Gallery of Lights


Home Login
Album list Last uploads Last comments Most viewed Top rated My Favorites Search
Home > User galleries > Mike > My General Electric M-100 (Gray)
My Gray M-100
175W MV, 240V. I rewired the PC socket for 120V (it was all 240V before). As you can see, this has more paint left on top than the silver light but not much. Pretty cool light. I've wanted a M-100 for some time now so it's exciting to have not one, but two! A silver one and a gray one. Both are identical aside from the paint color though (and one being from 1965 and the other from 1968).
Keywords: American_Streetlights

My Gray M-100

175W MV, 240V. I rewired the PC socket for 120V (it was all 240V before). As you can see, this has more paint left on top than the silver light but not much. Pretty cool light. I've wanted a M-100 for some time now so it's exciting to have not one, but two! A silver one and a gray one. Both are identical aside from the paint color though (and one being from 1965 and the other from 1968).

011917_001.JPG 011917_002.JPG 011917_003.JPG
File information
Filename:011917_001.JPG
Album name:Mike / My General Electric M-100 (Gray)
Keywords:American_Streetlights
Filesize:295 KiB
Date added:Jan 20, 2017
Dimensions:2048 x 1536 pixels
Displayed:179 times
URL:http://www.galleryoflights.org/mb/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=21391
Favorites:Add to Favorites

Comment 1 to 12 of 12
Page: 1

Antstar85   [Jan 20, 2017 at 02:06 AM]
I remember when I was like 5 seeing these up before the HPS changeover.
streetlight98   [Jan 20, 2017 at 02:26 AM]
I've never seen them used around here but Joe Maurath had told me that the municipal utility in North Attelborough, MA used these before they went HPS in the early-mid 80s. I've seen other collectors who had M-100s and thought they were really cool looking. Better built than Westinghouse's MO-10 but both are cool lights.

The M-100 was ahead of its time IMO. A Powr/Door and FCO! I actually think this light might have been GE's inspiration for the Powr/door cobraheads. I don't know when the M-100 started or ended production but mine are from 1965 and 1968.
joe_347V   [Jan 24, 2017 at 04:26 AM]
Very nice! As far as I know, these never saw use in the GTA. Back in 1965 most residential streets here were still lit with incandescent or MV mini gumballs. I wonder if this is the first Powr/Door fixture.
streetlight98   [Jan 24, 2017 at 08:15 PM]
These did come out before the M-250A and M-400A (which both came out in 1966, the first year GE used gray paint) but these weren't called Powr/Door lights. I'm thinking this and the Powr/Bracket fixture (which did come out before the M-250A and M-400A since I've seen silver ones, but I think they came out in 1964/1965 or so; right before they went gray) likely were the inspiration for the Powr/Door lights.


What's interesting about these is that the hinges on the housing are actually part of the slipfitter clamp. The door hinges on the slipfitter clamp and not actually the upper housing! These guys can only take a 1-1/4" arm too. No 2" arms. You can see in this pic that there's another strap steel clamp on the idea of a conduit strap that is used for leveling. The bolts on the side of the fixture hold that clamp. You loosen the exterior bolts and slide the clamp up to tilt the fixture down and side the clamp down to tilt the fixture up. Then re-tighten the bolts after you slide the fixture onto the mast arm and crank down on the two top bolts. Similar to the slipfitter system that the M-250R and M-400 (and our Crimefighters) used but more simplistic and crude. Still does the job though.

I find it funny how we made it all the way to the 1990s before manufacturers realized they could simplify the leveling process to just having little "leveling steps". Seems like such a simple thing instead of all these complex methods used in the past. Of course, back then people actually cared about the precise leveling of their fixtures. Generally nowadays they don't care much.
lite_lover   [Jan 26, 2017 at 03:26 AM]
Nice Mike! Never saw these in use around here.
streetlight98   [Jan 26, 2017 at 02:31 PM]
Thanks Darren! Yeah never seen them used here either, but they were used to some extent in Massachusetts, mostly in municipal utilities.
vaporeyes   [Jan 28, 2017 at 06:54 PM]
Very nice! Looks kind of like an M250 without glass, but more elongated. I don't think they were ever used in the Northwest United States, at least I've never seen one. Indeed, ahead of its time with the PowrDoor and full-cutoff design.
streetlight98   [Jan 28, 2017 at 11:40 PM]
There's definitely that GE resemblance. This light was also the first GE street light with the external slipfitter bolts on the top. The same feature the M-250A, M-400A, M-250R1, and M-400 split door all had in the 70s (and the M-1000 had the slipfitter designed for 2 external bolts too).
joe_347V   [Jan 30, 2017 at 02:17 AM]
That's a pretty interesting hinge setup. I never would have known they hinged the door on the slipfitter clamp instead of the top housing. Yeah older fixtures often had a elaborate leveling setup. My Powerlite gumball has a 3 set screw slipfitter that's a bit finicky to adjust but it does get the job done. The newer step leveling does seem to save a lot of time imo.
streetlight98   [Jan 30, 2017 at 03:58 PM]
My OV-10IB has one of the most basic set-ups: one screw on the top and one on the bottom. The top one is primarily for leveling (the tighter you crank the bolt, the further down the fixture tilts). Same idea for my Westy NEMA but backwards: the more you tighten the top bolt the higher the light tilts. And the NEMA has two bolts with a bracket on the bottom like a newer NEMA. My McGraw-Edison NEMA has two bolts on top and you can only make very slight adjustments to the leveling. If the front bolt is tightened more the light tilts up and if the rear bolt is tightened more the light tilts down It's the reverse of 4-bolt cobraheads.
joe_347V   [Jan 31, 2017 at 09:37 PM]
Ahh my Powerlite mini gumball is similar, one screw on top, one on the bottom and one facing the left (looking towards the arm end). The two vertical screws are for leveling and the horizontal screw is for extra clamping.

My standard size gumball and peaheads have two screws for leveling and a u-bolt to clamp the light to the arm.
streetlight98   [Feb 01, 2017 at 12:06 AM]
Ah my late 50s Wheeler crescent moon light only has a u-bolt with two nuts on top of the light. that's all that holds the light. No way to level it.

Comment 1 to 12 of 12
Page: 1