Normally, the only time a metal halide bulb will self-destruct is if you leave it on 24/7. This is why lamp instructions call for turning the lamp off once a week for 20 minutes or longer. The reason for once a week lamp shutdowns is because metal halide lamps usually will self-destruct at end of life if left on continuously. However, when they reach end of life and are shutdown once a week, the bulbs will fail without destroying themselves once you energize them after a shutdown. The good thing is in later fixtures, the lamp base of a protected arc tube bulb is a little different from that of a non-protected bulb.
You can run the mercury bulb in most metal halide fixtures. They probably wont be quite as bright but they will last longer than the halide. Take care to match up the wattage.
I broke open and have pictures of the igniter circuit board that burned. I have ordered an igniter specifically for metal Halide but it has not arrived yet. I want to see if that will light the lamp. i also have ballast specs. I would be glad to just have my old one keep going for a while longer. I have had no issue with these lights until now with the burnt igniter.
If you're using generic starting gear from Mau's pondland (aka China) then that's a nice easy fix. Buy yourself some Philips starting gear. Here in Britain, we moved over to 150w CMH (Ceramic metal halide) lamps in our smaller street lights and 400w sodiums elsewhere. On my street, we have 3 of the the small CMH lanterns installed, and at worst they've only needed a new lamp here and there. One only needing a replacement igniter due to water ingress. Other than that, over the 4 or so years they've been installed they've actually been really reliable. Not quite as reliable as the old low pressure sodium lanterns they replaced but at least you no longer end up going temporarily red/blue colour blind as soon as you see white light!! Oh, and btw. The MH lamp you have is a specialised protected unit made for open fixtures like yours. If the arc tube explodes, it's no biggie. You won't have a red hot quartz claymore.
d34n1097 What I would like is to find the transformers and sockets for my mercury vapor lights. I still think they are the best lights above all as far as light output and longevity.
True, the only real issue is they're getting harder to come by. Maybe you'd be able to find an old high bay fixture and nab the running gear form that?
what i recommend is that metal halide ballast i would rip out the ignitor (that white box) and put in a Mercury Vapour bulb. As MV bulbs work with most metal halide ballasts as long as you get the right wattage. I just don’t like Metal Halide the fact that it can explode just makes me not want to use it. I have a Metal halide 400W ballast working well with a MV and after 5 years still working. All i did was just remove the ignitor.
Yeah and you would need to remove the ignitor as the bulb already has one built in. So if you just remove the ignitor and install the MV bulb it should work! This goes for any kind not just 400W as long as the wattage matches with the ballast
No problem. I hope it works since thats what i did with mine since i always have that fear of the metal halide exploding. Do you still have this metal halide light? if so you can convert it to MV.
These ballasts can run mercury vapor bulbs. Just have to disconnect the ignitor from the white wire side and they’ll run fine! The ballast itself should still be ok. Since this ballast is 100 watt, make sure to use 100 watt mercury vapor bulbs only.
I had one of those burn up! Glad it wasn't on the house. Ballast caught fire, those consumer grade lights are junk! I bought an industral grade cobra head MH fixture. No problems yet, it's been 3 years
I do to. I have about 6 or 7 old mercury vapor security lights that I have never done anything to. I think I may have replaced 2 bulbs and they have all gotten new light sensors but that was because the plastic was sun damaged. The lights themselves have never let me down.
I have a metal halid light on the side of my house. Got sick on the bulbs blowing every 1 to 3 years. I found you can put a mercury vapor bulb of the same wattage on a metal halid ballast so I bought a bulb. The first bulb I got on Amazon failed after a day. I then bought 5 frosted 100 watt old new stock mercury vapor on Ebay for $35. Bulb still works great after 2 years and I have enough to probably last till I'm an old man. For my backyard I bought an old new stock 175 watt mercury vapor light and it works great. Mercury vapor gets dimmer with age, but it's very reliable and the bulbs are cheap.
you should get an ultra slim, harsh white, crisp, glarey, LED floodlight. they have a 0.000 second startup time and they "claim" to last longer. and when those are phased out with pale green BLA lamps or LERFEC lamps or even industrial scale phosphorescent lamps, get those. move on with the status quo. NO, screw the status quo. i am still using preheat fluorescent lamps to illuminate rooms.
