Lit with a 1990s Philips /DX lamp (same one that was in the 2009 M-400, which has been returned to HPS to allow me to use this light without digging out another 400W lamp lol).
This fixture is very quiet owing to the fact that is a replacement (Advance) ballast. Unsure of the ballast's age though. It was converted to 400W MH from 400W MV.
I believe newer (90s and later) Advance HID ballasts had a date code printed on the core itself with white ink. There should be a guide somewhere online to decode it. Unfortunately the code tends to fade if the ballast was used outdoors.
Interesting to see a 400w MV to 400w MH comversion. I guess they wanted more light as opposed to energy savings lol.
Yeah all the labels and ink stamps are gone on this ballast, though you can tell it's Advance by the capacitor and the leads used. Was there a time they switched to plastic case capacitors? The ballast is definitely 90s or newer. I'd say even post-2000. It's nice and quiet.
BTW you can see my "light graveyard" under the upside-down table. There's a busted up M-250R2 (the one that came with the 10ft truss arm; saved the reflector, ballast, and associated guts), the original Advance R37 ballast that's all nasty, a busted M-250R2 door and OVZ door (both from a Craigslist score a year ago) and some assorted odds and ends. It's a scrap pile I'm planning on taking care of eventually lol. I'll probably give it to one of my friends or grandpa to scrap since they sometimes save me lights from their scrap piles. I suppose I could melt down the cast parts and make my own light. That would be super cool but I don't have any way to do that lol.
Ahh, I believe Advance switched to using plastic caps in 90s except for the 1kW ballasts which might still come with oil filled caps. Unfortunately if the labeling and ink stamps are gone it's hard to date a Advance ballast. I suppose you could try the cap to see if the cap label is still intact.
Heh, I didn't even notice the light graveyard at first. I don't really score enough lights to have one anyway lol. I suppose all that's in my light graveyard which is in my garage is the busted OV-25 door I got lol.
Yeah the capacitor label is still there but the wording is all gone. It's OK, I was able to make out "JD" as a date code on the M-400 nameplate so I at least have the fixture date.
The nameplate is there but has a lot of pitting on it so it's very hard to read. But I can make out JD for a date code and an original voltage of 277 (despite the replacement ballast being wired for 240V).
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Interesting to see a 400w MV to 400w MH comversion. I guess they wanted more light as opposed to energy savings lol.
BTW you can see my "light graveyard" under the upside-down table. There's a busted up M-250R2 (the one that came with the 10ft truss arm; saved the reflector, ballast, and associated guts), the original Advance R37 ballast that's all nasty, a busted M-250R2 door and OVZ door (both from a Craigslist score a year ago) and some assorted odds and ends. It's a scrap pile I'm planning on taking care of eventually lol. I'll probably give it to one of my friends or grandpa to scrap since they sometimes save me lights from their scrap piles. I suppose I could melt down the cast parts and make my own light. That would be super cool but I don't have any way to do that lol.
Heh, I didn't even notice the light graveyard at first. I don't really score enough lights to have one anyway lol. I suppose all that's in my light graveyard which is in my garage is the busted OV-25 door I got lol.