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My 1968 M-400! 400W MH/MV from September 1968. This was used in the parking lot of an ice rink that Tony's father-in-law manages so Tony was kind enough to set one aside for me! Today we met up for a few hours and I got this beast of a light and Tony got an assortment of NOS MV lamps, including a gem for one of his M-400s! All this light needed was a good cleaning, a new clip for the reflector (the animals that removed these broke them all off lol) and a wire-tidying, since the replacement ballasts still had full-length leads and splices were made with wirenuts instead of on the terminal block. You can kinda see the interesting wear pattern of the paint on the top housing. Seems a lot of late 60s GEs were like this. The paint must have been applied unevenly, so the spots with a thinner coating of paint are now bare after 49 years (this light is in good shape for half a century old!) Keywords: American_Streetlights

My 1968 M-400!

400W MH/MV from September 1968. This was used in the parking lot of an ice rink that Tony's father-in-law manages so Tony was kind enough to set one aside for me! Today we met up for a few hours and I got this beast of a light and Tony got an assortment of NOS MV lamps, including a gem for one of his M-400s!

All this light needed was a good cleaning, a new clip for the reflector (the animals that removed these broke them all off lol) and a wire-tidying, since the replacement ballasts still had full-length leads and splices were made with wirenuts instead of on the terminal block.

You can kinda see the interesting wear pattern of the paint on the top housing. Seems a lot of late 60s GEs were like this. The paint must have been applied unevenly, so the spots with a thinner coating of paint are now bare after 49 years (this light is in good shape for half a century old!)

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Filename:061717_004.jpg
Album name:Mike / My General Electric M-400 (1968)
Keywords:American_Streetlights
Filesize:321 KiB
Date added:Jun 18, 2017
Dimensions:2048 x 1536 pixels
Displayed:211 times
URL:http://www.galleryoflights.org/mb/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=22008
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Comment 1 to 20 of 22
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Antstar85   [Jun 18, 2017 at 04:14 AM]
Glad you like the fixture Mike! It cleaned up very nice too. I'm just glad after the way they have been manhandled, they were pretty much intact. I'm defenently going to fire up the clear Merc lamp in my fixture to see how it looks. Also, thanks again for the lamps, much appreciated.
LilCinnamon   [Jun 18, 2017 at 04:18 AM]
I wouldn't mind a light like this, I have been wanting either an M-400 or a Split door or A2 that is drop lens for the longest time, the problem is... I dunno where to find them! But nice light! I recognize the place you took the picture, I see the pieces of the city setup next to it and the table you had the scraps underneath when I visited.
Antstar85   [Jun 18, 2017 at 04:23 AM]
I still have two more that are looking for a home.
LilCinnamon   [Jun 18, 2017 at 01:06 PM]
How much would it cost for me to get one if I were to get one of the ones you have?
chapman84   [Jun 19, 2017 at 02:07 AM]
Nice. Very Happy
streetlight98   [Jun 19, 2017 at 02:12 AM]
Thanks! I was debating whether or not to repaint this since the paint wore sorta weird but I kinda like the oddball paint wear. Almost looks like camouflage, especially when viewed from the top.
streetlight98   [Jun 19, 2017 at 03:35 AM]
ZarlogH46   [Jun 19, 2017 at 04:07 AM]
Wow, an LED streetlight that actually looks like a STREETLIGHT and not a pooper-scooper? Say it isn't so! Shocked Laughing
streetlight98   [Jun 19, 2017 at 04:19 AM]
Yeah what shocked me even more is that it was made by COOPER, who is known for the pooper-scooper Verdeon you made a meme of and the oddball Caretaker LED "NEMA head". Weird angle they took the stock photo at though. It's almost a head-on shot so you have to rely on the spec drawing in the data sheet for a side view.
ZarlogH46   [Jun 19, 2017 at 10:44 PM]
Oh, you mean this?
Laughing
streetlight98   [Jun 19, 2017 at 11:30 PM]
yeeeep!
joe_347V   [Jun 22, 2017 at 04:30 PM]
Nice M-400! Looks like this sucker weights quite a bit too.

Interesting on that Cooper LED, when you look at it from the side, it almost looks like a small FCO cobrahead.
streetlight98   [Jun 22, 2017 at 08:52 PM]
Thanks! Yeah this one is pretty heavy. The flat-bottom OV-25s were really heavy though. Very thick solid cast aluminum. They'd make this thing feel like a feather lol.
joe_347V   [Jun 23, 2017 at 04:23 AM]
Yeah, my Powerlite gumball which might be from the 40s has a really thick casted head. I can also notice the difference in weight between my R47 and M-250R-CF lol.
streetlight98   [Jun 23, 2017 at 01:13 PM]
With the crimefighterI bet a lot of the weight is that giant glass bucket! Smile Mine had no ballast so it's super lightweight without the glass bucket lol. If I find a dirt-cheap 175W MH or MV ballast I'll put it in the crimefighter.
joe_347V   [Jun 25, 2017 at 07:00 AM]
Yeah, that thick glass bucket is one heavy sucker. It would be nice to find another OEM GE ballast to install in it. I believe yours has a different terminal block bracket so you'll need to source some OEM GE ballast/terminal block brackets if you were to install a ballast. That being said, I'd probably figure out some way to install a ballast in too lol.
streetlight98   [Jun 25, 2017 at 02:39 PM]
I'm thinking if I bought a replacement ballast I could use those universal brackets in the fixture. Maybe I'd have to drill my own holes but it would save me from needing custom brackets.
joe_347V   [Jun 26, 2017 at 03:29 AM]
Hmm, when I got a replacement ballast for my Crimefighter, I needed to use both the universal bracket and the OEM brackets to mount the ballast in. The universal bracket provided with the ballast wasn't long enough to be mounted directly on the cast tapped holes in the housing.

You could probably get some angle iron and drill your own holes to make a bracket though or use a bracket from a 400w ballast which is longer.
lite_lover   [Jun 27, 2017 at 02:40 AM]
Nice ol' M-400 Mike!
streetlight98   [Jun 27, 2017 at 04:01 AM]
Yep! Thanks. Smile

Comment 1 to 20 of 22
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