I had the same with the 150 watt metal halide floodlight that I made into a shop light as a substitute for a 500 watt halogen. (The 150 watt metal halide is actually brighter than the halogen but a third of the energy usage) I've had it for about 3 years or so, and use it extensively for lighting up my backyard next to the bbq pit after a long days work. Anyway, one night I set it on the tripod that I had built, plugged it in, no light. I could hear the transformer buzzing, but not the sound of the ignitor ticking. I ordered one off Amazon, not a cheap ignitor but a quality made one with a metal casing. Disassembled the fixture, removed the old plastic ignitor and installed the new one. Let there be light. Good as new
Thanks for your info. I just bought a 9000 lumen M H light at Walmart today for $60 but after reading your review and others, I’m taking it back. I have a 2100 lm, motion activated led fixture that lights my backyard up well but it has lately turned into a democrat , kinda works when it wants to. Looking for bright dependable illumination for my garden which is 120 x 200. Thanks!
Lol. I haven't tried it myself yet, but from my comments and own research you can take that MH fixture and put a Mercury Vapor bulb in it. Mercury Vapor bulbs last for years and years. They put out the most light in my opinion. If I would have known that when I made this video that is what I would have done. On my light fixture the ignitor went bad but the transformer was still good. Therefore it would have run an old mercury vapor bulb because they don't require any pulses to start. One more bonus of Mercury Vapor over Metal Halide is that mercury vapor bulbs don't have the tendancy to explode and shower the ground with molten glass. That is always a plus 😁
I'd recommend not buying those standard, cheapy area light fixtures! They make the most cheapest and junky electrical gear especially for those standard area lights! There are industrial design of HPS, MH, and even MV fixtures in different styles and wattages! I never buy those cheapy fixtures!
@@David-zq4cjFor the pulse start metal halide fixtures ranging from 175W M137/M152, 250W M138/M153, 400W M135/M155, and 1000W M141; you can use same wattage mercury vapor lamps in those fixtures if you do remove the ignitor with the exception that the 1000W H34 mercury vapor lamps should never be operated on 1000W M141 pulse start metal halide ballasts even with the ignitor removed due to that lamp’s unique electrical characteristics.
Every single country is slowly phasing out these HID lights. It's very unfortunate but it's reality. However, the good news is that there are a few small towns far from the downtowns that have older lights and personally I have seen those few small cities that still have HPS lights throughout. The other good news is that not all manufacturers will quit selling the HPS lamps because they do not do any harm to anyone and are far better than LED. Sure, LED you might say are more energy efficient and most are, but that doesn't mean they will last 20 years like how they say because these HPS lamps in most cases could last 20 or even 30+ years depending on how they were handled. These LED fixtures will only save energy after 10 years of them being installed because you have to think of the cost of the fixtures too.
I was in Costa Mesa a few weeks ago, and its quite a large town, I was also in Laguna Beach too, those 2 cities so far never upgraded their lights on their main streets. Only places that were LED in those cities was the lights that were above the traffic signals.
@@cedricwoirhaye8268 Yes, in this country, the Mercury Vapor light fixtures were banned from being produced in 2008. You can still go and buy then on eBay or Craigslist , OfferUp, and maybe some thrift stores will have them depending on the area but otherwise to answer your question: No, they are banned from being manufactured in many parts of the world.
My dumbass bought 2 of those junk pieces of shit. Got 8 mos out of first one, now im working on my second one. 7 mos after install. Pisses me off. $90 pissed down the drain. Twice.
