can I swap out 125 W mercury vapor medium base for 175 W mercury vapor mogul base?

[Larz]

I picked up a surplus yard light called Electripak SV-175M thinking that
it was 175 watts. It uses a mercury vapor bulb, but the bulb inside
appears to be 125 W. Since I want to use 175 W mercury vapor instead,
is it possible to swap out the medium base for mogul base and use the
175 W mercury vapor bulb? It has an H42 ballast, no capacitor. Thank you.

[peterw...@gmail.com]

No. About covers it.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[Klay Anderson]

Get yourself a 36w LED retrofit 4000K bulb, remove or fully bypass the ballast and enjoy.

[tabb...@gmail.com]

Would there be much point? Mercury is obsolete for a reason. Total cost of ownership of a LED light is cheaper. And the light's better. And no warm-up issues. Your fitting/bulb might be free, but the electricity isn't.


NT

[Sjouke Burry]

The ballast and supply voltage determine power, so your 175 watt lamp
will not get the power you want to feed it.
Lamp an ballast go together.

[Larz]

I'm changing out the ballast for the proper type. It comes with a
capacitor. There currently is NOT one with the existing 125 W bulb and
ballast and I am wondering if I should include it?

[Larz]

I agree about the LED, and I would if I were not using this set up for a
the special purpose of attracting insects. The LED does not emit
anything close to UV whereas the mercury vapor does and in not harmful
wavelengths as long as the envelope remains intact. So, it won't be on
all the time, just nights where I want to attract certain insects.

I do use LED for just about every lamp in the house, really cut the
electric bill after the switch over from incandescents.

[Sjouke Burry]

The cap might be for COS Phi correction, and have no influence
on the lamp/ballast combo, just correcting Phi back to zero.
In industrial applications that Phi correction is demanded by the power
company.

[tabb...@gmail.com]

Who knows what that means. Ask us again, but clearly

[Bennett]

Once the ballast is changed, any chance the 175W bulb will overheat in a
fixture ?designed? for 125W?

[peterw...@gmail.com]

OK. This is one of those times when it is clearly demonstrated that Common Sense isn't.

a) A HID fixture designed for a 125-watt lamp will not support a 175 watt lamp, no matter whether the socket is changed or not.
b) About 30% (when the lamp is new) goes off as heat. As the lamp ages, that goes to 75%.
c) These beasts get HOT. And, even assuming that a 175 watt lamp would light, and operate properly, that additional heat would be fatal to the fixture in short order. That has to do with the physical design of the fixture.
d) Changing an HID Ballast is neither trivial nor cheap. And to do so in the world of reliable LED replacements is simply foolish.
e) There is a reason that licensed electricians are required by code to modify fixtures from HID to LED (bypass the ballast). While not rocket-science, it is, also, not trivial.

So: The only valid approach for the OP would be to purchase the correct LED fixture in the first place. That the question was asked in the form it was asked makes it clear that the OP hasn't the first clue on what is involved. From some of the answers here, it is also clear that many of the posters are no better. Consider that at no time did the OP seem to consider the purchase of the correct lamp...

[Larz]

I decided NOT to modify the 125W MV lamp yard light in any way, just
swap out the frosted light for a clear one of the same wattage and
medium base.

The ballast on the way is for either 175W MV or Metal Halide. The bulb
will be housed in a ceramic Mogul base and away from anywhere where it
might overheat or cause melting.

As I said prior, I plan on operating these intermittently to help bring
in insects and moths during the night.

I understand the concern about the 175W heat, so I have made allowances
for that with the correct base and the fact that it will be operating
open air from a tripod. We're talking maybe 5-7 hours maybe half a
dozen nights a month. I'll be seated close by the whole time.

[peter wieck]

Not very bright.

Pun intended.

[Larz]

Whatever floats your boat... I stopped arguing on Usenet about 20 years
ago, or even making sarcastic commentary. Just like arguing politics,
it accomplishes nothing and only inflated my blood pressure (come on,
people really think they're going to change someone's political views by
arguing with them all the time... not). Most of the very same
individuals making the comments wouldn't hold a prayer if meeting face
to face. 'Nuff said and I won't reply further unless I see helpful or
useful commentary.

[peterw...@gmail.com]

180 VAC at 125 watts is no laughing matter. Common sense saves lives.

[Larz]

Why didn't you just say that instead of the sarcasm, then? See, I would
have responded in kind.

[peterw...@gmail.com]

One may purchase a commercial-grade 7,000 lumen LED Fixture complete with a 50,000 hour lamp for about US$60. Note that LEDs do not have 'wasted' lumens as they are all directed out, so 35-50 watts of LED is equivalent to 175 watts of HID light, even in a well-designed fixture.

A "smart" HID Ballast may be had for about US$50. Changing it out properly takes both knowledge and skill.

The typical HID lamp costs about US$8, and lasts about 10,000 hours.

Around here, power is about $0.14/KWH

So, in 50,000 hours, a 50-watt LED fixture will burn about 2,500 KWH, or US$350 in power. Making the investment $410 in total for that 50,000 hours.

That 175 watt lamp will burn 8,750 KWH and need to be replaced five (5) times.

So: $1,225 in power. $40 in lamps, $50 in a ballast. Total investment of $1,315.

Then, there is the issue with heat, modification of of a fixture outside of its design parameters, and so forth.

Hence the comment on Common Sense being an uncommon commodity.

What are you doing anyway? Jacklighting deer?

[Ralph Mowery]

In article <436d8df8-3e2d-434c...@googlegroups.com>,
peterw...@gmail.com says...

>
> Hence the comment on Common Sense being an uncommon commodity.
>
> What are you doing anyway? Jacklighting deer?
>
>

He said bug catcher so he needed a light that put out a certain kind of
light.

The led will not do that (he said).


---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

[Rheilly Phoull]

Less than an amp, ooohh-errr

[peterw...@gmail.com]

On Tuesday, September 10, 2019 at 6:07:52 PM UTC-4, Ralph Mowery wrote:

> He said bug catcher so he needed a light that put out a certain kind of
> light.
>
> The led will not do that (he said).

Yet more evidence of a lack of common sense. Light-based bug catchers used outdoors attract no/zero/none/zilch harmful insects, except by accident. And in some regions where over-used, they are playing merry hell with the local ecosystem.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1997/07/970730060806.htm

[peterw...@gmail.com]

Dare you to put yourself in the path of an HID Lamp ballast!