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Sylvania GTE 150w Unalux HPS Retrofit Lamp Gift from fellow member Icefoglights. For those of you who have never seen or heard of one of these, these are an energy saving and light-increasing screw-in retrofit for a 175w mercury vapor lamp on HX ballasts; you cannot use these on CWA. The startup of this lamp is absolutely fascinating to watch; I have some video I need to upload to YouTube. Starts off as a bright neon red/orange, quicky turns a mercury-vapor blue/green, then argon/krypton pink, then LPS golden yellow, then regains some of its neon prose as it warms up. It's also quite bright; almost twice as bright as a 175w merc. This particular one dates to I think the '80s or early '90s but I think these may still be made. They are, however, about Unobtanium; I only got this once since it was a gift from a fellow bulb collector who loves this stuff as much as I do. I will probably actually put this thing in use outside, since it's so much brighter and uses less power than a 175w. Keywords: Lamps

Sylvania GTE 150w Unalux HPS Retrofit Lamp

Gift from fellow member Icefoglights. For those of you who have never seen or heard of one of these, these are an energy saving and light-increasing screw-in retrofit for a 175w mercury vapor lamp on HX ballasts; you cannot use these on CWA.

The startup of this lamp is absolutely fascinating to watch; I have some video I need to upload to YouTube. Starts off as a bright neon red/orange, quicky turns a mercury-vapor blue/green, then argon/krypton pink, then LPS golden yellow, then regains some of its neon prose as it warms up. It's also quite bright; almost twice as bright as a 175w merc.

This particular one dates to I think the '80s or early '90s but I think these may still be made. They are, however, about Unobtanium; I only got this once since it was a gift from a fellow bulb collector who loves this stuff as much as I do.

I will probably actually put this thing in use outside, since it's so much brighter and uses less power than a 175w.

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File information
Filename:IMG_1636.JPG
Album name:GEsoftwhite100watts / HID Lighting
Keywords:Lamps
Company and Date Manufactured:GTE Sylvania
Model Number:ULX150
Wattage:150
Lamp Type:HPS-retrofit
Filesize:721 KiB
Date added:Mar 18, 2017
Dimensions:3000 x 2250 pixels
Displayed:178 times
URL:http://www.galleryoflights.org/mb/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=21595
Favorites:Add to Favorites

