This fixture is commonly seen in San Diego Gas & Electric's service area of southern Orange County and San Diego County. What they did was take out the refractor and align the fixture downwards in an attempt to achieve true FCO optics. However they look weird to me! Some M-250As still have refractors and are aligned normally.
I'm sure it's bolted securely but does give the impression of falling lol. I tried putting a FCO glass in my M-250A and M-250R but they don't fit because the 60s reflectors have a lip on them to provide a better reflector/refractor seal so I can't close the refractor door with the FCO glass in it.
I wonder if they changed the reflector. They got the same reflector with reverse socket as those in the early 80s M-250R1s. The drop len M-250As in SDG&E's area have the house side sockets.
The only M-250As that ever had the street side FCO reflectors to my knowledge are are the 80s ones with the special semi-recessed refractor like this one here. I assume they used the same reflector as the M-250R1 FCOs. The M-250R1 was made in FCO with the drop lens reflector for a short while but at that time I don't think the M-250A was offered in FCO. It wasn't as of 1977. Those true M-250A FCOs must be rare. GE had some pretty innovated concepts on FCO lighting. The multi-faceted reflector really makes a nice smooth pattern and is low-glare compared to traditional reflectors. It might help avoid hot spots in the arc tube from concentrated amounts of light being reflected back into the arc tube.
The specially designed doors to give the refractor more of a true cut-off rather than the tilt are a nice bonus too. Cooper just offers the OVX and OVZ with a flat glass and it's not true FCO but throws the light farther across the street, so that's good if you're lighting a wide street with FCO but not technically FULL cut-off lol.
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The specially designed doors to give the refractor more of a true cut-off rather than the tilt are a nice bonus too. Cooper just offers the OVX and OVZ with a flat glass and it's not true FCO but throws the light farther across the street, so that's good if you're lighting a wide street with FCO but not technically FULL cut-off lol.