Not surprised if you are using bulbs supplied by the fixture manufacturer likely made with the lowest standards of quality the company just needed a bulb for the customer to throw into their fixture kinda like out of the box tv remote batteries I'd trust a lithonia bulb if it came with my fixture but I wouldn't buy them as a replacement
The bulb was not the failure point. The lamp itself is what failed. I believe you may be right in that the manufacturer chose the cheapest parts to assemble their light because it didn't last very long. It wasn't cheap either. That light runs about $100 at home depot.
@@Bbernhardsr I'd say light fixture was of good quality then just the ballast was poor quality same thing with the bulb more than likely that's pretty much what I was saying poor quality parts will give you a bad product obviously lithonia is a bit on the cheaper end
@@Bbernhardsr yeah they are far from cheap glad I avoided lithonia then and settled for the cobra head hps I bought brand new for 21 dollars legit 21 granted it didn't have a pole or a photo receptor I had a method of mounting it and a photo receptor cost me no more than 9 its a cooper don't know too much bit it's done great so far
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Normally, the only time a metal halide bulb will self-destruct is if you leave it on 24/7. This is why lamp instructions call for turning the lamp off once a week for 20 minutes or longer. The reason for once a week lamp shutdowns is because metal halide lamps usually will self-destruct at end of life if left on continuously. However, when they reach end of life and are shutdown once a week, the bulbs will fail without destroying themselves once you energize them after a shutdown. The good thing is in later fixtures, the lamp base of a protected arc tube bulb is a little different from that of a non-protected bulb.
You can run the mercury bulb in most metal halide fixtures. They probably wont be quite as bright but they will last longer than the halide. Take care to match up the wattage.
I broke open and have pictures of the igniter circuit board that burned. I have ordered an igniter specifically for metal Halide but it has not arrived yet. I want to see if that will light the lamp. i also have ballast specs. I would be glad to just have my old one keep going for a while longer. I have had no issue with these lights until now with the burnt igniter.
If you're using generic starting gear from Mau's pondland (aka China) then that's a nice easy fix. Buy yourself some Philips starting gear. Here in Britain, we moved over to 150w CMH (Ceramic metal halide) lamps in our smaller street lights and 400w sodiums elsewhere. On my street, we have 3 of the the small CMH lanterns installed, and at worst they've only needed a new lamp here and there. One only needing a replacement igniter due to water ingress. Other than that, over the 4 or so years they've been installed they've actually been really reliable. Not quite as reliable as the old low pressure sodium lanterns they replaced but at least you no longer end up going temporarily red/blue colour blind as soon as you see white light!!
Oh, and btw. The MH lamp you have is a specialised protected unit made for open fixtures like yours. If the arc tube explodes, it's no biggie. You won't have a red hot quartz claymore.
d34n1097 What I would like is to find the transformers and sockets for my mercury vapor lights. I still think they are the best lights above all as far as light output and longevity.
True, the only real issue is they're getting harder to come by. Maybe you'd be able to find an old high bay fixture and nab the running gear form that?
d34n1097 yeah I need to take the time to look. Mercury bulbs are still cheaply available at big box stores here in the U.S. and are less than $20
what i recommend is that metal halide ballast i would rip out the ignitor (that white box) and put in a Mercury Vapour bulb. As MV bulbs work with most metal halide ballasts as long as you get the right wattage. I just don’t like Metal Halide the fact that it can explode just makes me not want to use it. I have a Metal halide 400W ballast working well with a MV and after 5 years still working. All i did was just remove the ignitor.
That is good to know. So if I had a 400W ballast then I would need a 400W MV bulb?
Yeah and you would need to remove the ignitor as the bulb already has one built in. So if you just remove the ignitor and install the MV bulb it should work! This goes for any kind not just 400W as long as the wattage matches with the ballast
@@xoltron_5 thanks for the info.
No problem. I hope it works since thats what i did with mine since i always have that fear of the metal halide exploding. Do you still have this metal halide light? if so you can convert it to MV.
These ballasts can run mercury vapor bulbs. Just have to disconnect the ignitor from the white wire side and they’ll run fine! The ballast itself should still be ok. Since this ballast is 100 watt, make sure to use 100 watt mercury vapor bulbs only.
Thanks for the information!
