HID Bulbs

[firelient]

Got a kinda dumb question here. The plant where I work Has both 480volt and 277V 400w hid mh lights they bought some off brand that has 120v wroth in the sleve they came in. I never really thought about it but can they be used in the lights we have if not why Thanks

 

[HotConductor]

The lamps operate through a ballast, therefore line voltage doesn't come into play with the lamp. Just don't mix probe start mh lamps(400w) & pulse start mh lamps(400w).

 

[firelient]

THANKS I was 95% sure it didn't matter But my boss almost had me believing I was wrong

 

[Electric-Light]

No issue, but I would question the quality of lamps from a manufacturer that puts 120v on the packaging.

 

[AdrianWint]

It may not be so dumb......

Here in the UK we have two kinds of high power (2kW) Metal Halide HID lamps, those designed to run from a 415V supply & those from a 240V supply. This is clearly stamped on the glass.

They both use different ballasts (obviously) and are not interchangeable. I guess that the manufacturer (Philips) has decided to use the higher voltage to lower the lamp current for the same power.

Confused the hell out me until I found the datasheet!

Adrian