Too hot or Too Cold Lava Grande?

[matt]

Just bought my first lamp!  Unfortunately It was an impulse buy and didn't know about all the problems with Lava Brand.

While I waited for the lamp to warm up i lurked the forums and I got a pretty good idea of what I got into. 

Basically what seems to be happening after 5 hours is that I have a large blob that just spits out quarter sized goo and that's it. I'm using the r20 100 watt frosted bulb that came with it.

heres a vid taken from my phone...sorry bout the less then stellar quality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIg7swYSyzc

Thanks in advance!

[Autumn]

I had a 32oz that did that so I put a 60 watt bulb in it for a couple 6 hour runs and now it works fine with a 40 watt bulb again. So I would stick a higher watt bulb in it for a bit, just make sure not to burn up your lava.
My ruling? Too cold!
/bangs gavel

[matt]

I don't think I can stick a higher wattage bulb in there... I can't find a higher wattage bulb 'cause of the lower wattage restrictions. I guess I can try to raise the bulb...any ideas on how to raise it?

[LampHead]

Give it a few runs, the lava needs to break in. At this point I would say its too cold but like I said its still new and needs to break in somewhat. Every lamp will run better by the time it has several runs on it, you could also put a towel on the top of the lamp to heat it more. Run it 10 hours a day for a week and I bet it runs better.


LampHead

[matt]

Funny! just browsed ahead in the forum and came upon the towel method ;) I'll do just that. i'll give it a week of 10 hour runs and see what's what before modifying anything.

thanks

[asdfasdf]

How did it turn out? I just bought a grande as well and my lamp runs almost identically to yours. Big mass at the bottom and what appears to be the odd air bubble shaped bubbles. I'm scared to leave it on when i see that, worrying it's overheated and I may damage it.

[matt]

I basically went with a goo kit and redid it...flows wonderfully now.
http://oozinggoo.ning.com/video/goo-kitd-grande

the second grande i bought last week flows like a dream without any modifications...seems like hit or miss with grandes still applies

[asdfasdf]

Thanks Matt. I'm seeing if I can return the current 2 i bought for ones that hopefully work. If not, sounds like goo kit is the way to go. Your lamp looks like it has awesome flow and a nice vibrant colour.
How long do you find that you can run your lamp for with the goo kit?
With the goo kit can you have coloured water or did you not try that?

[matt]

with a dimmer switch added i can run the lamp for days if I choose to. As for colored water i know it can be done with basic food coloring...but i' have yet to try it.

[asdfasdf]

dimmer switch was a great idea, thanks! I find that after about 6 hours I put the lamp back to about 60-70% power and lamp doesn't overheat (although I haven't tried leaving it on for days, worried about leaving it on overnight while I sleep).

matt said:

with a dimmer switch added i can run the lamp for days if I choose to. As for colored water i know it can be done with basic food coloring...but i' have yet to try it.