Hi, this is actually my first post here, kinda long, just letting you know first.

I'm curious to see if you can help me identify these two mercury vapor lamp assemblies (including mounting brackets)? The mounting bracket brand might be a shot in the dark, but worth a shot. Pictures attached below.

These were taken at a house down the road from mine that I mow at during the summer. These lights have been there since I was young and are still there today, I don't know when they were installed.  I have attached two pictures each of the two separate lights. The one on top is a dayburner that the owner had the co-op shut off as he didn't need it, but the assembly is still there, this is in his back yard. The other unit is in his front yard and is still being used, albeit with a bit of ballast buzz.

From my ground view, I don't see any identification of brand or model name.

I don't work for a utility company, I'm just sorta an enthusiast, haha. Though all of this is practically new to me.

Whats the easiest way to identify a brand/model from each other?

Also, in the first picture, I noticed that there is a bit of black around the acrylic shield, could this be caused by the lamp staying on constantly back when it was powered on?

As of 2017, my local electric co-op (Carroll Electric) has made the switch to the Evluma AreaMax 70W to replace their HPS and older MV units. They recently replaced my brothers house with one (previous HPS with what I suspect was a failed capacitor, extremely dim)


Thanks!

The first NEMA fixture appears to be on an older GE arm. It may be a GE unit, but I cannot say.

The second fixture is on an American Electric arm, and the fixture itself may be as well.

Generally, to me the arms are easier to identify:
Westinghouse/Cooper arms usually follow a soft arc shape with no sharp angles and have a through bolt bracket higher on the arm.
American Electric arms usually have two pronounced angles as in your second unit and also have the separate through bolt bracket.
Older GE arms were curved, and had the clamp that mounts them to the pole at the very bottom of the arm which had the through bolt built in. There is no separate through bolt bracket on the arm. Newer GE arms are more straight in appearance and have the through bolt bracket welded to the arm, unlike A/E and Cooper arms which have a separate through bolt bracket as you see in second unit.

Sometimes identifying the arm can tell you what brand the fixture itself is, although in some cases the fixture was replaced at some point and is a different brand than the arm.

I'm not that great at identifying NEMA fixtures, generally I think the differences in the slipfitter shape (the part where the arm goes into the fixture) are the main ways to tell. But hopefully others will know.

Thats great information, definitely helped. Thanks.

I did some digging via the Wayback Machine (link below, in addition to attachments)  and found this unit. I wonder if this is the model of the housing/assembly? The mounting arm matches the one from the second unit, so I'm guessing this is the one.

http://web.archive.org/web/20060319005645/http://www.americanelectriclighting.com/Products/family.asp?Brand=AEL&Family=Series%2011%20Package&View=FEATURES

It could be, that is the AEL 11 series NEMA head. Those are still made in HPS but once were in MV as well.

The AEL and Cooper NEMAs I find difficult to tell apart, but it could likely be AEL if the arm is.

The first one may well be a GE 101SA of the 60s-70s, the precursor to the 201SA. It also appears to have an older BT shaped lamp in it, possibly a Westinghouse Lifeguard. The blackening in the bulb could be the arc tube has blackened, but usually the black would be even along the tube. As for the refractor, the black could be mold or dirt.

My co-op has switched to the Evlumas now too as of about 4 or 5 years ago.
WestinghouseCeramalux in particular is great at identifying NEMA fixtures and arms.

Top two are Westinghouse RMA's, while the bottom two are ITT/American-Electric Series 11's. All appear to be 175W/H39 mercury vapor.

It could be, that is the AEL 11 series NEMA head. Those are still made in HPS but once were in MV as well.

These are or were also made in PSMH.