Great finds! Here are the dates from the Mr. Datecode Whiz!

Sylvania: April 1981
Westinghouse #1: October 1981 possibly
Westinghouse #2: July 1970
GE E-37: March 1967
GE BT-37: October 1963

Umm Dave, you are being sued for copyright of the use of "Whiz"

MINE!

I'm just giving ya a HARD TIME! Muhahaha!

Thanks everyone, I've always like the old BT shaped mercs too.

Cool finds Joe! I like the BTs too, especially the BT25, and i think most of us would agree that the BT25 is one of the coolest lamp shapes EVER! That BT GE is quite a find in itself! GE was very early in the switch to the ED shape while the others lagged for years, which i don't get. I think Sylvania was the last to switch over to ED/ET, and they still have some BT lamps like the Metalarcs.

Thanks Mike! I also agree that the BT 25 mercs are the one of the coolest lamp shapes too.

I also tested the four used lamps (on a 250w MH ballast) and it looks like the Westy Canada lamp is still pretty bright, the other Westy is also more or less the same brightness but with a slight green tinge to it. The two GE Bonuslines are dead as a rock though, both didn't strike on the MH ballast. I'll have to dig out my BBQ ignitor or my NST tomorrow and see it that is able to kickstart it. The arctubes in both GEs are pretty dark though. Would using a proper 400w ballast help to start it too?

If I remember correctly though Jace was able to get a old Bonusline lamp going again with a special trick.

Oh and I still haven't tested the Sylvania yet since it's NOS.

Yes he did...you might be able to get a 400w ballast if you look for a 400w probe start MH highbay...they seem to be pretty common now with the conversion to T8 and T5...

Wow, what a find. I never see stuff like this at the ReStore in my area.

I have gotten a 80s Clear Westinghouse NOS BT-28 lamp in ReStore! But I believe that lamp came with a fixture since it was in a Styrofoam package...

I have yet to make it to the Habbitat ReStore nearest me. In truth it's really in the middle of nowhere. Nobody ever goes into South County anyways. So maybe the odds of finding something good is higher? Is restore like a Salvation Army? I don't normally find anything but a few table lamps. The stores themselves have pretty cool lights at times (though refitted to T but I've asked about buying them and was turned down lol.

Thanks, I've found a lot of vintage lamps at Restore but this particular one had some of my best finds. My other Bonuslines from last year and a lot of NOS vintage fluorescents were also from here.

MIke, Restore is like Salvation Army but they only sell building materials so the stuff they sell is more like what you see in a salvage yard. The ones here usually have a bunch of old lamps, ballasts and fixtures in the lighting section most only have incandescent and fluorescent fixtures but oscasionally some HID stuff shows up and for quite cheaply too. If you're in the area or if you have time you should go and check put your Restore.

From what I undestand (although I need to go to one someday) ReStore sells stuff like used building materials (windows, doors, light fixtures, etc.) so it's basically like a hardware thrift store...

Ok I've tried using a 70w PSMH ballast on the two dead lamps, no effect. The 250w HPS ballast also had no effect too. I guess next up is the NST

-----[11 Nov 2012 at 23:28]-----

That's basically what a Restore is in a nutshell, here's a shot of part of their lighting section from one of my local Restores.

Hey Joe, I assume you'll want to keep that dead Bonusline BT-37, but what do you plan to do with the ED-37 one? I may be interested to get it, even if it's 200% dead. But I do know how to hack a flat screen CRT flyback and build a 40kV "lamp starter" with it xD That may bring it back to life!

But that's if you're interested to trade it of course, or maybe even both Bonuslines! In return you could get something from my collection, whether it's another HID or any other sort of lamp, could even be a ballast! If you're interested let me know! Take a look at my pics (here and on L-G) and tell me what you'd like to have! I even got more stuff that's not posted here so far, like a pair of Canadian GE F40WWX Mainlighters.

I could get that BT lamp started again....I did....see here

I have my own tricks as well xD In fact I should find those television flybacks I stored in one of the hundred of boxes I packed stuff in and build a HV starting aid with them. The newer flat-screen cathode ray tubes are driven by a flyback that easily generates over 30kV... for a 20"! As a comparison a standard 20" CRT needs no more than 15 to 20kV LOL.

The dead-est lamp I have is a heavily used 1000W Sylvania /W. It's just a little stubborn to start. A thousand volt does the trick.

Yeah ReStore has some pretty cool stuff, though the one in my area didn't have much HID stuff when I went there...although there was a Lithiona/Hi-Tek highbay like the ones I have, a Regent/cooper 175w MV yardlight (should've bought it but didn't, was $20 and had no bulb) and a few odd MV, HPS, and MH lamps...nothing like this though! If there were any 400w MV lamps I would've bought them...

HID really depends on the store, some stores will sell anything but some only sell what typical homeowners use. I guess my uploads make it seem like Restore has a lot of stuff but I actually go to a few Restores in my area.

There's two in my county but I've only been to one of them...the one closest to me...

Try going to the other one.......