I guess they retrofitted them all. The Garden City Shopping Plaza here has M-1000s, OV-50s, a 327, M-400R2s, M-400A2s, OVXs, modern M-400s, and hubbel RLGs. The first three were all either 700 or 1000W MV, the M-400R2s, A2s, and OVX were all 400W HPS along with the RLGs. The modern M-400s were 400W probe MH. A few years back they were all retrofitted to 320W PSMH. I know this because at the time they replaced a knocked down pole with two 320W PSMH AEL 125s. I'll try to get pics but I'm not there too often.
Either retrofitted, or just directly screwed in 400 watt MH....from my knowledge, the 400 watt MV and 400 watt MH are most compatible with each other....
Well the GE M-400, the 400 watt ones in my area were sold as for 400 watt MV/MH
But it may not always be the case.....I have a 175 watt ballast that is made for both MV/MH.....but I have seen even 1000 watt MH go into 1000 watt MV fixtures.....
The mercury vapor Cooper Lighting OVX's from 2005 through 2008 had metal halide ballasts which were made to run both mercury vapor and metal halide lamps also.
Yes but the lamp will not last as long (since the OCV isn't as high on a mercury ballast as a MH one). In fact it seems to be a very popular "retrofit" to just stick a metal halide lamp in a mercury fixture.
The ballast won't be harmed though? Will lumens be sacrificed in this sort of "retro-fit"? Maybe I could talk the owner of Seelonk speedway into doing it as long as there are no other side affects. How much lamp life is shaved off the MH lamp?
Both MH and MV have identical electrical characteristics (in the 175-1000W range), except open circuit voltage. Running a MH lamp on a MV ballast probably cuts 1 000 or 2 000 hrs of life, not sure though.
But it may not always be the case.....I have a 175 watt ballast that is made for both MV/MH.....but I have seen even 1000 watt MH go into 1000 watt MV fixtures.....