F$#%ING FedEx and Cloudy Giant

[Sentrex]

Tagged a NIB Red/Clear Giant but this jackass FedEx delivery guy always puts the boxes on my porch upside sown no matter how much writing there is on the box showing arrows pointing up.

Needless to say, my lamp is extremely cloudy. I am going to cycle it for a couple weeks and see what happens. That cleared up one of my pink Giants but hasn't done shit for my blue/white or blue/green lamps.

Any chance it comes back or do I need to filter it?

On that topic, I have 5 cloudy Giants that are still not too cloudy to sell but drive me crazy when comparing them to my crystal clear ones. A Red one that I picked up 6 months ago appears clear during the day but smokey at night.

I guess it's time to do a search here for the best filter remedy because that is a lot of fluid to filter 

[Sentrex]

Claude - is that a Locking Notch Style Stainless Steel Tie?

https://thermalzero.com/product/14-locking-stainless-steel-ties/

[Claude J]

YES!

And add heat-shrink over it for good measure

[Sentrex]

2nd one showed up today in a never opened sealed original box and while it is better than the 1st lamp, it is still very cloudy. 1st one was FedEx, 2nd was USPS.

For now I am just going to put them in a corner of my basement and see what they look like in a month as cycling the 1st one has done nothing; hoping that no movement might give me better results. Have already ordered the PG, steel ties, and shrink tube for if / when I open them up.

Right now it is a toss up to swap fluid or filter.... how much work to filter that much fluid and how many filters will I go through? Just did some research and it says it will do a liter per minute and up to 2000 liters.... a liter takes 85 strokes and the lamp has 7.57 liters so that is 643 strokes.... man, I am not sure that I want stroke anything that much lol

I had paid for a 3rd used red globe from another seller but just now requested a refund (I did not send him the shipping box yet). Lesson learned... Giant Hunter takes the Summer off!!

[Claude J]

Where the hell are you finding band new NOS giants?

Oh wait, it did that with a Colossus,. LOL

Right place right time

643 times stroked per lamp???

Are you sure you want to do that???

You will end up looking like Quagmire

[Sentrex]

Claude - I would rather not have anything in common with Quagmire... at least nothing visible lol

I returned the pump style filter and bought the gravity filter. Spending an hour on this site last night and found some great discussions from people who had good success with that version. I am also cycling the lamps on a timer so everything gets sorted out before I filter them. Have my steel tie straps and shrink tube on order so I can be ready when the time comes.

Some people had mentioned ditching the rubber stopper on the older lamps and using acrylic.... any clue what they meant? I also noted some stoppers that people purchased from Home Depot. Basically this item is the last thing I need to figure out before I crack them open.

[Claude J]

https://store.mocap.com/mocap_en/xw.html?Item=XW2.12/2.29YW1&_g...

These have to be trimmed down.

The "Stopper" is not just there to just stop it from leaking, but to also provide expansion area for the fluid so you don't have an explosion

Unless you have grande extra caps,  I would stick with the factory Giant cap and heat shrink

If your unsure about sealing it properly a thin line of silicone sealant around the outside where the rubber or yellow expansion plug meets the globe, A.K.A. the inside of the black cap ---will do the trick.

Home Improvement store plumbing caps are usually large and might not fit under the steel deco cap properly.

See the attached instruction manual for Kirks glitter conversion

Refilling%20and%20Sealing%20Grande.pdf

[Mr MaGoo]

I take it Quagmire is left handed, or prefers "the stranger"   :P
Claude J said:

Where the hell are you finding band new NOS giants?

Oh wait, it did that with a Colossus,. LOL

Right place right time

643 times stroked per lamp???

Are you sure you want to do that???

You will end up looking like Quagmire

[Claude J]

[Sentrex]

So what is the best way to remove the metal zip tie?

How about fluid removal? I was gonna grab an aquarium pump but am certain that you guys have some experience that you can share?

[Claude J]

Take needle nose pliers or small screwdriver and pry open the small retaining clips on the metal cable tie.
Worst case scenario use Dremmel w/cutoff wheel or grinding stone but be careful to go too deep 

Fluid removal

Firmly grasp the globe with the left hand

Lift

With your right-hand the grab bottom of the globe

Turnover sink and dump content down the drain :)

Dry bottom of the globe

Put back on base

Turn on lamp

Heat the goo (@15 min)

Wear gloves (preferably sticky-fingered mechanic ones)

Pour it into a pyrex measuring cup

Remove springs and wash in HOT water

Add Dawn and boiling water

Wash the globe with bottle brush or sponge glass cleaning kitchen thingie if you have one

Rinse  with HOT water

Rinse Again

Rinse Again

Add springs

I always feel more comfortable knowing the globe has been cleaned so it is clear and a fresh coat of surf has been.  Your old contents may have left a haze on the inside of the globe.

it's worth the extra effort

Add SURF and shake (not stirred) to coat the inside of the globe (see my goo for sale post)

Dump out

DO NOT RINSE

Add some distilled water (1/2")

Add hot goo with funnel and extension tube

let cool

Add distilled water to 60%

Add PG

Turn on Lamp to heat 

Adjust the PG level slowly until you get a rise

(use a turkey baster to remove some fluid if you need to)

If the flow is too gloppy/stringy, add drops of SURF and wait for it to mix

[Sentrex]

Great advice, thanks.

One caveat, I don't want to remove the wax so I am still looking for my best bet on removing fluid with wax intact. If I tilt and pour the wax will likely disengage and smear the bottle.

[Claude J]

That's why I suggested to just melt and remove

Be prepared to do so because it may have a film on the inside of the glass. You probably will not know until it is empty

Option 1

Gas/Oil siphon hose

OR

Option 2 (expensive)

Little giant pump

Option 3

suck fluid with mouth and dump into empty milk jug once the flow starts.