27" Grande Project?

[PinkFloyd Effect]

I'm new to this site, not a collector just a retro do-it-yourselfer. I acquired this Grande lamp for free from a neighbor I think it is really cool being so big but it came with a burnt bulb and a boxed burnt bulb so...2 burnt bulbs. I got discouraged when I realized it used a 100W bulb which is too much to run consistently just for effects which is when I started doing research on how to "green" the lamp up. 

Not sure if anyone can decode these numbers to tell how old the unit is I believe it is all original.

In my research I realized you can re-goo them and the kits have lighter wax which requires less wattage then the factory goo does so I plan on doing this I saw kits on eBay for about $30 not sure if that is enough for one of these sized lamps. I want white lava since my walls and furniture are white which goes good against the stainless it will make for a very contemporary lamp, then I'm not sure if the re-goo kits keep the water clear for much longer periods of time but I'm unsure I may want the water to be Caribbean-teal color like the liner on a pool. 

Then I was thinking about trying to insulate the base to make more efficient use of the heat loss through aluminum which is a conductor of heat. I will install a twist knob "pot" style dimmer on the base of the lamp itself, as far as the bulb goes not sure if they more a better light bulb then the basic 100w they sell for use in these? I thought about retrofit combining LEDs and a heating coil but probably would not make any difference in electricity consumption. They don't make a better designed coil ring I should install with the goo kit do they??

Long term goal with the lamp is to turn it into a usable bedside end table like the colossal/colossus lamp probably the same width glass ring with a smaller hole in the center for more usable table area. The thing I can't figure out is how the glass rings stay on the floor sized lamps does anyone have any close up pictures of how it is mounted? 

I can't even find one on eBay for sale, I assume they don't make them anymore? Here are two I found on Google which I Photoshopped feel free to use them elsewhere on this website in a gallery or something...I corrected the color of the images and then added depth of field to them:

 

[Rodrigo]

My advise, keep it simple. The 100watt bulb isn't a whole lot, especially when you only have 1 lamp, I run close to 20 at a time almost on a daily basis and that's 40w each plus 2 grandes. The gookit does run on less wattage but not much, you're better off keeping the 100w or getting a 150w bulb and install a dimmer in the base to control the temp and keep it from consuming too much power. I wouldn't open that lamp if it flows good and if the liquid is clear. There is a DIY for the dimmer which is very effective and clean, check it out here

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/forum/topics/built-in-grande-giant-dimmer...

[PinkFloyd Effect]

That is exactly what I had in mind for wiring a dimmer switch, 100w 24/7 seems like a bit much for what it is I don't pay for electricity granted I don't run too much I live with family. If I surge it up with a 150w then dim it once it flows think it can be lowered to 50-60w and keep it moving? 

The water is not clear it's kinda foggy, almost purple in tint which are two horrible colors (yellow goo and purple water) I really want white goo with either crystal clear water or aqua blue. Then I will place it on a short subwoofer next to my bed...eventually get a stainless extension for the bottom so you can make a Grande taller for use on the floor. 

[Rodrigo]

Yes purple/yellow is the color combination for that globe and some people like it, some don't. I think it's a really nice combination but only when the liquid isn't cloudy, the one you have there also looks like the purple has faded. Also don't run it for more than 8-10 hours unless it's on a dimmer

[PinkFloyd Effect]

Any way to date it? Any idea when they started making the Grande?

Yeah cloudy purple is lame, I'm not a fan of purple. Would a re-goo kit need to be dyed white or will it be white-white as is uncolored? 

Anyone tried adding LED lights in the UV spectrum to get a black-light effect in the globe??

[Rodrigo]

If you don't add dye the gookit wax will clea clear almost and will turn white with several heating cycles as it becomes opaque and less clear so yeah it will be clear water white wax of you don't use dye. LEDs aren't nearly hot enough to get the wax melted or even flowing, you can keep the bulb and add UV LEDs in the base for the effect or just install a black light fluorescent in the room because that puts out ALOT more uv rays than LEDs

They made "giants" before grande which wee USA made lamps and the quality was WAY higher. Grandes I think started sometime around 05 or so, this one is one of the early grandes because of the format on the sticker but I don't know how to interpret it, I'm sure someone does.

[PinkFloyd Effect]

Can it be made whiter by adding white dye so it does not fade over time to an off white?

I realize LEDs do not generate heat I was talking about adding them, and actually the right intensity UV leds aimed correctly would be more efficient then a tube laying outside the globe. 

[Alfred]

What do you mean by white dye? You might be able to keep the appearance whiter by adding UV blue dye (this is more or less what's used as a whitener in paper, clothes, etc., and is why white things often glow blue under a blacklight), but I've never tried it with a goo kit.

[Rodrigo]

No, If you don't use any DYE it will stay white, not off white. It's straight pearl white. Also I still think one 36 inch tube puts out way more light of any kind than 10 UV LEDs. You'll spend more time money and hassle on the LEDS when you can do it with a tube and enjoy the black light on more than one lamp at the same time.

[PinkFloyd Effect]

Like some sort of white food coloring or something?

Odd I wonder how thin the UV blue water can be made, like more of an UV teal would be preferred. 

I don't like open black lights they mess with my eyes I just like the effects they give off with UV colors. 

[Rodrigo]

No, food coloring will mix with the water and not the wax. The dyes that come with gookit are for the wax only as they're oil based dyes, so they mix with the wax and not water. You can leave the water clear or add McCormick food coloring for the water and the wax dye for the wax. If you don't add any dye the wax will be white and the water clear, the UV blue dye looks white with no UV and blue with UV so u can leave it dye-less and just add blue UV which wi reinforce the white when no UV light is there and glow blue when there is UV

[Alfred]

The UV blue dye actually looks completely white (you can see pictures on the Goo Kits website), and you would be thinning it by choosing how much to add to the wax anyway. The dye would make the wax blue under a blacklight, but otherwise wouldn't have any effect except to possibly make it appear whiter.

Wax is naturally slightly yellow (just like wood), and tends to get somewhat more yellow with use. The UV blue dye will absorb some of the ambient UV light and emit blue light that compensates for the wax's natural color.

I recommend reading through one of the threads on Goo Kits here.

[PinkFloyd Effect]

Okay so I will get just the regular non-dyed wax kit, I like the sounds of the UV water how it changes. Your saying with no UV light the clear water will make the WAX appear whiter when the liquid is clear? 

I wonder if I can add just a "little" UV dye to the water or dilute it so that when the UV light is applied the water only turns a little blue like a UV teal??

Their website does not have many pictures, but my thought is with the UV LEDs I can have them pulsate so that the water changes from clear to light blue while the lava stays consistently white and flowing.