Muddy Giant

[Todd Miller]

I've recently acquired a mid 90's Giant and it's so murky.

Toying with different light sources, since I don't have

the correct bulb, I'm using my Variac to get it up to temp

and get some flow going. 

The darn thing looks like a bloody marry.  What I don't get

is this lava lamp was packed with EXTREME CARE and kept

upright.  It was packed and shipped very well via Fed EX. 

The pic's for the original sale showed very clear water.

I've been cycling the lamp as best as I can.  It's 250oz so

it takes at least 3-4 hours to get going.  Flow is improving a bit

with each cycle, but the water is still cloudy....

I've seen comments on Amazon, that they have been halting the

sales/shipments of the "Grandes" do to customers receiving cloudy

units brand new.

Regardless if this is a shipping issue or not, how do we fix ?

My question is this;

To refill the lamp or filter ?

An MSR filter costs between $70-$90 on Ebay.  From what I've

read, this is a good filter/pump, but the number of strokes to do a

a liter is 70-80 strokes.   250oz = 7.3 liters.  @ 70 strokes per liter

that's 511 strokes.  I know we have to subtract for the lava mass, but

were still talking 100's of stokes.  I can see pump failure, filter clogging

and extreme cramping of my hand to do this.

Wouldn't be easier to dump out the water and replace it with some

DI water, a few drops of dish soap and play with the salt ?

Oh, and Merry Christmas !!!!

 

[Keith]

If it is truly a Giant, the patience is your best friend.  It will probably sort itself out in a couple of weeks.  From what I have heard they are the best running lamps you can get.  Changing the fluid would almost certainly result in a lower quality flow.

[Brad]

Agree - run in for 8-10hrs a day for a few weeks and it should clear.

[Kirk]

I bought a yellow/red Giant a few months back for quite a bit of money and it arrived cloudy and murky -- reminded me of ...  well, let's just say it wasn't very attractive.  HA!

I persisted and ran it daily, 8-10 hours a day as Brad recommends.  It took 6 weeks, but it cleared and is now one of my special lamps.  The Giant flow is some of the best that LL ever produced.  However, I really love the version one Heritage Grande flow, too.  It's as good as (and maybe better?) than the Giant flow.

I digress... Don't give up on it.  Get a 100w bulb for it, and run it daily until it clears.

[Todd Miller]

It's a Giant, I think the date code on the bottom was 1995 and it has the plastic

cap with a wire tie on top.  Also, it looks like someone in the past wrapped the

cap with silicone tape.  It has been weeping a bit of fluid, just 5 or so drops,

from the seams of the tape.  I cut back a section of the tape and there is a white

powdery residue in between the slits on the plastic cap.  Perhaps it's been

weeping for some time now.  On the next cycle, I'll check the cap when its cold.

[Marley's Ghost]

Todd, check out this filter.   For "future" projects, not for the Giant.   You really do need to cycle it as everyone says, it'll clear in a few weeks.

 

http://www.amazon.com/MSR-56501-AutoFlow-Gravity-Filter/dp/B00187AU...

[Todd Miller]

Yes, I plan on cycling often, I have all my lamps on timers.

During the last cooling cycle, I decided to investigate the

weeping issue with the cap.  I removed the silicon tape,

(not original as they used shrink tube), cut the wire tie

and removed the cap.

To my surprise, the top of the neck inside was coated with

a muck as well as the inside of the cap. There was NO 'O' ring.

This muck felt like old siliconized rubber calk or plumbers putty.

It was not water soluble.  It did not melt when I hit it with a heat gun.

It dissolved in pure acetone but left some rubber like flakes.

At first I thought it was foaming residue/wax/salt/glycol  from the lamp mixture, but

since it doesn't share the same properties, it must be some sort of sealant or caulk.

I'm guessing some previous owner had leakage issues and didn't realize he needed

an 'O' ring.  Perhaps they 'caulked it' and finished with silicone tape ????

Anyway, it took a few hours to remove this caulk from the neck of the bottle,

inside and out, trying not to let this stuff fall into the water.  I scraped it off

with the shop vac hose right there.  Some flakes went into the water.  A final

wipe down with a acetone soaked rag finished it off.

My guess... it had a leak and some moron caulked it up ?

The caulk contaminated the water so it's cloudy ?

I do love a challenge :-)

[Marley's Ghost]

Ewwww, now that's nasty.   I hope that didn't fall into the liquid and was the cause of the clouding issue.  If it did, you'll have to try filtering it or even changing the liquid if filtering don't work.  I'm glad you like a challenge, because that looks like one.   Now that you have the nasty off there, I'd still do as you said and cycle it a while to see if it'll clear without the other measures.

[Todd Miller]

Does anyone know the dimensions of the sealing O-ring in a Giant ?

I'm sure I can figure out the diameter, just wondering how thick.

[Todd Miller]

After a few personal observations, I've decided to drain and clean this unit.

The vessel has an interior stain, similar how your dishes get foggy

from the dishwasher.  Look at the above pic's, Contamination ?

The water is probably contaminated from the caulk job.

Wax looks OK.

Looking at the GooKits How-to FAQ;

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/page/goo-kits

I figure I could use the same procedures to do this; 

Drain off the water cold, filer and save.

Heat up the wax in a double boiler and save.

Clean the 'heck' out of the vessel with a

bottle brush/hot water/soap and drain.

Replace coil,and add some filtered 'water'

to create a barrier and add some warm wax.

Refill with filtered water and pray.

[Rodrigo]

Best way to do it is pour cold liquid, save in clean container. Melt wax then pour into clean container. Remove coil and clean thoroughly, then clean the globe thoroughly with really hot water and dish soap and you can throw in a sponge and a wooden spoon to brush it around.

Filter liquid

To refill: melt the wax, while melting pour 1-2 cups of liquid into the clean globe, swish to coat the entire globe, pour out all liquid back into container, now drop the coil, pour the wax with a funnel and pipe. Let harden, then add the liquid and fire up.

It's very important to coat the globe with liquid before adding any wax. Also get a funnel/pipe combination to avoid splattering wax when filling up the globe.

[Todd Miller]

Today I went to the store to pick up some supplies for my re-filtering project. 

I can't use anything out of the kitchen or the Old Lady would get upset.

I bought a nice strainer (I noticed my wax has dark chunks) and a two

quart Pyrex measuring cup.

The Pyrex cup will hold/store the warm wax until the vessel is cleaned.

It will also be used to reheat the wax (double boiler method) to pour back in.

I noticed the measuring cup stated  'not for stove top use'

I've used Pyrex in the form of test tubes/beakers/Erlenmeyer flasks

and cookware.  It's indestructible, but after a quick search, Pyrex is

not the same as it used to be and subject to thermal shock.

I really don't want the Pyrex bowl to shatter with my wax is in it.

I understand as long as I gradually change the temps it will be OK.

Anyone else use 'Pyrex' to work on their lamps ?

[Rodrigo]

I've used Pyrex stuff but never on direct heat. I get a regular pot and fill it with warm tap water, place a paper towel to avoid glass on metal contact with the pan and also reduces the rattling when boiling. Then crank up the head until it boils and then turn it down to keep the water hot but not quite boiling, it'll melt nicely in some time.