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GE /W! 
This 175w High-Output White mercury vapor lamp was given to me by fellow member Icefoglights in a trade.  It's not a Bonusline so I think it's a little newer, but I'm thinking late '60s or early '70s.  

It does work, and is quite bright and lightly used.  I certainly like its light quality much more than a /DX, not so pink. 

The /W (High-Output White) was, as I understand it, an early attempt at increasing light output while diffusing the light.  It did now, however, particularly improve color, hence the light quality isn't much better than that of a clear or /D (Diffused) lamp.  I would describe it as rendering reds slightly better, but only slightly.  It definitely has a greenish tone to it.  I'd seen /W lit, but only in pictures, never in person.  Definitely not pink like a /DX, and alsi it lacks that "fluorescent" effect /DX has; white paper doesn't fluoresce under the light of this lamp like happens with /DX.  I personally also find the light much less harsh and jarring than that of /DX; I could happily work under /W but not /DX indoors as an only light source.  Later lamps (aka /DX) improved light output in addition to CRI, but I personally prefer the light of /W over /DX hands down.  
Keywords: Lamps

GE /W!

This 175w High-Output White mercury vapor lamp was given to me by fellow member Icefoglights in a trade. It's not a Bonusline so I think it's a little newer, but I'm thinking late '60s or early '70s.

It does work, and is quite bright and lightly used. I certainly like its light quality much more than a /DX, not so pink.

The /W (High-Output White) was, as I understand it, an early attempt at increasing light output while diffusing the light. It did now, however, particularly improve color, hence the light quality isn't much better than that of a clear or /D (Diffused) lamp. I would describe it as rendering reds slightly better, but only slightly. It definitely has a greenish tone to it. I'd seen /W lit, but only in pictures, never in person. Definitely not pink like a /DX, and alsi it lacks that "fluorescent" effect /DX has; white paper doesn't fluoresce under the light of this lamp like happens with /DX. I personally also find the light much less harsh and jarring than that of /DX; I could happily work under /W but not /DX indoors as an only light source. Later lamps (aka /DX) improved light output in addition to CRI, but I personally prefer the light of /W over /DX hands down.

IMG_1636.JPG IMG_1634.JPG IMG_1634.JPG IMG_1636.JPG IMG_1636.JPG
File information
Filename:IMG_1634.JPG
Album name:GEsoftwhite100watts / HID Lighting
Keywords:Lamps
Company and Date Manufactured:General Electric, '60s-'70s?
Model Number:175W39-22
Wattage:175w
Lamp Type:Phosphored Mercury Vapor
Filesize:701 KiB
Date added:Mar 18, 2017
Dimensions:3000 x 2250 pixels
Displayed:215 times
URL:http://www.galleryoflights.org/mb/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=21597
Favorites:Add to Favorites

Comment 1 to 20 of 26
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streetlight98   [Mar 18, 2017 at 12:21 PM]
wow! I'd like to find one of these. Is this NOS or used? Definitely pre-80s since it lacks the "R" designation, which denotes a lamp will produce harmful radiation if broken (as opposed to safety-lamps, which have a filament that burns up to extinguish the arc tube when the outer envelope is shattered).

