This is an old late 40s to early 50s incandescent fixture! It is a Line Materials gumball! It has external wiring...but there is something a bit special and weird about this certain setup that made me think it was PARALLEL wired in the FIRST PLACE!
Nice score....looks similar to my Spherolite, except with the series wiring set up and a different refractor mount (and of course, it's green). I had similar problems getting old lights off their rusted arms when I saved a set of gumballs from a farm....it took some PB blaster, some days of soaking and reapplication, and a lot of pulling, twisting and swearing!
A lot of those old HV series incandescent lamps were converted to remote ballast MV. The Jones Socket recepticle blades would be switched out with a set that didn't close when the socket was removed and either an insulator was cemented into place where the old rupture disk would have been placed or a non-series removable Jones socket was used. I wouldn't be surprised if the reflector was L-M and the lamp originally had a teardrop refractor that was later replaced with a gumball style cup. Good find!
this whole thing is LM it always has been gumball since day one.....even the arm is a LM an older one. Check the link I posted that took pkace in the 50s.....
There are not many of those EXACT gumballs around......
And for the many pics of the gumballs, that was in New Jersey, and oh in PEPCO...and trust me there's not THAT many in PEPCO area....I only know one big hot spot....there was a lot more in the 90s though.......not my area....this particular one here is from my area........BGE is my area electric company...there are VERY VERY VERY few of them....BGE was pretty early in using MV since they have low wattage clamshells...which are rare in most places!
And Joe..AWESOME COMPARISON!!!! NOW GET AN ACTUAL PIC FROM YOUR OWN HANDS!
I looked at the insulator mount area on the bracket arm a little closer. The staining suggests that there may have originally been a saddle clamp style pair of insulators as strain relief for original series wiring. I suspect that those may have been removed and a single insulator installed for strain relief along with lighter gauge wiring. Just sayin'.
Amazing light, Jason.
I have a LM gumball with the same reflector and glass, but mine didn't come with a chain. Also, my head was designed for parallel operation and is side entry with a PC holder up top. I think I'll convert to MV, when I find a spare NEMA ballast.
And for the many pics of the gumballs, that was in New Jersey, and oh in PEPCO...and trust me there's not THAT many in PEPCO area....I only know one big hot spot....there was a lot more in the 90s though.......not my area....this particular one here is from my area........BGE is my area electric company...there are VERY VERY VERY few of them....BGE was pretty early in using MV since they have low wattage clamshells...which are rare in most places!
And Joe..AWESOME COMPARISON!!!! NOW GET AN ACTUAL PIC FROM YOUR OWN HANDS!
I have a LM gumball with the same reflector and glass, but mine didn't come with a chain. Also, my head was designed for parallel operation and is side entry with a PC holder up top. I think I'll convert to MV, when I find a spare NEMA ballast.