@@Fluffberymoff As far as I know, it may have starting difficulties on rapid start ballasts possibly due to the presence of krypton, but not sure about that.

​@@worldwidehidcollectorusa3519also I'm surprised that the filaments aren't glowing because those four pin lamps have a very low filament current

@@NitroSpeed80 This is at an office building.

@@sethbower11 So far, I have had no issues with these Chinese made Sylvania F40 tubes.

@@homeguestunton True. These coated retrofit lamps are especially rare too.

@@worldwidehidcollectorusa3519 All coated HPS is rare. When I see a coated HID lamp I always think MH or mercury vapor, and they almost always are either metal halide or mercury vapor, when the lamps are coated.

@@homeguestunton In other countries, I have seen that coated high pressure sodium lamps are more common especially European countries. In those countries, coated high pressure sodium lamps seem to be available in 50W, 70W, 100W, 150W, 250W, 400W, and even 1000W. Additionally, I have seen that Japan seems to have a relatively even balance of coated and clear high pressure sodium lamps that typically include retrofit lamps for mercury vapor ballasts ranging from 75W to replace 80W mercury vapor lamps, 180W to replace 200W mercury vapor lamps, 220W to replace 250W mercury vapor lamps, 270W to replace 300W mercury vapor lamps, 360W to replace 400W mercury vapor lamps, 660W to replace 700W mercury vapor lamps, and 940W to replace 1000W mercury vapor lamps, plus self igniting 70W and 110W lamps that require dedicated ballasts. The thing about 200W and 300W mercury vapor lamps is that they are largely unique to Japan and not really used anywhere else in the world.

@@worldwidehidcollectorusa3519 I meant they are rare in America, I’ve only been to America and I live in America. Almost all HPS lights I’ve seen are clear. Almost all coated lamps mean metal halide or mercury vapor in the US. If I see any coated HID bulb, it is probably either MH or mercury vapor. I think coated HIS might be common in Europe, Japan, and more countries. They might be common even in places like Mexico.

@@worldwidehidcollectorusa3519 I’ve only seen two HPS coated so far working, both I think in wall packs

@@homeguestunton Certainly love the strangeness of running these coated metal halide lamps in an outdoor residential security light fixture specifically intended for mercury vapor lamps. Turns out to be a nice way to improve CRI and lumen output. Had to use a European low voltage Philips SI51 ignitor to assist with reliable lamp ignition. I just love how the mercury vapor yardblaster security light looks with having the 3200K coated probe start metal halide lamp installed with its warm glow. I also love the strangeness of running these probe start metal halide lamps on low power factor HX autotransformer ballasts as well since these lamps are generally intended for use on CWA ballasts since most ballasts that I have seen that were specifically designed for probe start metal halide lamps tend to be CWA ballasts instead of HX autotransformer ballasts.

@@rarelampcollector I am also thinking about possibly trying to get that 6 foot VHO fluorescent tube to run on a 150W M102 pulse start metal halide HX autotransformer ballast sometime using preheat circuitry. I think these CWA mercury vapor ballasts may have a good advantage for possibly running 215W 8 foot VHO and powergroove tubes using preheat circuitry because I think the series capacitor from the CWA ballasts might provide the extra voltage to help keep the 215W tubes running while HX autotransformer 175W H39 mercury vapor ballasts would have a harder time running the 215W tubes due to the relatively high arc voltage drop.

@@kenytha5 As far as I know, I believe a 3 foot F36T12 HO fluorescent tube or a 30 inch F30T12 HO fluorescent tube is good enough for a 35W S76 high pressure sodium ballast and it would be wired up as a preheat fluorescent ballast for those tubes. You could use a FS2 or FS25 starter for these tubes when using these high pressure sodium ballasts along with these small HO T12 tubes.

@@johnjunior-70 This was just another way of running the fluorescent tube. I just tried this experiment and it seems to be doing okay so far. Additionally, the tube was running close to its rated current, but only at a minor overdrive. These fluorescent tubes tend to have a lumen of about 9,000 lumens, which is roughly the same as a 500W incandescent lamp.

@@johnjunior-70 Here in North America, we also have tubes like these that also have a power rating as high as 215W!!!