I had one of those burn up! Glad it wasn't on the house. Ballast caught fire, those consumer grade lights are junk! I bought an industral grade cobra head MH fixture. No problems yet, it's been 3 years
did it burn to the ground?
Crazy how things are made so differently. I have plenty of vintage lights that work fine with the original components that have ran for decades.
I do to. I have about 6 or 7 old mercury vapor security lights that I have never done anything to. I think I may have replaced 2 bulbs and they have all gotten new light sensors but that was because the plastic was sun damaged. The lights themselves have never let me down.
I have a metal halid light on the side of my house. Got sick on the bulbs blowing every 1 to 3 years. I found you can put a mercury vapor bulb of the same wattage on a metal halid ballast so I bought a bulb. The first bulb I got on Amazon failed after a day. I then bought 5 frosted 100 watt old new stock mercury vapor on Ebay for $35. Bulb still works great after 2 years and I have enough to probably last till I'm an old man. For my backyard I bought an old new stock 175 watt mercury vapor light and it works great. Mercury vapor gets dimmer with age, but it's very reliable and the bulbs are cheap.
Glad to see someone who understands how I feel.
did you remove the igniter from the fixture
@@planeguy737-1Nope left it in, works just fine, still have the same bulb as when I typed this.
you should get an ultra slim, harsh white, crisp, glarey, LED floodlight. they have a 0.000 second startup time and they "claim" to last longer. and when those are phased out with pale green BLA lamps or LERFEC lamps or even industrial scale phosphorescent lamps, get those. move on with the status quo. NO, screw the status quo. i am still using preheat fluorescent lamps to illuminate rooms.
I had the same with the 150 watt metal halide floodlight that I made into a shop light as a substitute for a 500 watt halogen. (The 150 watt metal halide is actually brighter than the halogen but a third of the energy usage) I've had it for about 3 years or so, and use it extensively for lighting up my backyard next to the bbq pit after a long days work. Anyway, one night I set it on the tripod that I had built, plugged it in, no light. I could hear the transformer buzzing, but not the sound of the ignitor ticking. I ordered one off Amazon, not a cheap ignitor but a quality made one with a metal casing. Disassembled the fixture, removed the old plastic ignitor and installed the new one. Let there be light. Good as new
There are mercury vapor lights on eBay. I’d recommend the old Norelco NEMAs as they last for years it seems.
Thanks for your info. I just bought a 9000 lumen M H light at Walmart today for $60 but after reading your review and others, I’m taking it back. I have a 2100 lm, motion activated led fixture that lights my backyard up well but it has lately turned into a democrat , kinda works when it wants to. Looking for bright dependable illumination for my garden which is 120 x 200. Thanks!
Lol. I haven't tried it myself yet, but from my comments and own research you can take that MH fixture and put a Mercury Vapor bulb in it. Mercury Vapor bulbs last for years and years. They put out the most light in my opinion. If I would have known that when I made this video that is what I would have done.
On my light fixture the ignitor went bad but the transformer was still good. Therefore it would have run an old mercury vapor bulb because they don't require any pulses to start.
One more bonus of Mercury Vapor over Metal Halide is that mercury vapor bulbs don't have the tendancy to explode and shower the ground with molten glass. That is always a plus 😁
the regular mercury vapor lights are the best.....(hands down)....you can still get the mv ballasts on e-bay....(while you can)...DO IT!....
Thats good to know. Thanks!
I'd recommend not buying those standard, cheapy area light fixtures! They make the most cheapest and junky electrical gear especially for those standard area lights! There are industrial design of HPS, MH, and even MV fixtures in different styles and wattages! I never buy those cheapy fixtures!
Cheapy fixtures as in those Chinese crap area lights!
You can run same wattage mercury vapor lamps in metal halide fixtures.
Awsome! Thanks for the info!
@DJMinor5000 thats good to know. Thanks.
@DJMinor5000 Why you'd not recommend removing the pulse igniter and put MV bulb in PMH ballast?
