are they really banned??...are they hard to find? Mine is burned out and I'm off to town for a replacement or a new yard light. Can't stand the orange-ish glow of the HPS lights but I heard the metal hylide don't last as long.
Mercury vapor bulbs
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Not banned, to my knowledge. May be hard to find. Some are available at Grainger and other websites.
Osh has them.we just put 2 up at work.and my neighborhood is lit up with them at night which I hate.
JTK
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MV lamps are not banned, it's just no more new MV fixtures are being produced, so ballasts and associated parts are used or new, old stock at this point. What size lamp are you looking for? Check eBay.
Chris142, why the hate for MV? The lighting they give off is way more pleasing than horrible high pressure sodium IMO.
Chris142, why the hate for MV? The lighting they give off is way more pleasing than horrible high pressure sodium IMO.
I did find one today. No one had any. Checked all the stores etc. Finally stopped by an electrical contractors supply outfit and they had them. It was 175 watts. Thanks!
The guy at the electrical supply said they quit making the fixtures mainly because of the MV being inefficient. The brightness and security are worth the extra $$ power. Plus the old bulb had seven yrs on it and I hate climbing ladders.
I prefer multi vapor / metal halide lights over mercury vapor. The light color and CRI are much better and that out weighs the shorter service life in my opinion. There are some excellent fluorescent replacements but they aren't always the best fixtures for a particular location.
JTK
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Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Ballast you just use a Metal Halide can get and the bulbs too at Mcmaster.com. The Halide are brighter but do dim down faster than a MV. But the MV get so dim before they fail it takes a long time.
I know MH and HPS fixtures can share the same ballasts, but never heard of a ballast that can be used for MV as well.
Funny, I was just talking to an electrician at work about how junky today's fixtures are. Ballasts and associated components are garbage. He commented about some ancient explosion proof mercury vapor and HPS fixtures at work that have not been turned off (aside from a rare electrical outage) or relamped in about 20yrs. New HPS and MH fixtures are junk in comparison.
Ballast you just use a Metal Halide can get and the bulbs too at Mcmaster.com. The Halide are brighter but do dim down faster than a MV. But the MV get so dim before they fail it takes a long time.
I know MH and HPS fixtures can share the same ballasts, but never heard of a ballast that can be used for MV as well.
Funny, I was just talking to an electrician at work about how junky today's fixtures are. Ballasts and associated components are garbage. He commented about some ancient explosion proof mercury vapor and HPS fixtures at work that have not been turned off (aside from a rare electrical outage) or relamped in about 20yrs. New HPS and MH fixtures are junk in comparison.
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There are issues using a MH on an MV ballast at lower temps, say below 50F. Other wise it's the same ballast. I have not seen any ballast that a MH and Sodium can share. But I;ve been out of the loop for a couple years.
Sodium usually needs an igniter circuit too, as well as some newer MHs.
Sodium usually needs an igniter circuit too, as well as some newer MHs.
Originally Posted By: JTK
MV lamps are not banned, it's just no more new MV fixtures are being produced, so ballasts and associated parts are used or new, old stock at this point. What size lamp are you looking for? Check eBay.
Chris142, why the hate for MV? The lighting they give off is way more pleasing than horrible high pressure sodium IMO.
I grew up in the desert.then city slickers moved in around me. Now I have lights lighting up my room at night and can't see the stars any more.
MV lamps are not banned, it's just no more new MV fixtures are being produced, so ballasts and associated parts are used or new, old stock at this point. What size lamp are you looking for? Check eBay.
Chris142, why the hate for MV? The lighting they give off is way more pleasing than horrible high pressure sodium IMO.
I grew up in the desert.then city slickers moved in around me. Now I have lights lighting up my room at night and can't see the stars any more.
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