I recently salvaged a mercury vapor security light from a demolition site that I plan to hold on to. I would post photos, but it's saying my files are too large. This is one of those typical outdoor home fixtures that was made for decades. I'm guessing it was made in the 1960s or 70s, but it could be newer. There's no wiring diagram or any paper label that has anything that looks like a date; however, there is what looks like a serial number on a piece of plastic housing between the ballast and the socket. The number is 058-85-40066, with the number "4" printed below. I've heard you can sometimes identify the manufacture date from this. I'm also guessing the "93 T3" elsewhere on the ballast means it's a T3 ballast. The writing on the bulb is blurry, but I was able to make out that it is a Philips 175W H35KC /dx bulb. Is there a way to ID the manufacture date of the bulb from any of this?

I think in Google it's not possible, but in Microsoft Sharepoint this certainly works rather well.  Anyone with an MS user account who is given permission by the author can edit the file, and multiple users can all work in real time on the same file, their changes being displayed live.

If you ping me a msg with your email address I will share a copy of what I have so far.

My local Blue Roof still had primarily GE(Savant) stuff, but has had an increasing number of Cree(Feit) and Utilitech products. Haven’t seen anything go on clearance.

I have seen GE glass LED bulbs turning an eerie dim purplish color at Lowe’s back in late 2019/early 2020. I uploaded a pic of some back then.

Night lights here have switched from Enbrighten/GE to Utilitech as well

The HIDs and plug-in CFLs at my store at under the Sylvania brand.

Heya!
Shipping within the EU is as easy as shipping domestically thanks to the EU free market agreements. You can literally just look up shipping cost on your postal service's website (and get the recipient to pay), print a shipping label and drop it off at the post office. The trip will be a bit longer so take extra care in packaging it. Just be aware of the size limits, i think shipping anything longer than a 18/20w fluorescent tube is not possible via the standard mail system.

Shipping to a place outside the EU market is more complicated, it requires you to look up customs declaration codes and fill in forms.

Just visited a Lowes. All Cree, Feit Electric, and Utilitech stuff, just about all LED. No more HID lamps for sale there, not sure if that will be a trend in California. Didn't see any HIDs on clearance but no big loss anyways.

Even though I've given away many lights in local marketplace websites recently, my storage is still full, including the recently rented storage. I've got a way too many new lights while giving some others (less valuable to me) away.


So, if you're planning to come to Finland soon, especially to Turku, please consider checking out my collection! There are plenty of old lights, mostly fluorescent and HID. No prices, all free at pickup. (Please note that some lights I want to keep myself)


I don't think shipping would be a good idea (unless you live in Finland), especially as I have absolutely zero experience shipping abroad.
However, I can ship anywhere inside Finland, it just requires you to pay the shipping costs.


Let me know me if you're interested!

@rjluna2
I use Pilot G2 pens, but I a pretty sure he meant the band called "Twenty One Pilots" not the pen brand