@@David-zq4cjFor the pulse start metal halide fixtures ranging from 175W M137/M152, 250W M138/M153, 400W M135/M155, and 1000W M141; you can use same wattage mercury vapor lamps in those fixtures if you do remove the ignitor with the exception that the 1000W H34 mercury vapor lamps should never be operated on 1000W M141 pulse start metal halide ballasts even with the ignitor removed due to that lamp’s unique electrical characteristics.
You need a bottom cover for the refractors some metal halides come with a bottom cover to catch the glass
The bulb in the mercury vapor light on the pole outside my house is over 10 years old. Too bad the utility company doesn't install them anymore.
I have seen the old fixtures on Ebay sometimes. The bulbs are still sold at Home Depot.
put a new bulb in yourself..
are there any countries that phased out all NON-LED light bulbs?
Every single country is slowly phasing out these HID lights. It's very unfortunate but it's reality. However, the good news is that there are a few small towns far from the downtowns that have older lights and personally I have seen those few small cities that still have HPS lights throughout. The other good news is that not all manufacturers will quit selling the HPS lamps because they do not do any harm to anyone and are far better than LED.
Sure, LED you might say are more energy efficient and most are, but that doesn't mean they will last 20 years like how they say because these HPS lamps in most cases could last 20 or even 30+ years depending on how they were handled. These LED fixtures will only save energy after 10 years of them being installed because you have to think of the cost of the fixtures too.
I was in Costa Mesa a few weeks ago, and its quite a large town, I was also in Laguna Beach too, those 2 cities so far never upgraded their lights on their main streets. Only places that were LED in those cities was the lights that were above the traffic signals.
are there countries that have made it illegal to manufacture or import all NON-LED bulbs?
What i mean is are there any countires that made it illegal for manufacturers to import or manufacture MH AND HPS lamps and ballasts.
@@cedricwoirhaye8268 Yes, in this country, the Mercury Vapor light fixtures were banned from being produced in 2008. You can still go and buy then on eBay or Craigslist , OfferUp, and maybe some thrift stores will have them depending on the area but otherwise to answer your question: No, they are banned from being manufactured in many parts of the world.
Starter ballast is called a igniter by the way
i know!, and the transformer is called a ballast
I'd recommend MV metal halide is good but the new lamps are junk the ones that are made in China but the USA bulbs are good
Metal halide is good when used right.
Well I used Metal halide security lights for lighting purposes and it was junk. Which way do you use it?
My dumbass bought 2 of those junk pieces of shit. Got 8 mos out of first one, now im working on my second one. 7 mos after install. Pisses me off. $90 pissed down the drain. Twice.
Try a real bright 1000 watt incandescent bulb
It would melt the fixture
@@loudspeakertestsmorebyaida3804 and it will catch 🔥
Not surprised if you are using bulbs supplied by the fixture manufacturer likely made with the lowest standards of quality the company just needed a bulb for the customer to throw into their fixture kinda like out of the box tv remote batteries I'd trust a lithonia bulb if it came with my fixture but I wouldn't buy them as a replacement
The bulb was not the failure point. The lamp itself is what failed. I believe you may be right in that the manufacturer chose the cheapest parts to assemble their light because it didn't last very long. It wasn't cheap either. That light runs about $100 at home depot.
@@Bbernhardsr I'd say light fixture was of good quality then just the ballast was poor quality same thing with the bulb more than likely that's pretty much what I was saying poor quality parts will give you a bad product obviously lithonia is a bit on the cheaper end
@@Bbernhardsr ballast do have a lifetime as well and need replacing so if it is up and quiting fast it's definitely crap parts
@@Bbernhardsr yeah they are far from cheap glad I avoided lithonia then and settled for the cobra head hps I bought brand new for 21 dollars legit 21 granted it didn't have a pole or a photo receptor I had a method of mounting it and a photo receptor cost me no more than 9 its a cooper don't know too much bit it's done great so far
@@masonjones5658 well you can't go wrong with $21. Heck if it failed after 6 months I couldn't be upset at that price. Lol