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My M-400A2 on my Light Pole this was a royal PITA to install on this lol. At first i was like "oh this will be easy it's a power door. I'll just install the power door after i bolt the fixture" Well, i installed it and couldn't get it to be level. all it did was sag down. So i installed it on the stopper, making it tilit upward. still not level but at least it's not drooping... The M-400As and M-400 split doors always tilted upward anyways because of the rocker. So i finally get the light moutned perfectly and find out the power door needs about another two inches for the hinges to drop in place so i have to loosen the fixture and turn it sideways so the pole is not in the way and i can slip on the power door, holding the power door in one hand and supporting the fixture in the other. Then i got it on, connected the two wires, installed the refractor, and all done! removal was easy. I removed the refractor, opened the power door and disconnected the power leads, unbolted the fixture, shut the power door, and pulled it right off! I only did this for the pic. Not how the pole is leaning forward compared to the wall in the background. Then look at the pic i psoted with my RMA on it. With the RMA the pole is level with the wall in the background, as it should be. Keywords: American_Streetlights

My M-400A2 on my Light Pole

this was a royal PITA to install on this lol. At first i was like "oh this will be easy it's a power door. I'll just install the power door after i bolt the fixture" Well, i installed it and couldn't get it to be level. all it did was sag down. So i installed it on the stopper, making it tilit upward. still not level but at least it's not drooping... The M-400As and M-400 split doors always tilted upward anyways because of the rocker. So i finally get the light moutned perfectly and find out the power door needs about another two inches for the hinges to drop in place so i have to loosen the fixture and turn it sideways so the pole is not in the way and i can slip on the power door, holding the power door in one hand and supporting the fixture in the other. Then i got it on, connected the two wires, installed the refractor, and all done!


removal was easy. I removed the refractor, opened the power door and disconnected the power leads, unbolted the fixture, shut the power door, and pulled it right off! I only did this for the pic. Not how the pole is leaning forward compared to the wall in the background. Then look at the pic i psoted with my RMA on it. With the RMA the pole is level with the wall in the background, as it should be.

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File information
Filename:gol931302.PNG
Album name:Mike / My General Electric M-400A2 (1997)
Keywords:American_Streetlights
Company and Date Manufactured:General Electric | 3rd week of 1997
Model Number:M-400A2 Powr/Door
Wattage:Originally 400, now 320
Lamp Type:Originally HPS, now PSMH
Filesize:811 KiB
Date added:Sep 04, 2013
Dimensions:618 x 651 pixels
Displayed:145 times
URL:http://www.galleryoflights.org/mb/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=16246
Favorites:Add to Favorites

Comment 8 to 27 of 27
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streetlight98   [Sep 05, 2013 at 04:27 AM]
i could just get one of those plug-in timers and plug the timer into the wall and plug the whole light stand into the timer. Razz
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Sep 05, 2013 at 03:54 PM]
That's what I was thinking...it would work really well if that RMA is slightly buzzy.
streetlight98   [Sep 05, 2013 at 05:27 PM]
no the RMA is no louder than a F40T12 light fixture which is another reaosn i like it. a little buzz but not annoying liek the M-250R1 Laughing
joe_347V   [Sep 05, 2013 at 08:51 PM]
That's pretty quiet for a HID light. Mine range from nearly silent to very loud lol.
streetlight98   [Sep 05, 2013 at 10:12 PM]
Yeah most NEMA heads are very quiet. Probably because there's really no fixture pieces to vibrate to make it loud. just a small cast housing and then the bucket latches tightly onto the fixture. It starts off noisey like it's almost clearing its throat (if you want to think of it that way lol) but after the lamp sucessfully makes an arc the ballast quiets right down and by the time it's done warming up it's just a mere hum.

My OVC is nearly silent but i would be worried if a tiny little choke was loud lol. My M-250A is quiet and so is my OV-10. My M-400 and M-250R1 are my loud lights and go figure, they're NOS lol. The M-400A2s have a little buzz to the but nothing major.
joe_347V   [Sep 06, 2013 at 04:28 AM]
Most of mine buzzes slightly when I run them except for my 70w MH ballasts which are pretty quiet and my 50w F-Can ballast which is almost silent.

My NOS 250w Advance MH ballast is pretty noisy though.
streetlight98   [Sep 07, 2013 at 12:56 AM]
Yeah I've never had a quiet Advance ballast lol. Advane ballasts are good stuff though. Very overpriced on 1000Bulbs though. for instance, look under a random higher wattage HID ballast list on 1000Bulbs.com and an Advance ballast costs like twice as much as any of the other ballasts. Confused
joe_347V   [Sep 07, 2013 at 02:03 AM]
I'd say around 1/2 of my HID ballasts are Advance lol. The reason I have so many is cause I bought a ton at Rona (they were on clearance) back in 2009. My 70w HPS Advance ballasts are fairly silent though.

