Giants vs. Grandes

[Ian]

Can someone please tell me the difference between a Giant and a Grande lava lamp? I thought they were the same thing, just people called them either of these names, but I guess they are not the same?

[Erin]

LUCKY YOU. ;)

Metallica man said:

I just bought my first giant!!

[Metallica Man Trevor]

I know right!

[Jeff Neely]

Long before I discovered this site and all my fellow lava nerds I bought 3 grande's and all three of them were cloudy like sewage when I bought them. Not knowing how to fix that, we left them sitting near the fireplace for a couple years and turned them on now and again hoping for something good.

Then, one night with fingers crossed we started them and they were about halfway there. The next morning they were all three super clear and flowing marvelously. They are still beautiful to this day and until this last christmas when we added Mrs. Humongo they were major eyecatchers in the house to all our non-lava nerd friends.

While most would've given up, it was worth the wait.

 

Good, clear flow to all...

[Ian]

Oh ok thanks everyone! I always called them "giant lava lamps", and I thought that they were all officially called Grandes, but now I know the difference! I have a Grande, I think it was made in 2004 according to the lid, however I bought it about 5 years ago. It has purple liquid with yellow lava, and it is so cloudy I can just barely see the lava moving around inside of it. It got halfway clear, but then the bulb I had burnt out and I havent been able to get a new bulb for it for the past 3 or 4 years. I put a 75 watt blacklight bulb in it to see what would happen, but it just got completely cloudy again! Hopefully I can get to clear up when I can purchase the proper bulb for it.. The good news about it is that it was the very last Grande that my Spencers store sold, it was the display lamp and they gave me a 15 or 25 percent discount on it because it was the display and it was cloudy.

Just recently I saw someone on here say they had 4 Grandes and 2 Giants and I was just confused haha I have never heard anyone say that, either I see giants or grandes, but never together.

I wish Spencers would start stocking them And the bulbs in the store again... I got my bulbs for it there until they stopped keeping them in stock, and Home Depot until the Energy saving bulbs took over.

This isnt the first Grande I have bought, the first one I bought was when they had just come out, it was a blue liquid/ yellow wax and it was even more cloudy than the one I currently have. Absolutely nothing was visible inside of it, it was so bad. Needless to say, I returned it because I had saved up that money for a month and I didnt want it wasted on a bad lamp! I think I was 11 at the time. I figured with my current one that I have that they are all cloudy and I might as well buy one. Im happy I did, but at the same time I really want a clear one now that I know they exist... Just hard to find..

Sorry about writing like an entire novel just now, haha just wanted to share my experience with these lamps, and thanks to everyone for helping :)

[Brad]

ian - talk to lava luva about filtering the lamp.  she's had good luck with that, and she had a few pictures on here of the end result.

here is a link to the bulb you need for $7.50 (+$5 shipping...) on amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Replacement-Bulb-Grande-Lava-lamp/dp/B00AC8MSA0

[Ian]

Oh cool, I'll have to do that. I did check out her pics of the filtered grande, I really want to do that with mine! Cause mine seems to work really good, its just hidden behind cloudy water. I have to say, I am a bit nervous about taking the lid off of it to fix it.. I did that with a small 8 oz and the results were great but the process was disastrous.. I tipped it over twice and ended up having to go through the process twice.. Im sure i will be MUCH more careful with a grande but it still makes me nervous.. 

Yea, I  will get new bulbs as soon as I get a job, right now I don't have a job so I don't have money to spend on lava lamp parts at the moment.. Im working on getting a job currently. But thanks for the link, I'll keep it in mind. :)

[Ian]

I got a job, and therefore new light bulbs!!! I ordered in bulk, I got 7 of them from Spencers because they had a free shipping deal on orders over $40, and I wanted to stock up anyways because it is overall cheaper. Finally! And, I must say, I absolutely love my Grande. Even though its very cloudy, the wax inside is amazing for a china lamp. It does all kinds of stretchy motion, and it connects in to the top a lot. I love it when lamps are like that...

About the cloudiness, it seems like it is slightly more clear than the first time I turned it on. It was relatively clear, and then it clouded right up so bad you could barely see the lava at all. Now the lava is visible most of the time, occasionally disappearing into the fog, but its a lot more visible than it was 5 days ago. Maybe I am just being too hopeful?? Well we shall see. Perhaps sitting dormant for 4 years in my room has given it time to sort things out, who knows. I will try to get around to taking pictures of it soon.

[Ben]

I just filtered my blue/yellow grande.  It was a bit cloudy and the motion was sluggish.  After filtering and adding some salt, it is better than ever.  Don't fear popping the top; it's worth it!