Nice touch

MV and HPS run at different currents, i know its possible on European lamps & ballasts

MV lamps usually cycle on HPS ballasts

Thanks! I think the only ballasts the ignitor disable switch works is on PSMH ballasts where if you disable the ignitor you can run MV lamps.

Accualy when I got my ITT model 25 it had a bad ignitor and I ran a MV of it it was 250 watts but I realy don't know how to properly diable a working ignitor.

Well I think 250w MV and HPS run at a similar voltage but with different current so I think it shouldn't cycle but something might end up being under/over driven. Anyway to disable to ignitor you simply put a switch between either the ignitor tap on the ballast and X3 or the neutral and the ignitor neutral (X2). I usually switch the ignitor neutral though.

@ George; i thought you didn't have a 25?

oops I ment model 13 I must have been thinking of the 25. Thanks Joe I'll give that a try on the 13's ballast thats exactly what I did just capped off the X3 and put th neutrals together and competely removed the ignitor all together.

ahh well i know how much you want the 25 so i can see why it was on your mind lol. if you have a bucket truck you can get a 400W MV 240V ones with a broken browned out plastic lens from Rocky point park. If you could ever do that, you might as well take the truss arm it's on too since it'll only get scrapped. Maybe you want a couple of transformers and a cross arm too and some cable?

on second thought, just bring a chopper and pull the whole pole out of the ground and carry it back to MD. Easy as pie LOL. you'll get all you need to make your backyard look like a street! I wish i could pull a davit from there out of the ground with a chopper that has a hook attatched to it.

Call in the MARINES they'll get it done! we'll take that place one way or another.

LOL. I really want to go in there with a bucket truck at dusk on a warm summer night and get all the lights. I'd clear that place out by dawn lol. I'd unbolt any and all cobraheads in good condition of not. The ones in bad condition could be used for parts for lights that have minor problems. no matter what happens, the lights are mercury vapor so they won't be kept under any circumstance. Someone just needs to be their at the right time.

In reality, if i were to catch a lineman removing the lights, i'd ask for any photocells, a few glass lenses (namely OV-15 glassware but maybe one of two OV-25 or M-400 glasses too) and maybe I'd try to get an OV-15 (well, they're actually OV-400s, as their 400W MV). I'd also be sure to get that ITT25 for ya. Don't know where i'd get a box big enough to ship a medium sized cobrahead though. I'd have to buy a new fridge and use the box from that lol.

I know for a fact that the power company will not give out mercury vapor lamps since they're classified as hazardous waste so it's be pointless trying to get any of them. The capacitors from fixtures that do not say "NO PCBs" are also removed and paint can ballasts are not to be given out as they have the PCBs too. I guess it's a liability issue. I'm not aware of any HPS lamp issues though... I wouldn't mention anything about the PCBs though if i saw a lineman...

You should try to contact the property owner and get permission ther should be a number around that place that you can call. LOL, refrigorator box

The property is owned by the State of Rhode Island in hopes of converting the defunct amusement park into a State Park. The lights were all owned by Narragansett Electric and the park closed before National Grid took over, though I assume NGrid has inherrited the ownership of them. The lights were leased to the park on an annual rental charge and kWh charge exactly like the city street lights are and the street lights on RIDOT's freeways (well, the older ones at least. The newer FCO M-400 installations are owned by the state and maintained by NGrid).

So the odds of getting lights are low since two big bodies rule the land lol, the power company owns the cobraheads and the state owns the land including the buildings which most defintly have T12s in them, though from google earth you can see cave-ins in the ceiling so some of the interior lights are probably beaten up. Not to mention the building itself is probably not structurly sound. The state wanted to preserve "the world's largest shore dinner hall" but the poor thing is too far gone. There are some pretty cool 400W MV flood lights mounted on the building too.

Hope you can save all those lights! Just get some lineman friends (like George) to help!

Any thoughts on the switch...

I like it

Very creative to add the switches to the ballast box! I honestly meant to comment on the pic but got sidetracked lol. I like the power switch and the ingitor disabler switch. Plus it's SO SHINEY!

Very nice, Great Idea for the HID market I bet It would be allot cheaper than buying retrofit lamps if you wer to want a different light source. And I too had gotten sidetracked ,what whould be cool too is have two different lamps in one fixture so you don't have to change lamps every time simply isolate one from the other.

The switch set-up looks great Joseph.

@ George; that would be cool. Technically, if you installed the MH lamp with the ignitor switch off, the lamp would stay off until it is flipped on, though you couldn't shut off the MV lamp and the MH lamp couldn't be turned off after start up. The easiest thing i could think of (a little cheat though) is to use two ballasts with switches lol.

Thanks guys, I think you might be able to wire up one ballast to two sockets and have a switch that changes which lamp to use and the turn on/off the ignitor. Depending on the ballast type either a double pole double throw switch or a triple pole double throw switch should work.