Hello all Lighting Gallery Members:

To those who are not aware, mercury vapor bulbs were stated to have been banned at the beginning of 2016.   To me and other lighting collectors alike, this is rather unfortunate.  Not only will older fixtures have to be retrofitted or replaced, but the ban of  lamps also means the loss of that awesome bluish-green light.  It is unbelievable to think that lighting technology that has been around since 1901 has now been phased out.  However, I recently came across a series of bulbs known as EYE Moon Pulse lamps.  Another relatively well-known LG member, Arcblue, made a post on these bulbs.  In fact, their post is the way I came across this series of awesome, ingenious bulbs.  Basically, what the Moon Pulse lamps are is a series of mercury vapor lamp designed to run on newer PSMH ballasts.  They are more or less a standard MV lamp, but lack a starting resistor and electrode.  Thus, they can only run on a Pulse-Start ballast, they WILL NOT run on a standard MV ballast.  While this does put certain older fixtures to shame, it means MV is not completely gone.  Additionally, because these lamps are a "specialty" type of lamp, they are exempt from the ban.  Thus, in theory you could continue to convert newer PSMH fixtures to MV for a long time, assuming you can find these bulbs.

These bulbs are available in 50-175 watts; 100 being the most common.  They come in a standard E-shaped bulb, and R-shaped (both medium based); more common for landscape lighting.  Landscape lighting was EYE Lighting's motive for designing this series of lamp.  I recently bought a 100w one from the 1000Bulbs Amazon store; they (1000 Bulbs) also sell them directly on their site.  However, as mentioned, 100w the most commonly-available type.  Get them now while supplies last!  They are VERY inexpensive; I paid only around $16 for mine before shipping (about $4).  I will have some pictures of the bulb posted within a few weeks; I'm pretty busy at the moment.  Nonetheless, I absolutely love mine, and am THRILLED to know I will have mercury vapor in action for a long time to come!

Thank you to everyone for your commission to keeping old lighting alive!    Be sure to check out these lamps; you can find a whole brochure about them by doing a simple search of "EYE Moon Pulse", etc.  More to come from me!

I just purchased a mercury lamp today that was made this past February, I dont think they have been banned. I can also still buy and order them anywhere. The moon pulse lamps are great but require a PSMH ballast.

Hello all Lighting Gallery Members:

To those who are not aware, mercury vapor bulbs were stated to have been banned at the beginning of 2016.   To me and other lighting collectors alike, this is rather unfortunate.  Not only will older fixtures have to be retrofitted or replaced, but the ban of  lamps also means the loss of that awesome bluish-green light.  It is unbelievable to think that lighting technology that has been around since 1901 has now been phased out.  However, I recently came across a series of bulbs known as EYE Moon Pulse lamps.  Another relatively well-known LG member, Arcblue, made a post on these bulbs.  In fact, their post is the way I came across this series of awesome, ingenious bulbs.  Basically, what the Moon Pulse lamps are is a series of mercury vapor lamp designed to run on newer PSMH ballasts.  They are more or less a standard MV lamp, but lack a starting resistor and electrode.  Thus, they can only run on a Pulse-Start ballast, they WILL NOT run on a standard MV ballast.  While this does put certain older fixtures to shame, it means MV is not completely gone.  Additionally, because these lamps are a "specialty" type of lamp, they are exempt from the ban.  Thus, in theory you could continue to convert newer PSMH fixtures to MV for a long time, assuming you can find these bulbs.

These bulbs are available in 50-175 watts; 100 being the most common.  They come in a standard E-shaped bulb, and R-shaped (both medium based); more common for landscape lighting.  Landscape lighting was EYE Lighting's motive for designing this series of lamp.  I recently bought a 100w one from the 1000Bulbs Amazon store; they (1000 Bulbs) also sell them directly on their site.  However, as mentioned, 100w the most commonly-available type.  Get them now while supplies last!  They are VERY inexpensive; I paid only around $16 for mine before shipping (about $4).  I will have some pictures of the bulb posted within a few weeks; I'm pretty busy at the moment.  Nonetheless, I absolutely love mine, and am THRILLED to know I will have mercury vapor in action for a long time to come!

Thank you to everyone for your commission to keeping old lighting alive!    Be sure to check out these lamps; you can find a whole brochure about them by doing a simple search of "EYE Moon Pulse", etc.  More to come from me!

Don't worry, regular mercs haven't been banned. They just restocked the lamp section at Fleet Farm and I found a new GE merc made in March 2016.

Can you post links to places where you can get the 175w and 50w PSMV lamps? I can't find them.

Good to know MV bulbs are still in production!! . Thanks for nothing NEMA website!!    The 50w and 175 are now impossible to come by.  Amazon used to have a 50w R40 version; now out of stock.  175 I have never seen, although EYE states they make them they're impossible to find.  However, here's the link for the 100W one if you're interested; it's all there currently is. http://www.amazon.com/EYE-71470-Mercury-Lumens-Medium/dp/B004V4FWYA?ie=UTF8&keywords=Moon%20pulse&qid=1464406689&ref_=sr_1_5&sr=8-5

Update:  Found a 175W Moon Pulse HERE: 

http://www.soslightbulbs.com/product/household/eye-hr175w-mercury-vapor-landscape-light-bulb

It is an R40 shape rather than ED, but still a 175W version.