@@Fluffberymoff So far, I have not gotten the equipment for that yet, but would like to get it all at some point. As far as I know, a European 1 meter 40W T12 tube would be the best choice for this experiment since they are almost electrically identical to 35W pulse start metal halide lamps. I will also need to build a fixture for the tube as well. I am currently eyeing on a European 1 meter 40W T12 tube that is on an online website as of now.

@@kenytha5 As far as I know, the 175W M137/M152 pulse start metal halide lamps run at roughly 130V and 1.5A much like 175W M57 probe start metal halide lamps and 175W H39 mercury vapor lamps do, but 150W M102 pulse start metal halide lamps along with the uncommon 150W S56 high pressure sodium lamps run at roughly 100V and 1.8A. In that case, you can use a 175W M137/M152 pulse start metal halide lamp on a 175W H39 mercury vapor ballast if you use a European superimposed ignitor and hook it up to the ballast. If you search for “tanning bed ignitor” on eBay, you should be able to find European superimposed ignitors pretty easily. Although the 150W M102 pulse start metal halide lamps and 175W M137/M152 pulse start metal halide lamps have similar electrical characteristics, they are not exactly interchangeable with each other, but you should be able to safely run a 175W M137/M152 pulse start metal halide lamp just fine on a 150W M102 pulse start metal halide HX autotransformer ballast since the higher arc voltage drop of the 175W lamp would lower its operating current on the 150W M102 pulse start metal halide HX autotransformer ballast close to its ideal specifications, but not really the other way around from what I can tell.

@@392057 I think it was on for several minutes to a few hours, but I am not sure. It was at full brightness by then.

@@worldwidehidcollectorusa3519 You can see if the bi-metal strip is closed when the lamp is hot, and if yes, wait a few mins than hot restrike, and see if the aux discharge would appear, because theoretically, the bi-metal should open after the lamp has cooled down, so that the main arc restrike immediately without the appearance of the aux discharge.

@@tigerelectronics5966 Very interesting. I have also imported a number of lamps and fixtures from Japan, UK, and Germany before. I have had good success with running Japanese 100V 50Hz preheat fluorescent fixtures in the USA on 120V 60Hz supplies.

@@worldwidehidcollectorusa3519 That is very reassuring! I bought a sweet little shoplight on eBay that takes two F20T12's, I'm gonna run it using a 220 to 115 step down transformer I Have laying around from a project that I ended up not being able to use it for because it did not fit physically so I had to get a different transformer. I am hoping that 50hz wont be too much of a problem, I know the current through the ballast may increase with a lower frequency. I will measure it all carefully, current, lamp voltage, power factor, to ensure I Won't damage the tubes or the vintage ballast, because I would be truly in pain if I damaged a lovely vintage ballast. I also bought 6 extra F20T12 tubes for it from germany! So I am very excited for that. I am also getting more and more excited to recieve the Sylvania Sylref's, they are brand new, sold by a danish electrical supply house. They are the last industrial flourescent fixtures, or at least some of the last ones, still being made! So I wanted to get some. They will be installed in my off grid solar powered workshop, I plan to have two rows with 3 in each :) And I am also going to keep my currently installed fixtures, my lovely vintage Glamox GIR's and also my Taiba single tube fixture. So I will have the whole ceiling covered in flourescent :D It's gonna be absolutely sweet. And the little vintage shoplight will get a place there too! I have pictures of them on LG if you want to see. I am slowly working on uploading my pictures there, but it takes a little while hehe in the future when I move to my own place (still living with my parents so this off grid workshop is an old outbuilding that they didn't want to use anymore), I will install all my fixtures in my future garage :3 no LED is allowed!

@@StupidLightingFreak If it is a 4 foot tube, it will still not light at 120V OCV. A 2 foot F40T12 tube from the UK will do a better job of running off 120V OCV. You will need an autotransformer ballast to preheat the tube off 120V if it is a regular 4 foot tube.

I am using circline fluorescent lamps.

@@worldwidehidcollectorusa3519 The fixture, not lamps.

@@johnjunior-70 Yes, definitely a phosphor coated lamp.

@@johnjunior-70 I have seen a few clear 125W mercury vapor lamps before but they are rather hard to find. 125W ballasts would usually underdrive most North American 175W H39 mercury vapor lamps. I think eBay Germany seems to be a good place to find some European clear mercury vapor lamps since I have imported a Narva 80W clear from there.

