Re: Can 175w metal halide lamps (regular probe start) be used on a 175w MV ballast? « Reply #1 on: January 28, 2012, 05:56:27 PM » Author: SOX55W
Probably not, at least not without an ignitor, and even if they would ignite, the lamp may not last as long.  The MH ballasts have a higher OCV and a lower current crest factor.  It does work the other way around, though.  Most MH ballasts listed the ANSI ballast specification for the same wattage MV lamp until they banned MV ballasts here. My 400W MH ballast lists M59 (400W MH) and H39 (400W MV) ANSI codes and runs both types of lamps just fine.
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	Re: Can 175w metal halide lamps (regular probe start) be used on a 175w MV ballast? « Reply #2 on: January 28, 2012, 05:57:02 PM » Author: funkybulb
it might have a hard time striking or have a stable arc on mercury H39 ballast  but not reverse like metal halide probe start ballast due to OCV and current but   will run. it slightly defferent than mercury ballast. from what i heard.
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	Re: Can 175w metal halide lamps (regular probe start) be used on a 175w MV ballast? « Reply #4 on: January 28, 2012, 11:42:14 PM » Author: funkybulb
@ sol however the probe start metal halide is dual listed for metal halide or MV but when the MV ballast ban went in effect they delist the mercury vapor from the label. i do agree mv lamp perform better on mercury ballast. those metal halide ballast do run a bit hotter than mercury ballast this is do to cheaper aluminum winding they used on some of them.
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	Re: Can 175w metal halide lamps (regular probe start) be used on a 175w MV ballast? « Reply #5 on: January 29, 2012, 01:35:35 AM » Author: Medved
The problems with MV ballasts running probeMH is the starting and the production tolerance of the lamp current (MH asked for tighter spread then was sufficient for MV). MH ballasts are either heavier, or have higher losses. That is, because the higher OCV need more turns, what mean longer and thinner secondary wire have to be used in order to fit into the same space. Consequence is higher wire resistance causing the losses. Other aspect is the need to use higher voltage rated capacitor. But from the lamp "point of view", there is no ill effect at all, the MH ballast fulfill all electrical requirements the MV lamp have for the ballast outpu. The MV delisting is exclusively due to the MV ban
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	Re: Can 175w metal halide lamps (regular probe start) be used on a 175w MV ballast? « Reply #6 on: February 08, 2012, 03:49:49 AM » Author: BG101
I wonder if this is true of 240v ballasts? However we don't have a 175w equivalent here as far as I know. Apparently a 40w merc can be run on a 35w MH ballast but how close an electrical match would this be? I only currently have 1 40w clear MV bulb and wouldn't wish to stress it. BG
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	Re: Can 175w metal halide lamps (regular probe start) be used on a 175w MV ballast? « Reply #7 on: February 08, 2012, 07:56:41 AM » Author: gailgrove
Just to clear this up, yes you can run a 175 watt MV on a MH ballast without any problems, in fact I bought 175 watt MH ballast last year and it was rated for 175 watt MH, 175 watt MV and 150 watt MH.
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	Re: Can 175w metal halide lamps (regular probe start) be used on a 175w MV ballast? « Reply #9 on: February 09, 2012, 03:12:56 AM » Author: Medved
I remember 175W MV's here (230V area). They are compatible with 150W HPS ballast (without ignitor; 230/240V area). The probe MH need higher voltage for striking, but otherwise is compatible with 175W MV. Therefore the US 175W MH ballasts were designed to use higher OCV (~300V) then 175W MV ballasts (~220V). This mean the MH ballast could be rated to run the MV lamp (technically, not legally for new ballasts, as sale of newly made/imported ballasts for MV are banned in the US). So the ballast "175W MH/MV" is the one with higher OCV But in the opposite (running MH on MV-only rated ballast) may cause ignition troubles, mainly at cold, the 220V is insufficient as OCV for probe MH. Other problem is the ballast current accuracy: MH's require tighter arc current tolerance to maintain the rated color, what meant MH ballasts were made with tighter tolerance. This is, of course, not any problem for MV. But less accurate MV ballasts may run each lamp in an installation at slightly different power, what cause disturbing color variations with MH's
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	Re: Can 175w metal halide lamps (regular probe start) be used on a 175w MV ballast? « Reply #10 on: December 04, 2024, 01:18:02 AM » Author: WorldwideHIDCollectorUSA
In my experience, I have used a European 750-1000V 2 wire parallel ignitor such as a Philips SI51 ignitor to run 175W M57 probe start metal halide lamps on 175W H39 mercury vapor ballasts without much issues. Although many people will likely say that the European 750-1000V 2 wire parallel ignitors will only work with European mercury vapor ballasts and NOT work with North American mercury vapor ballasts, I have had no problems using them with North American mercury vapor ballasts as long as the OCV was around 200-250V or so. On a side note, I have also used European superimposed ignitors to allow North American 400W M135/M155 pulse start metal halide lamps to run on North American 200-250V OCV 400W H33 mercury vapor ballasts without any issues so far. The ignitors have ran on both HX and CWA ballasts without issues as well.
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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: Can 175w metal halide lamps (regular probe start) be used on a 175w MV ballast? « Reply #12 on: December 04, 2024, 12:02:12 PM » Author: WorldwideHIDCollectorUSA
Another interesting thing that happened is that I also happened to get a European 220-240V superimposed ignitor to run on a North American 400W S51 high pressure sodium CWA ballast with a rather low 180V OCV.
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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: Can 175w metal halide lamps (regular probe start) be used on a 175w MV ballast? « Reply #14 on: December 05, 2024, 06:33:57 AM » Author: Medved
The 180V is a rms value, so even without any saturation spiking, so operating just a sinewave, the peak wouldbe at least in the 250..260V ballpark. The superimposed ignitors use to have trigger voltage around 200V and the RC in the ignitor reduces the peak voltage just a bit, so it will be still firing.
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