This was replaced by a proper F-can 175W MH ballast I was wondering why the lamp wouldn't start up then noticed someone did a hack job installing the above ballast when the last ballast failed. I assume they also installed a MV lamp at one time so it probably worked fine fine until a group relamp occurred
I have a few 400w MH lamps (probe-start) that take awhile to start...the ballast will sit there buzzing then there'll be an "arcing" sound then the lamp lights. The 400w Philips I'm currently using (Which is rarely at that; I don't need that much light and it draws too much power anyway) starts right up though as soon as power is applied.
I've seen plenty of pulse start ballasts not strike up new lamps right away, one took 4 minutes! Usually they come on right away though, if they're slow I would say the ignitor is on its way out
i don't know if it has to do with the igniter. With my two M-400A2s, they both have ED28 320W PSMH Philips lamps and one lamp starts right away regardless of which M-400A2 it in. the other takes like 20 seconds to start in either A2 as well.
The OV-25, the M-400, the OV-10, the M-250A, the OVC, the M-250R1, the other "C" M-250R1, the two M-400A2s, the RMA nema head, and sometime next year I'll be getting an OV-15 TuDor from Joe Maurath and maybe I'll see if I can accomodate room for a silver 60s M-250R. So ten right now (11 right now if you count the LED street light, though i don't lol)
Wow! That's a lot already!
The only ones like that I have are an ElectriPak 175W MV yardblaster and that 70s 250w HPS M-400A my godfather has that I will pick up someday.
Does the M-400A have a NEMA tag? it could also be an 80s M-400A too. The M-400A was made from the mid-to-late 60s up until the mid 80s I believe. Then the M-400A2 took over, which looks almost the same. The only external differences are that the PC got moved up, the spring latch became a bail latch, the slipfitter went from a external 2 bolt to an internal 4 bolt, and the later M-400A2s didn't have the ridges in the top housing. internally there are more changes thogh.
the reflector was changed and the lamp became street side instead of house side. That said, the socket bracket had to change. The very first M-400A2 powr/modules had vents but when they got rid of the ridges they got rid ofthe vent holes. The M-400A and M-400A2's powr/modules are interchangeable (but the plugs are different). I'm sure the screw holes are different too. The M-400A2 and M-400R2 use the same top housing so the ballast in a M-400A2 could potentially be top-mounted but it wasn't ever sold that way as far as I know... Inside the slipfitter rocker was replaced with a simpler 4-bolt fitter (though the early M-400A2s and R2s had the 2-bolt rocker fitter at first). The M-400A2 also had the new tool-free spring-held PC receptacle whereas the M-400A had the two-screw PC receptacle.
Most of that is going over my head honestly as I'm not very familiar with /interested in streetlights but IIRC the socket was "house-side"; it was on the side that pointed TOWARD the street; it was part of the whole ballast assembly. My godfather and I opened it up and we were like, "That's a lot going on in there!" then scratched our heads for a bit then closed it back up.
Yes it had a NEMA tag, with the 25. It was faded to silver so I couldn't tell if it was MV. (I was kinda hoping it would be). It might be but otherwise why would there be a circuit board-looking thing? I assume that would be an ignitor. I would check again but it's not mine yet and is in another state (I'm in Alaska, it's in California).
Sounds like a 250w HPS unit to me. The silvery tag suggests that it originally had a foil yellow tag, and of course the circuit board thing is the ignitor.
yep silvery 25 tag is a 250W HPS M-400A. For clarity, is it about 3ft long? you might want to make sure it's 120V, though if it's got a huge ballast it likely is. the 200+ older HPS fixtures were commonly 240V since simple reactors could be used.
There were two "transformer" looking things...like a giant preheat choke. (I know, that sounds pretty dumb). I think we may have figured out it was 120v by following wires but I don't remember.
yeah a reactor has one single coil grouping like a prehat choke. Also the voltage is marked inside the fixture on a white paper tag titled GENERAL (GE) ELECTRIC and underneath that the subtitle is LUMINAIRE. the paper label may have corroded though. it is typically near the ballast on the inside of the top housing. the powr/door should have a little label inside too.
Makes sense I guess...like if it was wired to 120v it would need to step up the voltage to something higher whereas if it was hooked up to say 240v or 277v it wouldn't need that.
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The only ones like that I have are an ElectriPak 175W MV yardblaster and that 70s 250w HPS M-400A my godfather has that I will pick up someday.
the reflector was changed and the lamp became street side instead of house side. That said, the socket bracket had to change. The very first M-400A2 powr/modules had vents but when they got rid of the ridges they got rid ofthe vent holes. The M-400A and M-400A2's powr/modules are interchangeable (but the plugs are different). I'm sure the screw holes are different too. The M-400A2 and M-400R2 use the same top housing so the ballast in a M-400A2 could potentially be top-mounted but it wasn't ever sold that way as far as I know... Inside the slipfitter rocker was replaced with a simpler 4-bolt fitter (though the early M-400A2s and R2s had the 2-bolt rocker fitter at first). The M-400A2 also had the new tool-free spring-held PC receptacle whereas the M-400A had the two-screw PC receptacle.
Yes it had a NEMA tag, with the 25. It was faded to silver so I couldn't tell if it was MV. (I was kinda hoping it would be). It might be but otherwise why would there be a circuit board-looking thing? I assume that would be an ignitor. I would check again but it's not mine yet and is in another state (I'm in Alaska, it's in California).