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:

 

[Claude J]

ROFLMAO on images

You have to have a "Special" friend at LL to get one of those colossus rings.

[Mr MaGoo]

If you can find a 100W daylight bulb use that, color is cooler think 6000k, more of a blue white, bright white and soft white bulbs more yellow.  My two cents.  Also looking for some pics of the table ring for you.  Actually is a stainless steel stove top ring they use to hold the glass table on the base.  Will look and post pics for you.  Good luck with rest of project.

PinkFloyd Effect said:

Thanks guys, took me hours! Not done yet I still need to finish surfing it and plug the top, then moving onto electrical a heavy duty grounded cord with a HQ dimmer unit in the base. Don't forget the glass ring-table I will return to that glass shop and have a thick glass doughnut cut but I am still unsure how they stay balanced on the colossus is a mystery to my research. 

I ran it last night for the first time, definitely warms up faster then LavaLite magma does but certainly is not flowing like it yet. It was very clear which was awesome it left the bottom transparent and slowly turned white as it made its way to the top cooling off, and by the end of the cycle it had turned mostly white. The first few hours it just released air bubbles like crazy which were gone by the end of the cycle. 

I am really not crazy about the color when it is illuminated, it's not true white which is partially due to the color temperature of the incandescent bulb. Once it is molted the color lightens up and it becomes a brighter white but still...

I am guessing I can go about correcting this one of two ways or both, add a SLIGHT bit of blue to the wax to compensate the yellow hue or use a heatproof bulb screen even paint a transparent blue on the globe bottom inside the base. They make bulb skins for par lamps in theaters and DJs

It really just did a constipated flow last night emitting half dollar sized balls of wax for a long time no big stretchies yet, and there appears to be many tiny tiny balls of wax from time to time when air bubbles release from the wax so do tiny dots of wax. 

[Claude J]

the bubbles are a result of overheating the goo

Use a water bath in a pan on the stove next time.

Disregard the directions for a microwave, its to easy to ruin it

If this bubble issue happens with regular lava just toss it out, there is no fix.

the entire mass will float before it gets fully heated and never work correctly, even if remelted in a pan of boiling water

For Magma tower goo kit, let it run, the bubbles will eventually dissolve out

The viscosity is less than LL and allows the bubbles to dissipate

If you want a pure white, add liquid vanilla candle was dye. (before you add it to the globe)

Liquid wax is tricky and if not mixed thoroughly with the goo while in a transfer (pyrex) cup, , it will stick to the sides

You cannot just drop it in like Magma tower dye and wait for the results.

The "Ring" for a humungo/colossus a formed aluminum piece that fits inside the top of the base and is bent and formed supports the table.

For a grande, you will have to find a "found" piece or have one manufactured.
I had a table made for my hunumgo out of tempered glass.

It costs @$60