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Insides of One of the M-400's
Just a View of the Gear.
Keywords: American_Streetlights

Insides of One of the M-400's

Just a View of the Gear.

IMG_3127.JPG IMG_3128~0.JPG IMG_3115.JPG IMG_3116~3.JPG IMG_2885.JPG
File information
Filename:IMG_3115.JPG
Album name:Antstar85 / My collection
Keywords:American_Streetlights
Filesize:735 KiB
Date added:Mar 09, 2017
Dimensions:2162 x 3000 pixels
Displayed:105 times
URL:http://www.galleryoflights.org/mb/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=21557
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Comment 1 to 11 of 11
Page: 1

streetlight98   [Mar 09, 2017 at 01:39 AM]
You're missing the rear slipfitter clamp unless it just wasn't shown in the pic. These old guys sure could use a cleaning! They look good for their age though.
Antstar85   [Mar 09, 2017 at 01:44 AM]
I have the rear slipfitter, thankfully they saved all the hardware for these.
streetlight98   [Mar 09, 2017 at 01:49 AM]
Oh wow that's rare! Maybe they were thoughtful about it since your father inlaw told them to be (since he planned on offering them to you?)
Antstar85   [Mar 09, 2017 at 01:53 AM]
I'm not sure but I'll find out. I asked when I got there if they left bolts and stuff, he goes behind the dumpster, pulls out a box and goes "like this". I was like yup and couldn't of been happier! Laughing
streetlight98   [Mar 09, 2017 at 02:02 AM]
LOL oh yes happy times! Nothing is worse than finding a bunch of lights that are missing a very critical component!

BTW, looks like the MassPike has gone all electronic since last time I visited you? Looks like it'll cost me nearly double next time I'm out that way since I don't have an EZPass or anything like that. RIDOT wanted to put tolls on the freeways here but it was ruled illegal on Interstate highways funded with more than 50% federal funding (which is like all of them lol).
Antstar85   [Mar 09, 2017 at 10:31 AM]
Yes they have but it's all not bad, most of the exits I drive between here in the western are free now so that works out nicely. The transponders are free and you link are card to them that auto refills when you get below $10 and it's a little cheaper with the tolls. But if your not using the highway much, it probably doesn't make sense to get one. I've had one for years mainly for work but I do have one in the wife's car for when we do our NH trips every year.

I'm hoping to test fire these light up this weekend. I'm going to rewire them to 120 volts since I don't have my new workbench built yet or a 240 volt outlet that's conviently located. My dryer is in a closet on the 1st floor and I'd have to take it out of the closet to access it.
streetlight98   [Mar 09, 2017 at 02:55 PM]
Ah that's good. The way they hyped it in the article I read, if you didn't have a transponder they were going to double down on the tolls for you. I actually went on the website and they have a calculator. If I get on in Worcester at the Rte 146 exit and get off at the I-91 exit in Springfield then it's less than $3. Not bad at all. It was actually only a few cents more than last time.

RIDOT's only toll is over the Newport Pell Bridge, which is $4!

Oh yeah that's a pain about the dryer outlet. I'm lucky since they installed the dryer outlet at the same height as a typical light switch so the outlet is above the dryer. So I can put the light right in the dryer and plug it in with the spare dryer cord I have.

BTW I see they used the terminal block with the new ballast which is nice. Awesome they retrofitted these. The mid-late 60s GEs come apart easily but the early 60s GEs always get stuck screws and rust issues inside.
Antstar85   [Mar 09, 2017 at 04:05 PM]
I'm going to give one of these an overhaul in the wiring. I'd like to find an actual mercury ballast and install it instead. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to repaint the fixture yet. I wish they had the PE receptacle knockout though. I'm going to look over the A3 more today to get more info on it.

Also, you now take exit 5 to get to my new house so that may save you a few cents in tolls lol.
streetlight98   [Mar 09, 2017 at 05:45 PM]
If you do end up getting another one to trade/sell me I'll take it with the original wiring (I plan on using special plugs for the voltage input) and paint (but if you don't mind hitting it with the pressure washer I'd love that; beats scrubbing it by hand lol).

Yeah unfortunately the 60s GEs had two separate castings for the PC or no PC socket. I like it since the top is nice and smooth instead of having the bump which makes the light look like it's missing the photocell lol. But on the other hand, it's easier to add the PC socket with the bump there. I've actually seen 60s GEs get retrofitted with a PC socket by just drilling into the casting where the PC is supposed to go and attaching it right to the housing with a rubber gasket. Would look pretty much original from the ground but I wouldn't do that to the fixture. Destroys the "authenticity" of the light since that's not how GE did it.

I'd just opt to use a remote PC on the end of the mounting arm of one of these if I were to install one. A lot of utilities outside the US did that. Sometimes they even kept the cobraheads remote ballasted and only changed the clamshell to a cobrahead (pointless IMO unless the clamshell got damaged). Shrewsbury, MA (municipal utility) had some remote-PC OV-25 flatbottoms on US Rte 20 just past the Worcester line but they might be LED now.
joe_347V   [Mar 10, 2017 at 10:51 PM]
Looks like the terminal block is sorta integrated with the socket mount.
streetlight98   [Mar 10, 2017 at 10:59 PM]
Yeah the M-400s used a specialized 4-position block that also served as the socket mount. The 175 and 250W M-250s (M-400 body but with plastic lens) had the same mount but about twice as long to center the BT28 lamps in the reflector.

For the M-400s with a PC socket, the far left terminal was the 120V input going to the PC socket, the 2nd terminal was the PC socket red joining with the ballast input. the 3rd terminal was left empty except for when the fixture was a 240V unit with 120V PC. In that case the 3rd terminal was the second hot and the 4th was the neutral. If it was straight 240V, the far right was the second hot and the 3rd was left blank.

Comment 1 to 11 of 11
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