Who still makes self ballasted MV lamps? And which ones would you recommend today if any? I'm planning on getting a few for trying out in my outdoor lights. And maybe work area. 

You can still get 160w and 250w SBMV lamps from EYE Iwasaki for North America 120v, they have discontinued most other sizes though.

https://www.1000bulbs.com/category/250-watt-self-ballasted-mercury-vapor-lamps/

Plusrite used to make 160w SBMV lamps but I havent seen them available in a couple years now, however they are still listed on their current catalog.

$50 is a bit steep though, I found this on US eBay, not a brand I've ever heard of before, but they're cheap..!

For $5.99 plus shipping I might just have to buy one of those!

For $5.99 plus shipping I might just have to buy one of those!

I'd get one myself, but he doesn't ship to the UK

You can still get 160w and 250w SBMV lamps from EYE Iwasaki for North America 120v, they have discontinued most other sizes though.

https://www.1000bulbs.com/category/250-watt-self-ballasted-mercury-vapor-lamps/

Plusrite used to make 160w SBMV lamps but I havent seen them available in a couple years now, however they are still listed on their current catalog.

Thank you everyone!

How are these lamps quality wise? Is there anything slated to stop the production of SBMV lamps or will production simply stop when demand goes down?

The largest consumers of self ballasted mercury lamps are zoos, the 160w, 250w and 450w sizes are the most common in this application. Last year I was at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and their Komodo Dragon exhibit mustve had 30-40 160w SBMV spots, as well as a few of the 450w in big recessed can type fixtures. In fact most of their reptile exhibits used several SBMV lamps. The hobby reptile trade still sells lots of the 160w lamps too, I still see them offered at pet stores.

As long as SBMV lamps remain popular for this specialty application, production will continue. The market for SBMV use in general lighting must be non-existent by now, what with the advent of CFL and LED.

EYE Iwasaki is currently (and likely will always be) the best quality in mercury vapor, their lamps are akin to the quality we saw of mercury lamps produced in the 80's, I know of several EYE 175's I installed over 10 years ago still burning dusk to dawn to this day, they are the best youre ever going to get for a modern lamp. Their SBMV are equally as good, easily lasting their 10K hour rated life

The "reptile" SBMV's are of different spec and construction than the general lighting ones and are not much usable (better to say dangerous) for general lighting.
The main difference is the intentional UVB radiation of the "reptile" lamps. Reptiles need that component to prevent skin infections (fungi,...), in wild nature they get it from the sun.
The SBMV's are prefered there, because they have very similar ratio of heat and UV radiation to the natural sun, so it helps to achieve correct UVB exposure for the animals (they are sensing heat not UV, so e.g. fluorescents may cause a significant risk of UV overexposure when they are not accompanied by the proper output heat lamps; with SBMV's this risk is very low because the single lamp emits both)
So although SBMV in their basic configuration, these are the different from the general lighting ones.

Thanks for the information everyone!


@BlueHalide: if what you are saying is true, I will certainly go for EYE lighting. 80s quality? I can certainly live with that!   

Thanks for the information everyone!

@BlueHalide: if what you are saying is true, I will certainly go for EYE lighting. 80s quality? I can certainly live with that!   

Personally, I think EYE lamps are among the best if not the best being made today. Not that there is a lot still being made outside of China

I've seen Chinese MV bulbs made for yard blasters that were beyond a joke- something like a 5,000 hour life, greasy arc tube that looked like a 40 watt with a 175 watt label on the envelope. I really like (more like obsessively love) their idea of using a halogen ballast, but honestly I am skeptical of those lamps in many ways. In theory a halogen should last longer, but at most I am seeing 2,500; 5000 and 8000 hours (minus the claims of 24,000 hours lol), while with EYE lamps its coming to 12,000 and 16,000 hours at 10 hours per start.



https://eyelighting.com/wp-content/uploads/HID/Mercury/spec-sheets/160WHSB-E24W.pdf


https://eyelighting.com/wp-content/uploads/HID/Mercury/spec-sheets/750WSB-BT46W.pdf


Granted Medeved mentioned that we don't know the # of starts per hours China is using, but still, if you ask me those EYE lamps might actually be superior even if using older technology. That and other than Ebay I can't find many to order.   

What about these, are these any good?


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QWYMLG/ref=sxbs_sxwds-stppvp_3?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=d45777d6-4c64-4117-8332-1659db52e64f&pd_rd_wg=vRq3g&pf_rd_r=8VFPQJNJ3QXXCK6RJJ8H&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-bottom-slot&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_i=B004QWYMLG&pd_rd_w=mw8MW&pf_rd_i=self+ballasted+mercury+vapor+lamp&pd_rd_r=e245be90-ca42-47c7-b0e2-61f2fb6aaa42&ie=UTF8&qid=1540673074&sr=3

https://www.amazon.com/Mercury-Vapor-ED17-160W-Ballasted/dp/B00914P8YE/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1540673295&sr=1-1&keywords=self+ballasted+mercury+vapor


The price seems to good to be true. 

Keyless, the two lamps on your Amazon links are going to be low quality, the first "Sunlite" 100w isnt self ballasted, but just a standard H38 100w mercury lamp, the 6000h rated life says it all about quality. The second 160w SBMV lamp branded "AH" is most likely a rebadged Plusrite or similar lamp of chinese origin. Again, quality probably not the best

Keyless, the two lamps on your Amazon links are going to be low quality, the first "Sunlite" 100w isnt self ballasted, but just a standard H38 100w mercury lamp, the 6000h rated life says it all about quality. The second 160w SBMV lamp branded "AH" is most likely a rebadged Plusrite or similar lamp of chinese origin. Again, quality probably not the best

Thank you, and yes, I missed that one lol. Guess its Eye then. And maybe on of those AH lamps just for curiosity. 

Question- how is the UV from these lamps? And how dangerous is it? I can't see myself using these in a table lamp, but certainly garage or somewhere indoors as a work light. 

As far as UV, the lamps intended for general lighting should emit no UV, or very little UVA. However since SBMV lamps are so prevalent in the zoology/reptile market, the UVB emitting ones definitely get sold for the general lighting market too. I have an "ADL" branded (chinese) 160w SBMV lamp that clearly emits significant UV, paper and other white objects fluoresce brightly around that lamp, and it was sold for general lighting. So if you go with a cheap chinese SBMV, you may or may not get a UVB emitting lamp.

If you go with an EYE lamp you'll at least know it will emit none, or safe levels of UV, as they are a quality reliable brand that abides by UV safety standards