Is it normal for older probe start MH lamps to cycle in Europe? « on: December 18, 2020, 03:54:05 PM » Author: WorldwideHIDCollectorUSA
I am interested in knowing if it is common for probe start metal halide lamps often cycle as they age in Europe? I am asking this question because I often see that European members say that probe start metal halide lamps often use a mercury vapor series choke and a 750v 2 wire parallel ignitor wired across the lamp. I replicated a similar setup in the USA using a 400w HX H33 mercury vapor ballast and a 750v 2 wire parallel ignitor wired across the lamp. When I tested this setup using a low hour 400w M59 probe start metal halide lamp, the lamp seemed to behave normally. However, when I tried using an older 400w M59 probe start metal halide lamp with a blackened arc tube, the lamp cycled on the 400w H33 HX ballast with the 750v 2 wire parallel ignitor. This older lamp would stay lit on a proper 400w M59 probe start CWA ballast.
« Last Edit: December 18, 2020, 04:11:21 PM by WorldwideHIDCollectorUSA »		Logged

Desire to collect various light bulbs (especially HID), control gear, and fixtures from around the world.

DISCLAIMER: THE EXPERIMENTS THAT I CONDUCT INVOLVING UNUSUAL LAMP/BALLAST COMBINATIONS SHOULD NOT BE ATTEMPTED UNLESS YOU HAVE THE PROPER KNOWLEDGE. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INJURIES.

	Re: Is it normal for older probe start MH lamps to cycle in Europe? « Reply #1 on: December 18, 2020, 04:39:18 PM » Author: Medved
The question is, how many of MH were still in use in the past 30 years. It was pretty early when the 230V market switched virtually exclusively to pulse start MHs, even when that means with many high wattages just 750V peak ignitor. However what happens when you disconnect the ignitor after the lamp started? And the ballasts in question are HX or CWA?
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No more selfballasted c***

	Re: Is it normal for older probe start MH lamps to cycle in Europe? « Reply #2 on: December 18, 2020, 05:25:05 PM » Author: WorldwideHIDCollectorUSA
Quote from: Medved on December 18, 2020, 04:39:18 PM The question is, how many of MH were still in use in the past 30 years. It was pretty early when the 230V market switched virtually exclusively to pulse start MHs, even when that means with many high wattages just 750V peak ignitor. However what happens when you disconnect the ignitor after the lamp started? And the ballasts in question are HX or CWA? In the case with my ballast, it was a HX ballast.
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Desire to collect various light bulbs (especially HID), control gear, and fixtures from around the world.

DISCLAIMER: THE EXPERIMENTS THAT I CONDUCT INVOLVING UNUSUAL LAMP/BALLAST COMBINATIONS SHOULD NOT BE ATTEMPTED UNLESS YOU HAVE THE PROPER KNOWLEDGE. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INJURIES.

	Re: Is it normal for older probe start MH lamps to cycle in Europe? « Reply #4 on: December 18, 2020, 06:49:54 PM » Author: WorldwideHIDCollectorUSA
Quote from: Ash on December 18, 2020, 05:33:39 PM We in Israel are a mixed bag especially in older (80s 90s and even some early 00s) installs, as we had one lighting company - Steinitz, that brought in quite a lot of US spec lighting. (The ballasts were made locally to their spec by ELTAM Ein Hashofet) After the "Steinitz era" (ended in the early..mid 00s) most of the 400W and below were Pulse Start, but in the 1kW+ the Probe Start remained the de facto standard here, and other manufacturers too kept using Probe Start In addition, many of the MH lamps previously and currently on the market (even in 250..400W ratings) are Probe Start, even though they are misused on Pulse Start gear most of the time by oblivious users To answer your question : Yep, they do cycle So, in the case with my used Sylvania lamp, it would be considered “EOL” on a MV series choke, but still functional on the proper CWA ballast?
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Desire to collect various light bulbs (especially HID), control gear, and fixtures from around the world.

DISCLAIMER: THE EXPERIMENTS THAT I CONDUCT INVOLVING UNUSUAL LAMP/BALLAST COMBINATIONS SHOULD NOT BE ATTEMPTED UNLESS YOU HAVE THE PROPER KNOWLEDGE. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INJURIES.

	Re: Is it normal for older probe start MH lamps to cycle in Europe? « Reply #6 on: December 19, 2020, 05:24:29 AM » Author: dor123
There is a Zeev Shimoni floodlight with an Osram HQI-T 400W/N/SI on a choke + Eltam ES-PI 1000 anti cycle ignitor, which the lamps arctube is bulged due to being operated on a horizontal burning position. The lamp is EOL now.
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I"m don't speak English well, and rely on online translating to write in this site.
Please forgive me if my choice of my words looks like offensive, while that isn't my intention.

I only working with the international date format (dd.mm.yyyy).

I lives in Israel, which is a 220-240V, 50hz country.