Dont try this at home...

I just wondered why all of the industrial HPS fixtures I bought came with MH bulbs in them. I mean, i's not like they put in any old bulb so they could sell them. These were removed an set aside for salvage, which led me to believe that they were burning MH bulbs in an HPS fixture.
SO.....I tried it. It works. Lit up like a super-nova.
Whats the deal? Will it burn the bulb faster? Will it burn up the ballast faster? No body can tell me anything other than it wont work. And I am not the kind of person who just says OK, thats good enough for me. I have an inquiring mind, and inquiring minds want to know.........

Facilities managers are always looking for ways to cut costs, but MH bulbs are no cheaper that HPS, and they surely would not use the wrong bulbs in the wrong fixtures. That would cost them MORE in the long run. Every one of the interior light fixtures in this plant thats being demolished are HPS (states it right on the ballast), yet every one of them came with a MH Bulb. Thats what got me to wondering.

Curious........

They're many HPS fixtures/ballasts set up to handle both mh and hps. I believe their called conversion lights.
Why they'd use the usually more expensive mh's . . . likely has to do with brightness?

MrFishy said:

They're many HPS fixtures/ballasts set up to handle both mh and hps. I believe their called conversion lights.
Why they'd use the usually more expensive mh's . . . likely has to do with brightness?

Click to expand...

Yeah, i've seen the Dual MH/HPS ballasts, these ballasts are stricktly HPS S51 rated. I mean, this isn't REALLY important, but if it works and there are no fire or safety hazards, it could be beneficial for some who need both types of light, but can't really afford 2 separate ballasts. God knows they are high enough for some.