The only large brands of HID ballasts I don't have is Universal, and GE.
streetlight98   [Sep 07, 2013 at 02:08 AM]
I have mostly OEM GE ballasts. For fluorescent ballasts my RS ballasts are mostly green labeled Universal Therm-O-Matic ones. Pretty solid ballasts!
joe_347V   [Sep 07, 2013 at 02:13 AM]
I think mine are mostly Advance Razz, I have one Universal 2x F40 RS ballast but it looks a bit ratty (and rattles) so I never tested it yet.
Antstar85   [Sep 07, 2013 at 02:19 AM]
You see a bunch of these on the Mass like and they are 150 watt HPS.
streetlight98   [Sep 07, 2013 at 02:20 AM]
hmm i wonder why they didn't use small sized fixtures. I'm thinking of either converting this to 250W HPS or 250W MH/MV.
joe_347V   [Sep 07, 2013 at 02:32 AM]
Well, I'm a more of a MV/MH fan but I guess 250w HPS would be a closer match to the fixture size.

I wonder if they used 150w HPS medium fixtures on the Mass Pike to have a more consistent look or to standardize the type of fixture used.
streetlight98   [Sep 07, 2013 at 03:18 AM]
the original fixtures were LPS. (well actually the originals were likley MV or even incandescent but the HPS was repalcing the LPS) There's a mix of LPS and HPS and new LED on the Massachusetts Turnpike. i bet the LEDs are a lot dimmer. Surprised

Yeah I'd rather use 250W MH/Mv myself. Plus i have a GE 250W MV NEMA tag that i can put in this fixture. I'll try to be careful when peeling off the 40 tag so it can maybe be used on another fixture. When i get my own house, i'd rather install a 250W MH/Mv over a HPS lol. So i'll probably settle for my Advance 250W MH/MV ballast...
joe_347V   [Sep 07, 2013 at 03:37 AM]
When put my 10 tag on my R47, I just stuck it over the old 25 tag so that way I can easily reuse the old tag if I convert it back to 250w HPS. The NEMA tags can get brittle with age though so I would heat it up with something like a hairdryer to soften the vinyl before peeling.

Yeah 250w MV/MH looks much better than 250w HPS on a house. Razz
streetlight98   [Sep 07, 2013 at 03:49 AM]
Normally i'd leave the exiting tag on but i don't want to put another real NEMA tag over it so I'll take off the original NEMA tag before i repaint the lights. I'll leave Darren's NEMA tag on though to keep it original even though he's going to keep it PSMH. I'm sure he'd appreciate that.

BTW, i decided to light a 400W HPS and 250W HPS lamp in the M-400A2 on the PSMH ballast for the heck of it. Naturally, the 400W HPS lamp never warmed up all the way and was a LPS color and instant restruck whereas the 250W lamp was overdriven and ran a halogen color lol. i didn't leave it on long enough for anythign bad to happen though.
joe_347V   [Sep 07, 2013 at 08:49 PM]
Yeah, HPS turns a LPS like colour when underdriven and a nice halogen colour when overdriven.
streetlight98   [Sep 07, 2013 at 10:04 PM]
Well, both M-400A2s are stored in the shed from now until when i paint them. After i paint them, Darren's will remain inside until i can make/find a box. It'll come compelte with a McCann Lighting restoration label and stuff. Razz Very Happy BTW, I cleaned out the shed today with my mom and I ahev PLENTY of room int he shed for lights! Namely fluorescents but i can store some cobraheads out there if needed. There's an 8ft long by 4ft deep shelve that's about 5-1/2 ft off the ground and 4ft fluorescents store perfectly up there. I tried it out with the shoplight already out there.
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Sep 07, 2013 at 10:21 PM]
Which light was this, the one with the Universal ballast from the Restore?
streetlight98   [Sep 07, 2013 at 10:48 PM]
do you mean which fluorescent fixture did i "test" the shelve with? Yep that's it! i used one of the twin light fixtures i got from the ReStore. The one i converted to T8 is still in the basement for the next time i go to my grandpa's shop. I don't know when that'll be though...

I have room for probably six to eight 4ft fixtures on the shelve plus room with the other stuff i have out there. I could also mount some of the lights on the ceiling in the shed or on the walls (not connected or wired up, only to keep them out of the way) but i'm not sure if my dad would allow it' I don't see why he'd object but you never know...

Comment 8 to 27 of 27
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