Thanks Tony, I think as soon as I get my building up this will go on a new pole overlooking the building I want to run 400 watt merc. but it will be a one shot deal with the bucket truck I'll barrow from work and it might be a hassle to get it again for a while to change the wattage so I'll go with 175 watt instaed. at least for now I'll change my mind 300 times before it's all said and done.
Yep, I'v been comparing 175 watt deluxe merc. to 175 watt deluxe MH and the MH is definitely brighter. But you know me I just hooked up the 400 watt ballast and now I'm thinking Hmmm? Lol.
I don't think the electric bill will be that big of a deal. I do have a GE 250 watt MH/MV ballast I could see what that looks like. That GE 6 foot x 1-1/4 steel bracket I want for it is $181.00 that was surprising, I guess the reason is that it has to ship via freight truck.
Looks like new! A thousand times better than the fast spray can job I did on mine. I have a 100w mercury lamp in mine, as it is just for indoor display. The 175w metal halide lamps don't last long, particularly when burned horizontally. Not sure why this is, but 250w seems to last much longer. 400w MH lasts a good long time, but mercury lamps of almost any wattage will outlast MH. The nice thing is the socket position is adjustable on these luminaires so you don't need an extender to get the light center correct.
Yea i'm very satisfied of how it turned out and now after rebuilding the electrical with all new parts with original parts it's practically a new fixture. I still would like to get a new gasket for it the one in it now is pretty grimy. I'm going to have some other fixtures powder coated, it may cost a little but i think it's worth it.