "Elastic" and improve the flow

[Sentrex]

Filtered one of the lamps yesterday but struggled to get the cap secure with the steel zip tie. Also tried with some smaller plastic zip ties. Also was using the 4" 2:1 shrink tube per some older posts here and it would not shrink down tight enough.

To get the zip ties as tight as they need to was not achievable for me. I ordered some heavy duty plastic zip ties and a tension / cutting tool (the tension tool for the metal ties was just too expensive for me). Also ordered some 3" 2:1 shrink wrap and 3" O-Rings. I am going to post a "how to" pictorial of the entire process at a later date so others might benefit from the experience at a later date. A couple pictures below of the lamp after filtering. Fluid is about 2" low but the lamp could also use some PG so no worries there... I have to re-cap when I get my new supplies anyway. Thanks again for everyone's input... note that the fluid pump tat Claude recommended worked great as did the MSR gravity filter!

[Claude J]

have you tried any of these hand tools for the cable ties?

Perhaps smaller versions?

They are cheap versions and available at most home centers/hardware stores

[Sentrex]

Do you hold the locking tab with the tool on the left and pull with the tool on the right?

[Claude J]

I do not recall, its been a long time

[Sentrex]

Filtering and removal of gunked up wax and or adjusting the PG has done wonders for 8 of my giants so now I am moving on to the 4 that are in more distress. Uncapped one of them this morning and removed the fluid.

(1) Where can I get a funnel and extension tube at other than gookits?

(2) The wax flows but is not in the greatest shape so my only bet is to filter it?  Heat it up and pour it through some nylons?

[Keith]

You can use a fine-mesh permanent coffe filter to filter the goo

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/photo/gunk-filtered-out-of-usa-lava-light...

Sentrex said:

(2) The wax flows but is not in the greatest shape so my only bet is to filter it?  Heat it up and pour it through some nylons?

[Keith]

You can find a transmission fluid funnel at an auto part store or hardware store and then get tubing to fit

Sentrex said:

Filtering and removal of gunked up wax and or adjusting the PG has done wonders for 8 of my giants so now I am moving on to the 4 that are in more distress. Uncapped one of them this morning and removed the fluid.

(1) Where can I get a funnel and extension tube at other than gookits?

[Sentrex]

Thanks and thanks!