Comment 1 to 19 of 19
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streetlight98   [Mar 18, 2017 at 01:25 PM]
I'd save this lamp, since as you just said, they're pretty rare. These produce a little less light than a "real" 150W HPS but I heard the warm up is really nice. I'd like to find one of these or the 250W HPS or 360W HPS version.
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Mar 18, 2017 at 08:39 PM]
Others have also since all told me DON'T PUT IN USE! So, I think instead I'll use something else. I have enough 175w mercs to last a lifetime anyway, ranging from cheap Chinese clear Casters to good quality coated Lifeguards and Sylvanias and even a GE /W.
streetlight98   [Mar 18, 2017 at 08:45 PM]
That's good! Gotta stock up on those MVs. Very Happy I'm confident I have a lifetime supply (maybe two!) of 100W MVs but I'm still looking for 175s and 400s. Webster doesn't have either of those though. Next time I'm at Webster it will primarily be for other members but for myself, I'll probably get a few 250W MVs just to have and then I'll dig into some of that older HPS stuff they have and some newer MH lamps.
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Mar 18, 2017 at 08:48 PM]
Hey Mike, despite having what feels like a lifetime of good quality vintage 175's, especially if I only have one or two fixtures in nightly service, keep an eye out for me for any neat old 175's they do have! Still looking for /C, /N, any cleartops, etc.
streetlight98   [Mar 18, 2017 at 09:10 PM]
I'm looking for any 175s I can get as well but if I find duplicates or something too neat to put to use I'll send it your way. Cool
joe_347V   [Mar 18, 2017 at 09:52 PM]
Nice! These are rare enough to save as a collection piece. Yeah I also have a fair amount of 175w MVs stashed away too and a good number of 100w lamps too. I also have some 400 watters and 250w ones. I don't run my fixtures often so that lamps I have should last quite a while.
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Mar 18, 2017 at 10:15 PM]
All I have are a bunch of 175s and a couple 50's
streetlight98   [Mar 18, 2017 at 10:22 PM]
I probably have a couple dozen 175W MVs if you count the used ones. Most of the used ones are still fairly bright. If I have a bunch of lights in use though I'll need to invest in some 175W lamps though. I've been watching eBay. There were a few good deals on 100W MVs (albeit circa-2000 Philips lamps) but I'm only after the 175s and 400s but if I come across more 100W MVs at "webster prices" I certainly won't refuse them lol.
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Mar 18, 2017 at 10:26 PM]
I also occasionally check eBay...I've got a 175w /DX Lifeguard coming from there. Had I known I was going to be given one I wouldn't have bought it, but in a way you can never have too many. Laughing Plus the Lifeguards are frankly still so darn common I'm not too afraid to even use both the /DX ones up. Laughing
streetlight98   [Mar 18, 2017 at 10:30 PM]
You know, it's funny, I don't remember lifeguards being this common at all when I first joined the lighting community. It was a long time before I got my hands on one, and it was about as bright as a 25W incandescent lamp (a BT25 cleartop!). It's a /DX but it's got a cool yellowish color to it when lit, typical of a few of the well-used Lifeguards I have (like you'd said, often these lamps outlast their phosphor coating lol). I'll definitely put my ED23.5 Philips lifeguards into use but I'll probably save the BT25s, using them only in open-bottom fixtures so I can show off the lamps. No sense in hiding one of those beauties behind a refractor! Cool
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Mar 18, 2017 at 10:35 PM]
Interesting! I even still see the BT28 Philips iterations in NEMAS everywhere around here, many STILL in nightly service since at least the '80s and still quite bright!
streetlight98   [Mar 18, 2017 at 10:42 PM]
Yeah the 175s were the best of the lifeguard lamps. They stayed bright for quite some time. The 100s were the worst mogul base MVs as far as staying bright was concerned. Even the lifeguard 100s dim out to pathetic levels before quitting, they just take a LITTLE longer than non-lifeguards but not really much longer. The non-lifeguard 100s of the time were not much worse than the lifeguards. The newer MV lamps seem quite a bit worse though, exception being Eye and probably Sylvania, who's MV lamp quality really hasn't dropped off much at all since the 90s.
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Mar 18, 2017 at 10:54 PM]
I'm told the latest Chinese Sylvanias are pretty bad, but who knows. Maybe I should go buy out Home Depot and Lowes even so. But the ban on them got repealed, so until another one is announced I see no need to stock up; 100w incandescents however are another story, I fill up entire shopping baskets with them and buy out eBay when I get the chance. When/if I home anywhere on-grid where power use isn't a concern, I plan on using incandescent in all the screw in sockets. Laughing
streetlight98   [Mar 19, 2017 at 04:09 AM]
No ban was repealed. There never was a ban. It was just a hoax stirred up by some of the members. There was only ever a ban intended for fixtures and ballasts.
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Mar 19, 2017 at 04:11 AM]
I thought it was supposed to be one at the end of 2016 but maybe not. What's the status on the 3 way/bug light/decorative ban, now that our wonderful buddy Trump is in office?
streetlight98   [Mar 19, 2017 at 03:26 PM]
There was allegedly a ban scheduled for January 1, 2016 that would ban the import/production of MV lamps but not once have I seen any official legislature saying so. I think originally there was an article stating that NEMA would look into HID regulations to see if improvements could be made and it was found that any further HID regulations wouldn't make sense because the limits of the technology are known and in the past, when improvements to HIDs were made, people tended to replace with the same wattage (MV to MH, MH to PSMH/CMH, etc) rather than match the lumens, so the improvements were "not helping anything".

There was a petition to stop the ban of MV lamps which I signed like three times under different names, but I've never seen actual proof of a MV ban, just that NEMA would be looking into the feasibility of a ban. I think a lot of the member on LG just wanted to stir the pot with some drama and I have a pretty good idea which member at least played a major role in starting it. Rolling Eyes
ZarlogH46   [Mar 19, 2017 at 07:04 PM]
Where was the petition? I remember a petition to unban mercury ballasts but thats it.
How long do 100w mercs last before dimming out too much?
streetlight98   [Mar 20, 2017 at 01:22 AM]
It was on a website. Was like seven years ago so I don't remember. 100W MVs are noticeably dimmer after 3 or 4 years but they're still adequately bright until maybe 6-8 years. Depends on the brand. Some 100W MVs are pathetically dim in just five years.
joe_347V   [Mar 20, 2017 at 04:48 AM]
Yeah, I don't think MV lamps are banned or are planned to be banned at least in North America. I believe there is a ban in Europe though. Speaking of lamps, I found another 175W lamp at Restore, a GE from 1998 and I think it's NOS or near NOS. I have around a dozen NOS or new modern 175W MVs and a few more used ones are still good.

I have a 100w MV that was lit for 12+ hours daily for 20 years. It's very dim, only around the brightness of a 40w incandescent.

Comment 1 to 19 of 19
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