@RRK, as far as I know, I am aware of superimposed ignitors for the low wattage low voltage North American high pressure sodium lamps. Examples include the Payne Sparkman ULI-050S ignitor and a few other ignitors I have mostly seen being sold in some South American countries.

See here:

https://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=search&cat=0&pos=0&pid=237036

I said "not practical", not "not possible"

Low voltage HPS have short arc lengths and until not deliberately made with high xenon pressure, require low ignition voltage with low energy. Easily satisfied just with a tapped ballast choke. Not much need to wind an extra transformer. And there is not much reason to remote ballast such a low wattage lamp....

 

In the post I mentioned, the wattage ranges should be found in the description.

What wattage were those?

@RRK, as far as I know, I am aware of superimposed ignitors for the low wattage low voltage North American high pressure sodium lamps. Examples include the Payne Sparkman ULI-050S ignitor and a few other ignitors I have mostly seen being sold in some South American countries.

See here:

https://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=search&cat=0&pos=0&pid=237036

I appreciate your recommendations I have tried privately owned lights and they will try to save 4 fixtures for me an OVX and 3 ov25s, I did have an idea of going to the utility station and talking to them and see if any line workers would be willing to help and maybe even make flyer

The method to saving them depends on where they come from. If you are trying to get them from a large utility, the chances of being able to do so directly from them are slim to none. This is where you're best off finding which scrap yard they go to and buying them from there. I've saved quite a few lights that way. Most scrap yards are happy and willing to sell whatever comes in at a slightly higher price than what they get, as it makes them a profit.

If you are dealing with a smaller utility / co-op, asking them directly doesn't hurt. Oftentimes they're totally fine with it. If not, refer back to scrap yard method.

 When it comes to lights that belong to parking lots apartment complexes, hoa's, Etc, your best bet is to contact to the owner or somebody in charge and leave your info. Also respectfully explain why you want them. This is my most successful method, I have been ghosted a couple times but I've never been told no. Nowadays with a lot of environmental regulations, it costs money to get rid of these fixtures because of mercury and PCBs. Usually the person in charge of the property puts me in contact with the contractor and they are very happy to find somebody willing to take them off their hands at no charge. If you can't get in contact with anyone, wait till they are taken down and ask them directly, or if they're sitting in a dumpster ask somebody in charge there if you can go grab it out. But the most important thing is that you ask somehow because the worst they can say is no.

I can't imagine it's very good for the ignitor. When I used to work on streetlights (mostly being Cooper and Holophane ballasts), nearly every single fixture that I found with a bad igniter had a visibly smoked HPS lamp in it, indicating repeated cycling till the arc tube leaked. It never really seemed to harm the ballasts. I don't know that running it for a few hours would hurt it too bad, as these examples were months on end.

I will say those look very vintage and they probably retrofitted them for hid

I do hope they sell them off to private parties. Perhaps someone would like to buy and restore them and then sell them to whatever property manager wants to have those thing on their property. Or inviduals who'd like them.

Many possible reasons for that other than the ignitor topology. As matter of fact the topology is provided in the datasheets of SIDACs used in those ignitors (they are made by Littelfuse)