Grande Questions with Dimmer

Hello from NJ USA, and thank you for adding me as a member.

I have what appears to be a Grande from China....yeah, I know. Yellow/Blue Liquid

It's a little hazy, but the problem is not the haze.

Coil is clearly at the bottom. The bulb appears to be correct. What is the proper distance of the tip of the bulb to the bottom of the globe?

The lava at the bottom undulates, clearly a well melted pretty level mass, but not a huge overheated egg shaped blob.

Little globules (approx. 1 cm diameter) form from the center and rise to the top, then fall back down to the center and roll to the edge of the mass, then melt back down.

Based on searching many posts over the past week, I think I have a situation where it is overheating.

I have a dimmer as of yesterday, but what percentage should the dimmer be used. 90% 80%, 75% of max. brightness, and for how long before I should expect to see a change?

Temperature in the room is a steady 71 degrees F.

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Permalink Reply by Keith on January 30, 2013 at 1:33pm

I don't think it's overheating either. Room temp could be a problem, but our room temp is normally a little cooler than yours and our grande flows fine. Drafts could be a problem, but you covered that. Sometimes a particular lamp just needs more (or less) heat than others. But what I'm really wondering is if you have a bad lamp. With the concerns on quality control of china lamps some just plain don't work. This might be one of those "fix it" lamps. If you just got it you might want to return it, or call Lava Light and voice your concerns.

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Permalink Reply by LaughingGravy on February 3, 2013 at 9:57am

I would call success at this point!.

The first time I got this result, it took 9 hours, with 3 of them being under a light blanket to warm up.

The second time, 6 hours, with 2 of them under a sheet to warm up.

The middle blob looks most like the spaceship in "Flight of the Navigator. It stays in the middle, then goes down slightly up and down, but does stay in the middle third of the lamp.

The large marble globs now come from the center blob and up. They seem to still be filled with air and more of it. They deflate, and come back down.

When cycling this lamp, should it get to room temperature cold, or should I cycle it shorter? If it's left off for 8 hours, there is still some residual warmth to the touch on the glass. Today, I let it go down to actual room temperature and just turned it on.

The towers happen sooner than they had when I first got it, too! Very nice.

I am really hoping the lamp will be less foggy with more cycles.

How long is too long to leave on a Grande?

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Permalink Reply by Keith on February 3, 2013 at 1:56pm

I've had mine on for up to 18 hours with no ill effects.

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Permalink Reply by Matty Matell on February 6, 2013 at 2:17pm

Hello I'm new to this site and I just purchased a Collossus Lava Lamp Coffee table from a retail store that wasn't using it. I think I got a good deal on it as they charged me 100 dollars for it. They said they couldn't get the lava to move so I'm wondering if anyone has tried the light bulb extender which would position the bulb closer to the lamp. The lamp currently has a clear 200 watt bulb in it but I'm not sure if these bulbs as they age loose their ability to give off the proper amount of heat or if a frosted bulb should be used instead of a clear light bulb?

So I'm wondering if I should put a new bulb in before the lamp is put on the base again. The color of the globe water is grey with black lava. How does one know when the lava really needs to be changed? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Has anyone out there used a goo kit for a collossus? If so how well did it work. I'm a little dismayed as I didn't realize just how heavy the globe would be and me having a past back injury it's no longer an option for me to lift this thing.

I'm going to have to find a few guys to help me with lifting and I want to make sure I've done everything I need to do with the bulb, bulb extender, lamp dimmer etc... before I have people come in an reposition the large globe back on its pedestal. I asked Lava Lamp if they sold the colossus globe separately hoping I could buy a replacement but they said they really want to focus on selling them as a total unit which is understandable.

Oh one other question is it better to use a extra lamp dimmer on this lamp rather than using the dimmer switch on the lamp itself?

Again I'm new on this site so I appreciate your graciousness and kindness and ANY advise or help that would get me on the road to a working COLOSSUS lamp. Best regards and I look forward to hearing from you...

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Permalink Reply by Keith on February 6, 2013 at 4:18pm

Some answers; The bulb should be fine, clear bulbs in general give of more heat than frosted. The dimmer on the lamp should be sufficient, however some people in the past have had trouble with faulty dimmers. If you dimmer changes the brightness of the bulb from full bright to basically off then it should be fine. You said the water is grey, that sound like a dye leak from the black wax. That in itself does not indicate that the wax is bad. The directions for a new Colossus say to run with the dimmer at 70% as a break in period. Pictures on here show lamps at that setting with good flow. I would suggest that you try the same, set the dimmer at 70% and run for a few cycles to see how the lamps responds. Remember these take a long time to heat up so be patient. It you don't have any movement you might try adjusting the dimmer to a higher setting until you get movement or if you can tell that the wax is fully melted.

If you do end up having to replace the wax it will be a hassle, but you still have a bargain!