Author Topic: 1000 watt MV lamp on 1500 watt ballast?  (Read 1978 times)
RadiantMV
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1000 watt MV lamp on 1500 watt ballast? « on: June 29, 2022, 08:41:47 PM » Author: RadiantMV
Since 1500 watt metal halide lamps are essentially just overdriven 1000 watt lamps, could you get away with running an equivalent 1000 watt mercury vapor lamp on a 1500 watt M48 ballast?
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Medved
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Re: 1000 watt MV lamp on 1500 watt ballast? « Reply #1 on: June 30, 2022, 01:17:58 AM » Author: Medved
They are by far not just "overdriven 1kW". The arctube of the 1.5kW may be the same size, but the fill composition and dosing and electrodes are adopted to support the higher currents and higher temperatures. Plus the outer fill will be adopted as well, to deal with the higher arctube heat dissipation.
So when you drive them using 1kW ballast, it will run on lower temperature than designed, so the color will be shifted and the efficacy will be lower. But I strongly doubt it would cause any harm, the 1kW is not that far from the designed 1.5kW.
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Re: 1000 watt MV lamp on 1500 watt ballast? « Reply #2 on: June 30, 2022, 02:12:42 AM » Author: joseph_125
Sylvania used to mention running H36 lamps on 1500w in their older MV literature see here. You get 85000 lumens operating a 1000w H36 MV lamp at 1500w but lamp life drops to a mere 2000 hours.

« Last Edit: July 01, 2022, 04:58:10 AM by joseph_125 » Logged
wide-lite 1000
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Re: 1000 watt MV lamp on 1500 watt ballast? « Reply #3 on: June 30, 2022, 07:05:35 PM » Author: wide-lite 1000
GE also . No idea which ballast was used though .
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108CAM
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Re: 1000 watt MV lamp on 1500 watt ballast? « Reply #4 on: July 01, 2022, 03:46:41 AM » Author: 108CAM
I'd just do it once or twice for testing and no hot restrikes
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Re: 1000 watt MV lamp on 1500 watt ballast? « Reply #5 on: July 01, 2022, 04:15:54 AM » Author: Silverliner
Sylvania used to mention running H36 lamps on 1500w in their older MV literature see here. You get 850000 lumens operating a 1000w H36 MV lamp at 1500w but lamp life drops to a mere 2000 hours.

You meant to type 85,000 lumens?
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Re: 1000 watt MV lamp on 1500 watt ballast? « Reply #6 on: July 01, 2022, 04:17:20 AM » Author: Silverliner
I’d try that with a cheap Chinese 1000w merc first before trying any of the now precious USA ones.
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WorldwideHIDCollectorUSA
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Re: 1000 watt MV lamp on 1500 watt ballast? « Reply #7 on: June 15, 2024, 09:58:52 PM » Author: WorldwideHIDCollectorUSA
In the wild, I have supposedly encountered a baseball field that appears to have some 1500W M48 probe start metal halide fixtures running 1000W H36 mercury vapor lamps in some of the fixtures.

Check out this installation here:

https://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=0&pos=0&pid=245733
« Last Edit: June 15, 2024, 10:10:24 PM by WorldwideHIDCollectorUSA » Logged

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Re: 1000 watt MV lamp on 1500 watt ballast? « Reply #8 on: June 16, 2024, 06:35:28 AM » Author: RRK
The fact it was done with old American lamps surely does not mean it is a good idea to try on today's cheap Chinese stuff))
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Re: 1000 watt MV lamp on 1500 watt ballast? « Reply #9 on: June 17, 2024, 10:23:03 PM » Author: wide-lite 1000
 Since the catalog mention of running 1,000w MV on a 1,500w ballast pre-dates the 1,500w MH lamp , I wonder exactly what ballast they used ?
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Re: 1000 watt MV lamp on 1500 watt ballast? « Reply #10 on: June 18, 2024, 01:22:24 AM » Author: Medved
I would guess CWA, as these (I mean the MV ones) are really nearly ideal current sources, they won't overheat at lower than designed arc voltages.
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WorldwideHIDCollectorUSA
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Re: 1000 watt MV lamp on 1500 watt ballast? « Reply #11 on: June 20, 2024, 01:30:19 AM » Author: WorldwideHIDCollectorUSA
Interestingly, whenever I have checked a 1962 GE outdoor luminaire catalog, I have found out that GE appeared to have only made these “1500W” mercury vapor ballasts in the form of 460-480V series choke ballasts.

See here:

https://www.scribd.com/document/330187696/GE-Lighting-Systems-Area-Lighting-Catalog-1962

Information can be found on page 37 on the catalog.
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