I'm in need of a 100-watt mercury vapor ballast. I'll pay thirty bucks for it.

I can give you a dead one for 30.

Do I have to get with the  again..? 

Do I have to get with the  again..? 

He didn't specify that it had to work.

If you want to test the MV you can use a resistive load in series. For a 100W MV I'd recommend you a 250W incandescent lamp. If you need a "solid state" ballast you could use normal fluorescent chokes in parallel (normal inductive chokes, not rapid start, nor electronics, nor ones with additional "fancy features") until you reach the desired current.

If you want to test the MV you can use a resistive load in series. For a 100W MV I'd recommend you a 250W incandescent lamp. If you need a "solid state" ballast you could use normal fluorescent chokes in parallel (normal inductive chokes, not rapid start, nor electronics, nor ones with additional "fancy features") until you reach the desired current.

I would really just want a ballast.

I would either get a NOS one from eBay, or get a 70w MH ballast and remove the ignitor.

The putting a incandescent lamp in series to ballast a MV really only works when using 240v. The 120v power in North America doesn't have enough voltage for the drop across the incandescent and the MV. Hence why 120v MV ballasts are really small current limited transformers.

Here's the closest I could find to your budget : https://www.ebay.com/itm/100-Watt-Mercury-Ballast/265024159131 Since it does have best offer , maybe you could save a bit at least .

Here's the closest I could find to your budget : https://www.ebay.com/itm/100-Watt-Mercury-Ballast/265024159131 Since it does have best offer , maybe you could save a bit at least .

DO NOT BUY THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE SELLER SENT ME A CHEAP HX BALLAST< HE IS UNTRUSTWORTHY!!!!!!!!!!!1

Really !? I've bought a bunch of things from this seller with no problems. He's also a member here.

DO NOT BUY THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE SELLER SENT ME A CHEAP HX BALLAST< HE IS UNTRUSTWORTHY!!!!!!!!!!!1

you have mistaken.

The putting a incandescent lamp in series to ballast a MV really only works when using 240v. The 120v power in North America doesn't have enough voltage for the drop across the incandescent and the MV. Hence why 120v MV ballasts are really small current limited transformers.

But there actually are SBMVs for the 120V market, you just need the right current drop. Also a 120V 250W bulb has half the resistance of the 240V one, so half the current drop, but the operation voltage is the half so they compensate, and if I'm not wrong, the tube tube should receive the same current with a 120v and 240V incandescent bulb, operating at their respective voltage.

Really !? I've bought a bunch of things from this seller with no problems. He's also a member here.

Oh wait........... This is a similar seller to the not trusty one, your fine, my mistake.

If you want to test the MV you can use a resistive load in series. For a 100W MV I'd recommend you a 250W incandescent lamp. If you need a "solid state" ballast you could use normal fluorescent chokes in parallel (normal inductive chokes, not rapid start, nor electronics, nor ones with additional "fancy features") until you reach the desired current.

would this work for a permanent set up?

But there actually are SBMVs for the 120V market, you just need the right current drop. Also a 120V 250W bulb has half the resistance of the 240V one, so half the current drop, but the operation voltage is the half so they compensate, and if I'm not wrong, the tube tube should receive the same current with a 120v and 240V incandescent bulb, operating at their respective voltage.

While you can get the correct current the voltage isn't high enough for conventional MV. Remember than the 120v SBMV lamps have special arctubes that have a lower arc voltage and hence won't cycle on 120v and they have preheating filaments to allow for starting that the 240v SBMVs lack.

would this work for a permanent set up?

It probably would as long as you have it wired up correctly and are running on 240v power. That's basically how 240v SBMV lamps are laid out internally. A MV arc tube connected in series with a incandescent filament as a ballast.