And the Philips SON Clear that has a built in ignitor? I plan to get a similar mercury bulb but I think it will work with a European 125w mercury ballast if the bulb is also a European phosphor coated bulb they are not as nice and GE used to make 175w bulbs like this

@@johnjunior-70 As far as I know, you could easily import a North American 175W H39 mercury vapor lamp and use it with a European 150W high pressure sodium ballast without the ignitor. You can search “H39KB-175” on eBay.com for the USA version.

I found a 100w bulb which is exactly the wattage with the HPS ballast I have, but this bulb is a bit expensive generally green mercury bulbs but I think it's reasonable as they are very few, thanks a lot anyway!!

And greetings from America, I'm from Greece 😊 I don't know, have you ever seen SOX, I've seen some very few and rare ones that stayed red, luckily white mercury lamps and HPS lamps are quite common here, but most are LED, I have them but never tired of gas discharge lamps! well done for the collection, collect as many as you can because in 2027 they say they will be banned and i feel a bit annoyed and angry as these lamps are from our childhood and tradition and will be gone forever 🥺 😡😤! that's what I'm doing now that I have quite a large collection of HPS and fluorescent and mercury 🙂 we have become collectors, be good and take care of these lamps and only the good LED ones😊lol

@@johnjunior-70 I personally love magnetic ballasts since I enjoy their hum and also love photographing the beautiful flash patterns that many discharge lamps produce whenever they run on magnetic ballasts. In some cases, some magnetic ballasts seem to operate a very wide variety of lamp technology choices such as fluorescent, mercury vapor, metal halide, high pressure sodium, and low pressure sodium on just one single ballast. Additionally, I really enjoy watching fluorescent tubes blinking to life on preheat ballasts as well.

been thinking of the 5000K lamp and also a colored lamp would be an excellent idea.

​@@worldwidehidcollectorusa3519 There is a listing on eBay of multiple GDX BU BT28 M57 lamps, each for $24 for now.

By default, mercury vapor lamps normally do not need an external ignitor unless they are well worn and stubborn to start. In one case, I have a heavily used mercury vapor lamp that never started on its own. Because of that, I decided to use a low pulse voltage 2 wire parallel ignitor like you see in this video, but it did not start the lamp. In the end, it was able to get it to successfully strike using a high voltage superimposed ignitor, but it struggled to start.

But for this to happen, i.e. for the internal igniter to wear out, many years must pass because mercury lamps do not burn easily, they just lose a lot of brightness over the years, so the same will happen to HPS lamps with an internal igniter!

From what I understand, virtually all 70W pulse start metal halide lamps in the world are interchangeable with each other. In terms of using European 70W high pressure sodium lamps on electronic 70W pulse start metal halide ballasts, i think your best bet is to only use external ignitor European 70W high pressure sodium lamps.

You mean HPS without built in ignitor?

External ignitor lamps mean lamps without built in ignitors. You can tell them apart if you see an “E” inside a triangle. Lamps with built in ignitors have an “I” inside a triangle instead.

Yes I know the auto starter bulb with electronic ballast can even be damaged, all the HPS I have are with an external igniter! so will it be ok? Thanks a lot for your time

@johnjunior5421 Definitely yes.

I got it from a deceased relative’s house. When I first got it, I originally ran only mercury vapor lamps in it. Since it now has an imported Philips SI51 low voltage 2 wire parallel ignitor installed, I have been using it with 175W M57 probe start metal halide lamps every day.

@@kenytha5 As far as I know, they are White high pressure sodium lamps and I am aware that they often require dedicated electronic ballasts.

​@worldwidehidcollectorusa3519 So therefore, they don't work on electronic ceramic metal halide ballasts?

@@kenytha5 As far as I know, I think they will not run properly even on those ballasts.

what about F42T12

Oh yeah, I forgot about the F42T12 slimline. Also there were F60T12 F64T12, and F84T12 slimlines made in addition to the standard 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 footers. I can't ever recall seeing a slimline shorter than 72 inch though. I have seen F60T12-HO used in older grocery store walk in coolers, though. I'd imagine the oddball lengths of 42, 60, 64 and 84 inches were used almost exclusively for signs or vending machines, rather than for general illumination. Even in Kmarts and Walmarts before the days of LED, at least in all the ones I've been in during my younger years, would often finish an end row in a 4 or 6 foot T12 strip otherwise lit exclusively by F96T12.