I can't stand clear lamps indoors since it makes everything green. Makes skin, eyes, lips, etc look blood-drawn and zombie like. /DX is nice and soft in my opinion. /C is really nice too. The /N lamps are the best indoors hands-down though. Those lamps are similar to an oldschool 1950s /W fluorescent tube in color and CRI lol.
ZarlogH46   [Mar 18, 2017 at 03:16 PM]
How efficient are these compared to /DX lamps?
streetlight98   [Mar 18, 2017 at 07:28 PM]
I think /W might have slightly better lumens at first but /DX maintains its lumens longer (the /W phosphor degrades and eventually turns into a light-blocker; same happens with /C; with /DX it's not as bad).
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Mar 18, 2017 at 07:36 PM]
Someone on LG dated this to December 1966. Yeah, this is a pretty neat lamp. I'm thinking used but low hours; it has some dirt on it like it was in use in a NEMA or one of those old outdoor recessed cans for a very short time. I'm not entirely sure of it's entire backstory but I imagine it likely came from eBay originally and was then given to me. Overall the color doesn't seem a LOT different from a Diffused lamp, just a bit brighter. Mike, you ever see a /W lit in person?
streetlight98   [Mar 18, 2017 at 07:43 PM]
Nope I've never seen a /W lamp lit. I've seen brand new /C lamps lit (the ones I own) but never a well-used /C. the /C lamps turn a nice lime green color after several thousand hours so I am told. BTW, 1966 is quite early! One of the first BT28 GEs and one of the first post-Bonuslines too!
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Mar 18, 2017 at 07:51 PM]
You mean ED28. Laughing Yeah, very early on! /W starts up with this orangeish tint where a /DX would have that magenta tone, then as it warms up rapidly turns blue/green and becomes a brighter green, basically. I have some video of it to post to YouTube and maybe that will give you an idea; when I do post I will link to it. Same with that Unalux, you'll like it.
streetlight98   [Mar 18, 2017 at 08:09 PM]
Yep ED28 lol. Yeah link them! Smile
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Mar 18, 2017 at 08:11 PM]
Will do once I get them uploaded! Very Happy
joe_347V   [Mar 18, 2017 at 08:39 PM]
Nice lamp! I got mine from a Revere Urban-Lite, it's a bit older than yours though. I guess mine had more use since I don't really recall mine having a orangey tint during startup. I know the reddish tint on /DX lamps goes away as the lamp ages.
streetlight98   [Mar 18, 2017 at 09:06 PM]
Yeah the hot pink tone at start-up diminishes with /DX lamps, but the pinkish tone remains throughout the life of many /DX MVs. Depends on if the phosphor wears out I guess. I have a GE 100W /DX with probably thousands of hours on it and it's as pink as a new /DX while I have some NOS mid-80s Sylvania 100W/DX ED23.5s that aren't pink at all! (well, a HINT, but not even close to most brand new /DX lamps).
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Mar 18, 2017 at 09:13 PM]
I think that's also partially due to with the older lamps (Lifeguard, etc) lasting so long the phosphor finally goes bad. Might also depend on how thickly it's applied; in this same lot of lamps this /W is from I was also given a /DX Westy Lifeguard which is almost a cleartop, the phosphor is so thin!
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Mar 18, 2017 at 09:13 PM]
I think that's also partially due to with the older lamps (Lifeguard, etc) lasting so long the phosphor finally goes bad. Might also depend on how thickly it's applied; in this same lot of lamps this /W is from I was also given a /DX Westy Lifeguard which is almost a cleartop, the phosphor is so thin!
streetlight98   [Mar 18, 2017 at 09:26 PM]
Yeah a lot of the fully coated Lifeguards have very thin phosphor at the bulge. I've noticed a lot of Sylvania softwhite incandescent/halogens lamps ain't so soft either lol. The coating is quite thin on those. For incandescents GE by far had the "softest" lamps with the heaviest coating. They even had a special line called "Extra Soft White" or something like that. Very nice and soft but they were rated for slightly less lumens than their typical softwhite counterpart.
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Mar 18, 2017 at 09:27 PM]
I remember the Extra Soft White, I have some back home. And yeah, this one is almost clear...if you want I can get a photo, maybe even of it in magnenta mode firing up.
streetlight98   [Mar 18, 2017 at 09:38 PM]
Several of my 70s BT25s are virtually clear on the bulge too. Most GE's I've seen used a pretty thick phosphor and most Sylvanias did too. Now Sylvania incandescents and fluorescents are rather skimpy on the coating lol. GE probably uses the thickest phosphor coating on their fluorescent lamps than the others do, though Philips' coating is nice and uniform unlike Sylvania's.
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Mar 18, 2017 at 09:57 PM]
My experience used to be that GE had some of the thinnest, but it was also intentional for economy-grade bulbs. (Remember the 'Basic' line? If not I have some in my gallery in case you've never seen or heard of them but chances are you have). Even when not intentional, their non-Extra soft white, Reveal, and the like were still pretty thin. Of course, Extra Soft White was another story. But yes, Sylvania used to be skimpy on their 90s bulbs near the base. I think up until they went to China Philips may have still actually used the Q-coat type finish, which in case you've never seen it is basically, as Dave Silverliner once described it, if soft white and inside frost got married that would be their child.
streetlight98   [Mar 19, 2017 at 03:11 AM]
I never paid much attention to incandescent light bulbs. I actually never had any interest in them until the bans were announced. Incandescents were "boring" while the cool spiral bulbs had a lot going on. Surprised We pretty much always bought Sylvania Doublelife lamps so I'm not at all familiar with the various incarnations GE made.
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Mar 19, 2017 at 03:14 AM]
LOL, there was a time when I was also a fan of the spirals just because at the time they were new and different. Laughing That being said now I hate them. Laughing
streetlight98   [Mar 19, 2017 at 02:30 PM]
LOL I actually don't mind the CFLs but their use is limited. I liked the 3500K ones best. The 2700K ones were always pink and dingy looking. Of course the 3000K and 3500K ones are near impossible to find locally. Gotta go online and buy them individually for like twice the price and then pay $15 shipping so it's cheaper to just buy LEDs at that point lol.
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Mar 19, 2017 at 06:05 PM]
I only really found 3500K after 6500K, which I liked much more than 2700K. Now it's all about 5000K LEDs but the 2700K LEDs are a much more convincing incandescent replacement, too.

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