I dont have proper gear... would a 70W hps ballast work? I will post pics of them soon... gonna eat dinner... but I figured i'd ask the question while its still at a decent hour of the night...

Maybe with a 50W metal halide ballast (magnetic only) and be sure to deactivate the ignitor by disconnecting the neutral and capping it off. Usually small wattage MV/MH equivalents are that a MV lamp will run on the next downward available MH ballast, but without the ignitor.

PS if you don't deactivate the ignitor, it will blow your starting resistor upon hot restrike, among other bad things in your MV lamp.

At the moment I don't really have anything below 175W ballast wise for MV/MH... lowest wattage ballasts I have are for 70W HPS...

 I tried it on 70W HPS gear and it lit and warmed up... but then it started cycling... So i guess i'll wait to find some 50W MH gear or 75W MV gear... like ya said sol...

Ditto well the lamp need 130 volt  630 mA
And hps lamps is 55 arc volt meaning ballast
Is supply half the voltage  to the lamp.

Ok 75 watt ballast is very hard to find
And 80 watt MV ballast for it will be wrong
For it too as it use 800 mA

Best thing to do is get a 70 watt european fluorescent choke and 240 volts. It will be close to it spec

Unless u find a 50 watt MH magnetic gear like Sol said.

Low wattage mercs don't work on low wattage HPS ballasts. Is it a clear lamp?
Also, you could use an F40T12 RS ballast but it would be underdriven.

Low wattage mercs don't work on low wattage HPS ballasts. Is it a clear lamp?
Also, you could use an F40T12 RS ballast but it would be underdriven.

posted a pic of it earlier... not really clear but you can see a bit through it.. http://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=0&pos=5&pid=140549 F40T12 ey?? how underdriven would that be?

I have seen some 75W mercury postline ballasts on Ebay recently, but they are over $100 and are 277V only.

I have seen some 75W mercury postline ballasts on Ebay recently, but they are over $100 and are 277V only.

Argggg both hundred buck and a voltage thats a pain in the arse to use.... ughhhh

With European gear, i think something like either 58W T8 ballast (110V 670mA, would be less than 670mA with higher voltage lamp) or 2 26W PL-C ballasts in parallel (~100V, dont remember exactly, 320mA) would work..

Do you have any of that over there ?

With European gear, i think something like either 58W T8 ballast (110V 670mA, would be less than 670mA with higher voltage lamp) or 2 26W PL-C ballasts in parallel (~100V, dont remember exactly, 320mA) would work..

Do you have any of that over there ?

I dont have any of that on me... but it might exist in the Americas Idk... I don't really specialize in the fluro department lol

Is there any 5ft T8 or T12 non-HO lamp in the US ?

Believe so... I know for sure we have non-HO T12, never personally encountered a 5ft T8 lamp though... Does not mean we don't have them though...

Believe so... I know for sure we have non-HO T12, never personally encountered a 5ft T8 lamp though... Does not mean we don't have them though...

5ft T8 does exit here and is mostly used in refrigerators and freezers in stores.

posted a pic of it earlier... not really clear but you can see a bit through it.. http://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=0&pos=5&pid=140549 F40T12 ey?? how underdriven would that be?

Well, considering how a 50w MV lamp I tried wasn't all that bright (probably around the same as a 75w incandescent) it would probably be pretty dim. If you have money you can spend, you can get a 50w PSMH ballast and disconnect the ignitor. They are currently available on 1000bulbs.com for $26, but shipping will probably be around $9. (That's what it is for me)

I have seen some 75W mercury postline ballasts on Ebay recently, but they are over $100 and are 277V only.

Well then, I guess I was lucky to get one in 120v. I just don't understand why they think they are going to get that much for a ballast that is next to useless to collectors, and is completely worthless to contractors.