Ballast for S55 150W 55V HPS lamp..?

Lighting-Gallery.net | Advertisements | Wanted | Topic: Ballast for S55 150W 55V HPS lamp..?

« previous next »

Author

Topic: Ballast for S55 150W 55V HPS lamp..? (Read 3321 times)

Rommie
Administrator
Member

Offline

Gender: Female

View Posts
View Gallery

Andromeda Ascendant

Hi all,

I'm looking to add to my collection of US-spec ballasts and need one for a 150W S55 55V HPS lamp. I've seen several on US eBay, but although I'm learning, I'm still not 100% conversant with US ballasts, so I don't really know which is the best one to go for. It will be run from the inverter we have, which gives a genuine 120V 60Hz supply, so I'm not bothered about multi-tap inputs.

Given that shipping is a serious consideration here, I have narrowed my search down to the following:

Orbit HPS-55A-150A

Advance 71A8107

Damar 708B

Thoughts, anyone..?

Of course, if anyone has one spare and wants a trade for something, please let me know

Logged

Ria (aka Rommie) in Aberdeen
Administrator, UK & European time zones. Any questions or problems, please feel free to get in touch

"What greater gift than the love of a cat..?" - Charles Dickens
*** No smiley-only replies, please ***

fluorescent lover 40
Member

Offline

Gender: Male

View Posts
View Gallery

The Orbit is nice, but it doesn't have a capacitor (optional).

The Advance would've been the best choice, but it doesn't come with the ignitor or capacitor (optional).

The Damar would be the best choice for you, at least in my opinion, as it has the ignitor and the capacitor (optional) as well.

Logged

Rommie
Administrator
Member

Offline

Gender: Female

View Posts
View Gallery

Andromeda Ascendant

Thanks, I was coming to that conclusion myself.

Logged

joseph_125
Member

Offline

Gender: Male

View Posts
View Gallery

You could also consider this Advance 150w. The picture of it looks to be complete and had the ignitor and capacitor. The price is around the same as the other ballasts you linked and I believe the seller does ship to the UK.

I'm not sure what's the maximum amperage of your inverter but the ballasts with the optional capacitor do draw 3.2A so you might want to keep that in mind, or fit them with a capacitor.

Logged

Rommie
Administrator
Member

Offline

Gender: Female

View Posts
View Gallery

Andromeda Ascendant

That listing shows a price for shipping here, so I'll have to work out the best option.

The inverter is capable of 400W continuous load at 120V with up to 800W surge on start-up. It's currently running a 150W HPS retrofit (on a 175W MV/MH ballast) and it's not even breaking a sweat. Current off the supply is 1.89A for a lamp current of 1.5A so I think it'll cope.

« Last Edit: October 20, 2021, 04:21:08 PM by sox35 »

Logged

WorldwideHIDCollectorUSA
Member

Offline

Gender: Male

View Posts
View Gallery

HID, LPS, and preheat fluorescents forever!!!!!!

Quote from: sox35 on October 20, 2021, 04:19:02 PM

That listing shows a price for shipping here, so I'll have to work out the best option.

The inverter is capable of 400W continuous load at 120V with up to 800W surge on start-up. It's currently running a 150W HPS retrofit (on a 175W MV/MH ballast) and it's not even breaking a sweat. Current off the supply is 1.89A for a lamp current of 1.5A so I think it'll cope.

I hope it is not a Unalux or Westy Econolux as these lamps are not compatible with CWA ballasts.

Logged

Desire to collect various light bulbs (especially HID), control gear, and fixtures from around the world.

DISCLAIMER: THE EXPERIMENTS THAT I CONDUCT INVOLVING UNUSUAL LAMP/BALLAST COMBINATIONS SHOULD NOT BE ATTEMPTED UNLESS YOU HAVE THE PROPER KNOWLEDGE. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INJURIES.

Rommie
Administrator
Member

Offline

Gender: Female

View Posts
View Gallery

Andromeda Ascendant

It's an Iwasaki Eye Sunlux LU150/55. Why aren't the lamps you mention compatible..?

Logged

WorldwideHIDCollectorUSA
Member

Offline

Gender: Male

View Posts
View Gallery

HID, LPS, and preheat fluorescents forever!!!!!!

The Iwasaki Econolux and Unalux lamps are not compatible with mercury vapor and metal halide CWA ballasts because these ballasts are not designed to handle the characteristic rising voltage during the life of most high pressure sodium lamps and plus, these ballasts will run these lamps at dangerously high currents.

Logged

Rommie
Administrator
Member

Offline

Gender: Female

View Posts
View Gallery

Andromeda Ascendant

Hmmm, ok. But it should handle the one I have, right..? The ballast I am after is an S55 HPS ballast not a MV or MH one.

Logged

lights*plus
Member

Online

Gender: Male

View Posts
View Gallery

George Liv Photo

Ria, let me take a few pics and I'll get back to you. I have some spare S55 ballasts, mainly NPF but I do believe I also have a few HPF ones w/capacitors. You could save my axx by trading me for some by22d sockets.

Logged

Rommie
Administrator
Member

Offline

Gender: Female

View Posts
View Gallery

Andromeda Ascendant

Thanks, straight 2-pin ones as in for SOX lamps..? Yeah got plenty of those

Think we have a couple of the 3-pin ones as well if you have any 80W or 125W MV lamps with those caps.

Logged

lights*plus
Member

Online

Gender: Male

View Posts
View Gallery

George Liv Photo

2 pin for SOX lamps... as many as you can spare..!!

These are some of my spare s55 ballasts. I can pull out a few more from unused fixtures. I prefer to ship the ones with single 120v tap with integrated ignitor as in the very first pic (It's the Advance 71A8107). I can supply good labels for that one if you wish for proper display. I will hesitate to ship across the pond any multi-tap ballast, but in a pinch I will.

(Any visible handwritten tape/stickers are my notes)

« Last Edit: October 20, 2021, 08:37:19 PM by lights*plus »

Logged

lights*plus
Member

Online

Gender: Male

View Posts
View Gallery

George Liv Photo

Some more s55 still mounted in discarded fixtures. Looks like I got too many of those generic Pollux NPF ballasts (2nd pic). I can supply 55mF capacitors for high power factor operation.

Logged

Rommie
Administrator
Member

Offline

Gender: Female

View Posts
View Gallery

Andromeda Ascendant

Hi, thanks for the pictures, the one in that second photo looks good, does it have an integral ignitor..?

Logged

lights*plus
Member

Online

Gender: Male

View Posts
View Gallery

George Liv Photo

Quote from: sox35 on October 21, 2021, 07:50:01 AM

Hi, thanks for the pictures, the one in that second photo looks good, does it have an integral ignitor..?

Posting pics of the requested Pollux ballast after removing from fixture to test (fixture was trashed). These ballasts are common, but rather large, in small HPS flood-lights. They have Pollux ignitors and they don't come with capacitors, but I've added one. No issues that I see. Runs at 1.53 Amps (@ 120 volts) instead of 3.2 Amps without capacitor. The only bad thing about all these POLLUX ballasts that I've seen is that they buzz, and some of them are really annoying for the first few minutes!

Logged

Pages: Next > [1] 2