With no leakage and no winding resistance it would definitely be the case - Both the line and the capacitor are low impedance sources, the rest is an autotransformer

It may however be designed such that the assymetry is small enough, and then the leakage and resistance become relatively significant factors. (In the limit case with exactly symmetrical windings, there won't be any apparent parallel capacitance, all capacitance will be only seen by the tube through the choke)

When i dig my ballast out i'll take a lamp current waveform

I got a replacement merc lamp today. The fixture is now fully working. Thanks for your help!

also should be noted SRS ballasts for 18W SOX lamps where quite common (as they officially require about 300V to strike, so an SRS ballast was seen as a good way to generate that in a compact low-loss-ish ignitor-less setup that also has the added benefit of inherent PFC correction)

https://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-116224

(I was always a bit annoyed how they tied the coils together into a single terminal like that, so you cant use it with a regular 2ft tube or 18W-24W PL-L or 28W 2D if you wanted to LOL)

I actually think in the absence of the need to preheat the filaments, there is not necessary to have two parallel 'long' windings to the electrically hot tube end. And attached is a simple inductance with a tap circuitry actually inside the choke you pictured. Electrically, it is equivalent to the SRS circuit with asymmetrical windings, but with less copper as you throw away paralleled parts of the windings.

BTW it seems that SRS and like circuits still inflict a fraction of its capacitor value parallel to the tube. Slightly dampened by winding resistance, and leak inductance, but still here. As we all know discharge lamps do not like pure capacitor ballast or large parallel capacitors, this probably leads to high current crest, shortened life and like ailments... May be one of the reasons SRS circuits lost their popularity (in addition to high copper costs).

Just came across this news segment from California replacing antique streetlamps with replicas. There are few places left with authentic lights like this that too see even more go is terrible. I don't know about the cost or environmental concerns enough to comment as to whether this was the best option, but it is sad to see them go. For those wondering the fixtures were GE Novalux tops.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eaUzwteSGI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eaUzwteSGI

Shipping something like this to me likely would be a bit expensive. Not many around for sale either. I'm willing to build one.

Luminaire test :
Measure the resistance between the input terminals (plug pins) and socket contacts :
 - One should measure a small resistance up to few Ohms. (Normally L to center contact in the socket)
 - One should measure a direct connection. (Normally N to outer contact in the socket)

If any of this does not measure right, then you have a bad connection in the wiring or an internal bad connection in the ballast

Use an E40 to E27 or B22 adapter, or connect an ordinary E27 or B22 socket in the luminaire (instead of the E40), and try to power it up with an ordinary Incandescent lamp (anything like 40..60W) instead of the Mercury lamp. It should light up at near normal brightness



Lamp test :
Connect the Mercury lamp outside of the luminaire, in series with either an Incandescent lamp of medium power (anything like 40..60W 230V) or Fluorescent choke ballast (pretty much any 230V) to 230V

See if the lamp strikes. It won't warm up much with such ballasting and may remain flickery, but it should strike and remain lit without extinguishing

Don't run the lamp for too long this way as it does wear out. (The mercury lamp is supposed to get quickly to its high power state, not stay in the starting state for long)

Oh wow, they're super cool! A generous cash payment and good replacement fixture would perhaps be a good way to acquire one.

It was like this for at least 3 minutes, gradually getting slightly dimmer. I just switched it on again, and now the lamp will not glow at all. My plug in meter reads 1.5 amps, 0.0 power factor.

I originally thought they were Wide-Lite cubes but it looks like they're something else. I wonder what lamps they used...almost looks like GE's short lived panel F lamp.

You are correct they had the GE Panel fluorescent for these cube fixtures.  The fixtures were manufactured by Westinghouse ( from what I have read about them).

Not that I know of.

According to this site, there are some in active service in Orange County, NY. And supposedly some made it into the hands of collectors.

Yes, I have been chatting with someone who has one. He did some measurements  for me. I want to build one, not sure which configuration yet.