My 700w MV ballast does not even need the capacitor it works with out it The capacitor stopped working on the 700 ballast but I put a diffrent one and it works every good. I will just get a 1000w lamp, 700 MV looks dim for the pond area

I don't have any 700W MV fixtures but if I did I would probably end up changing the cap to run 1000W mercs since 700W mercs are near impossible to find. Soon enough all MV lamps will be impossible to find.

IIRC most 700w merc ballasts are CW-A/I type ballasts which require caps to operate correctly. Running them without a cap might make them draw eceess current and overheat the primary.

I wonder why they (mostly) stopped making 700w mercs, its weird since they still make all other wattages, even the less common ones like 50 and 75w. Anyway I believe the last of the big three to make them was Philips and I think EYE still makes them as a special order.

I have 6 700w MV lamps

Yeah NEVER run a CWA or CWI ballast without the capacitor. The capacitor is absolutely necessary for proper operation. With HPF reactors the capacitor it just an added bonus though and can be removed.

Thank you. I now know it is not just for show You need a 700w MV lamp?

LOL yeah the capacitors are important. Nah I dont need one at the moment since I don't have any 700W MV fixtures but I guess if I ever come across a 700W MV fixture I'd need a lamp. In 2016 they're going to stop making all the MV lamps so they'll get hard to find. I think they're gonna stop making probe start MH lamps and ballasts then too.

with eBay we can make it.

I hope so. Eventually there won't be many on ebay. We'll all be going after MV lamps like seagulls fighting over fries in the McDonald's parking lot.

So I need to invest

I guess so, not a bad idea. I would like to buy a couple cases of 100W, 175W, and 400W MV lamps for the fixtures I'll have in the future but I don't have that kind of cash lol. When I turn 18 that's when they ban MV lamps.

I will invest, I got your back clear MV is the first to go?

How many lamps do you plan on stocking up on? I have a about 150 incandescent lamps stockpiled up but incandescents are a lot cheaper lol. Sylvania seems to make the best mercs. GE and Philips make crappy mercs. Eye Lighting is good too but I've never actually bought anything from them since i think they're overpriced.

first I have to get clear MVs all from Eye 1000w 400w 250w than see what is next. LPS too because I use the fixtures all the time.

ah Yeah you definetly want to stock up on those if you have a lot of fixtures. The way this government is with all the foolish lamp bans they might even ban LPS though they have no reason to ban it since it's more efficient than LEDs.

No the left wing control state has all LPS. they are adding more LPS as we speak

Which state is that? Hawiaii? I know they have lots of LPS. LPS seems to not be common in the northeast. The Mass Pike is the only place where LPS has been used wide-spread for public lighting around here and they're sadly not maintained anymore. They replace 180W LPS with 250W HPS (and they're using more energy ) and they're beginning to replace 250W HPS with LEDs.

Hawaii has put more LPS. I would say 10,000 more in 2 years that I could see on Google maps, all 180w or 90w too. The RI government is stupid for putting in LED because that observatory is looking to get going.

Wow that's a lot of LPS! Sounds like Hawaii should be the golden state, not California.

They have stopped service to most HPS too