Considering purchasing an AEL 115

[ZarlogH46]

I am considering buying an AEL 115 for my collection in the near future (if LEDisease drives HID to extinction, which I hope wont be the case) since AEL might discontinue them. Currently, this is what I am planning if I buy one:

115 175M SC 120V RX DG LD

(175w PSMH, SCWA ballast, 120v, 4 way glass refractor, coated lamp included)



Is this the correct way to order these? If so, where would I go about ordering one or getting a price estimate?

[Mike]

That's the catalog number. You'll have to email, call, or go to your local distributor (typically Graybar) and give them this model number for a quote. They'll get back to you. Just be warned, a 175W PSMH fixture with a 4-way refractor is going to be insanely expensive since those are infrequently ordered options. You're smart to order the lamp with it since 175W PSMH lamps are kinda rare even though the probe start version was so common.

[joe_347V]

Yeah, I suppose if you want to use another distributor, you can contact AEL and ask what the local distributor is. 175w PSMH must be rare, I've really only heard of 150w PSMH which is also available in CMH.

[ZarlogH46]

That's the catalog number. You'll have to email, call, or go to your local distributor (typically Graybar) and give them this model number for a quote. They'll get back to you. Just be warned, a 175W PSMH fixture with a 4-way refractor is going to be insanely expensive since those are infrequently ordered options. You're smart to order the lamp with it since 175W PSMH lamps are kinda rare even though the probe start version was so common.

I found out that eLightbulbs has a nice selection of 175w PSMH lamps, but would I maybe be better off ordering it in 150w? I saw that one of the common orders was 175w MH (presumably probe start) with polycarbonate 4 way refractor. I don't want a refractor that will yellow or melt if ran upside down, so I changed that to glass. I also noticed that probe start wasn't avalable in the US, so I just changed that to pulse start thinking it would be no big deal. Plus, I would want to run 175w Eye moon pulse lamps (or even regular mercury lamps with the ignitor disconnected). Also, the reason I added a coated lamp was because I wanted something that would look like a coated mercury lamp when on. Would I maybe be better off ordering it in 150w, and would it be cheaper?

[Mike]

I think with the ignitor removed you should be able to run 175W MVs so you could order it in PSMH and just run MV lamps... Yeah smart move on the glass. I wonder what the 4-way AEL lenses look like? The GE 4-way glass lenses are quite cool looking.

175W would be cool, and I think those lamps are easier to find in mogul base. The 50-150W PSMH lamps are rare in mogul base, though they do exist.

[ZarlogH46]

I think with the ignitor removed you should be able to run 175W MVs so you could order it in PSMH and just run MV lamps... Yeah smart move on the glass. I wonder what the 4-way AEL lenses look like? The GE 4-way glass lenses are quite cool looking.

175W would be cool, and I think those lamps are easier to find in mogul base. The 50-150W PSMH lamps are rare in mogul base, though they do exist.

Someone else on LG PM'd me telling me they are planning on also ordering a 115, probably in the same configuration that I was planning. They will try and find out how much it would cost in both 175w or 150w. Since the 175w MH with a 4 way refractor was in the list of most common orders, it might end up being cheaper than I thought. Either way, if worst comes to worst, I could just get the 150w version since it will still run 175w mercury lamps, but they will be slightly underdriven.

[ZarlogH46]

Well, I decided that I will either order 35w HPS or 150w PSMH instead since they are both much cheaper according to an LG member. (under $100 for the 35w HPS with a 4 way refractor, and a 150w PSMH was around $120). If I just want a basic inexpensive ballast for 150w PSMH, would I just need to order it with a normal power reactor ballast?

[Mike]

The baseline ballast for a 150W PSMH would be "XN", or NPF HX ballast. Reactor ballasts are only for 120V 35-150W HPS, 240V 100-400W MV or 200-400W HPS, or some 277V ballasts for higher wattage HIDs. A rule of thumb for reactor ballasts is that the lamp voltage is about half of the line voltage. For 55V HPS, it is about half of 120V, so a reactor ballast can be used for 55V HPS lamps at 120V. For 100V HPS, it's approximately half of 240V, so a reactor ballast can be used for 100V HPS lamps at 240V supply. That's how I remember it. Same for preheat fluorescents. F20T12s can use chokes at 120V and F40T12s can use chokes at 240V. But on 120V, F40T12 needs an HX (autotransformer) to step the voltage up.