Rheostat for Colossus?

[Kelly Flaskerud]

Has anyone had a problem with the rheostat crapping out on the Colossus?  Not sure if I just have a short or if the rheostat is completely shot, but I'm thinking the best thing to do is replace it.  Has anyone done this yet?  (FYI, the lamp just won't turn on, but the bulb is still good.  Outlet is working, no obvious damage to the plug or cord, the lamp was working fine then, when I needed to adjust the temp, the light went out.)

[The Lamp Caretaker]

It's rare the rheostat would fry but when you said you used something to  adjust the temp and it dropped dead. Assuming you used a dimmer to adjust.  Dimmers have been known to kill lamps or lamps kill the dimmers when used on older vintage lamps. Though rare rheostats can fry just by plugging the lamp into a socket.  Keeping in mind that a rheostat controls the current by varying the resistance so when you use dimmers or something that's not original to the lamp this causes the rheo to short circuit and fry because it's in place for a certain current and not able to adjust to multiple fluctuating currents and too low a current for such a rheostat can kill it.  Not a lot of folks are aware since most newer lamps can handle dimmers but not all. Especially older lamps since dimmers are fairly new to the market where and were not so readily available 15 years ago.   I would try replacing the entire chord first before trying to replace anything else.  Usually the cause is within the plug in chord. If it is the rheostat it may not be easy finding an exact match. Then again I've never had to replace anything on my Humongo so it may be easy to locate.  Did you use a dimmer on your lamp or what did you use to adjust wattage?  You never mentioned what you used in your thread. One last thing. It could also be the wall plug outlet you used. Did you try on a different wall plug outlet? I know it sounds comical but just want to make sure all obvious possible reasons have been ruled out.  Sometimes it's the most obvious reason and not as bad an issue.  Good luck. 

[Keith]

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/forum/topics/installing-a-new-dimmer-in-a...

[Kelly Flaskerud]

I should have made clear that I was just adjusting the dimmer that is original to the lamp base.  The outlet is working, the bulb is not burned out.  The knob turns, but since the lamp is out, it really doesn't make any difference.

The Lamp Caretaker said:

It's rare the rheostat would fry but when you said you used something to  adjust the temp and it dropped dead. Assuming you used a dimmer to adjust.  Dimmers have been known to kill lamps or lamps kill the dimmers when used on older vintage lamps. Though rare rheostats can fry just by plugging the lamp into a socket.  Keeping in mind that a rheostat controls the current by varying the resistance so when you use dimmers or something that's not original to the lamp this causes the rheo to short circuit and fry because it's in place for a certain current and not able to adjust to multiple fluctuating currents and too low a current for such a rheostat can kill it.  Not a lot of folks are aware since most newer lamps can handle dimmers but not all. Especially older lamps since dimmers are fairly new to the market where and were not so readily available 15 years ago.   I would try replacing the entire chord first before trying to replace anything else.  Usually the cause is within the plug in chord. If it is the rheostat it may not be easy finding an exact match. Then again I've never had to replace anything on my Humongo so it may be easy to locate.  Did you use a dimmer on your lamp or what did you use to adjust wattage?  You never mentioned what you used in your thread. One last thing. It could also be the wall plug outlet you used. Did you try on a different wall plug outlet? I know it sounds comical but just want to make sure all obvious possible reasons have been ruled out.  Sometimes it's the most obvious reason and not as bad an issue.  Good luck. 

[Kelly Flaskerud]

Sweeeeet!  

Keith said:

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/forum/topics/installing-a-new-dimmer-in-a...

[MileHigh]

The exact same thing happened to both of my Colossus lamps!

I purchased my Colossus lamps new from LL several years ago and after only three months of use both dimmer switches stopped working.

The bulbs would not turn on even though they were still good.

I think the original Colossus dimmer switches are crap as they go bad easily.

My colossus lamps sat dormant for years while I procrastinated determining how to get them fixed.

Two years ago I sent both my Colossus bases to Claude for repair.  

He completely rewired them for me using new heavy duty dimmer switches.

My Colossus lamps have been working great ever since!

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/photo/colossus-lamps-with-grandes?context...

[Claude J]

Thanks, Milehigh

I just had t replace another dimmer in a colossus for a client

the intense heat wears them out

MileHigh said:

The exact same thing happened to both of my Colossus lamps!

I purchased my Colossus lamps new from LL several years ago and after only three months of use both dimmer switches stopped working.

The bulbs would not turn on even though they were still good.

I think the original Colossus dimmer switches are crap as they go bad easily.

My colossus lamps sat dormant for years while I procrastinated determining how to get them fixed.

Two years ago I sent both my Colossus bases to Claude for repair.  

He completely rewired them for me using new heavy duty dimmer switches.

My Colossus lamps have been working great ever since!

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/photo/colossus-lamps-with-grandes?context...

[MileHigh]

Thank you Claude!

My Colossus lamps would probably still be dormant if I had not sent their bases to you for repair - lol

[Claude J]

Glad to help