LPS SOX Sodium Lamps

[The Lightning Stalker]

Something to try might be to hack off the old bulb from a CFL and attach a SOX. I have run fluorescent
tubes that way before as long as the wattage and tube length closely matches fairly closely. If my site
ever decides come back up, there are a couple fluoro drivers on there. For experienced personnel only,
though

 

[Sigurthr]

What's the make and model or even better the wiring diagram?

I suspect this is more sigurthr's territory than mine.

/Hat-Tip =)

Just a bit of confusion now. All the fluorescent ballasts I'm looking at have 3 output wires, 2 red and 1 yellow...How would I connect that to a LPS bulb?

The two reds get paralleled together generally. It depends on which workhorse and what wattage of lamp you're planing on running. There is a tool on the fulham site which helps determine the wiring pattern needed for what wattage, but it takes some understanding of fluoro lamp technology to transcribe it to LPS purposes. The easiest are the 55W and lower LPS lamps, but all of them can be done.

Something to try might be to hack off the old bulb from a CFL and attach a SOX. I have run fluorescent
tubes that way before as long as the wattage and tube length closely matches fairly closely. If my site
ever decides come back up, there are a couple fluoro drivers on there. For experienced personnel only,
though

Yup, I was considering doing exactly this if I couldn't find a suitable 18W Fulham ballast. I've done it before for non-LPS lamps though, it works quite well but often you need to supply a mock filament in the form of a power resistor as the CCFL inverters are designed for a two wire per electrode operation and will shut down if they detect that the filament has been severed.

 

[Blarg King]

All well and good then as a 55 Watt was what I was aiming for
So I could just take the two red wires, connect them to the positive terminal, and the yellow on the negative?

Looking to use a Fullham Workhorse 3 rated for 64 Watts to run a 55 Watt LPS (Can't find any ballasts that are specifically 55 Watts)


(I assume LPS aren't polarized?)

 

[Sigurthr]

For a 55W you use a Workhorse 5 and use a single Red lead and yellow lead. A workhorse 3 or 4 will overdrive or underdrive the tube depending on configuration. Edit: no, they're AC tubes, nonpolar.

 

[The Lightning Stalker]

Yes, these are AC, so there is no positive or negative. If it's the one I'm looking at, you can't connect the
two reds together. You're supposed to do one red on one terminal and both yellows on the other.

I think sig is right, that ballast won't work.

 

[Blarg King]

Workhorse 5 says 128 Watts... How is that better? Wouldn't it be best to get as close to the wattage of the LPS as possible?

 

[Sigurthr]

The ballast current is evenly distributed between the red wires. With a WH3/4 you wind up with wire combinations that result in too little or too much current. For example: on a WH2 one red is 165mA, both reds make 330mA.

I have a 55W LPS SOX running right now (and has been for well over a year on nightly cycles) on a Workhorse 5, using a single red line.

I can't remember if it is one or both yellows, yellow are the return wires, and could very well be common junction. I can probably search (or walk out to the garage) and look if needed.

 

[Blarg King]

Ahhh I see. Any Workhorse ballasts with a single output? If not I suppose I can just put insulate on of the red wires and tuck it away somewhere.

 

[trencheel303]

So I fabricated this tonight. Needed a plank of wood to mount the stuff on and had an old cheeseboard lying around that I never use. Didn't turn out too badly...

SON-E internal ignitor and Philips BSN 70 Ballast, seconds after switch on

schematic

personal sun

I quite like SON-E actually. It's a surprisingly soft light as the bulb is frosted and the colour rendering is a lot better than I expected. Bit weak in some of the blues and greens but otherwise quite user friendly. It also harks back to the older days of SON when it was essentially a "yellow version of mercury" especially as it needs no external ignitor. The SON-E bulbs being elliptical of course can even share the same lantern as a merc and will produce roughly the same beam pattern.

 

[Things]

I've been running my LPS off a workhorse 5 too and it's been fine so far. Looks like I used a yellow and blue wire, but best to doublecheck.

The brand of ballast doesn't matter, as long as it's an instant start electronic type.

 

[Sigurthr]

Yup, I'm fairly certain that with the WH5, as long as it is running on a single circuit, it doesn't matter which circuit.

 

[trencheel303]

So I always enjoy having new things to play with when the weekend comes round, and today was no exception. I took delivery from a fellow enthusiast two new lanterns!

please welcome the Philips MA50 and the Industria/WRTL Arc ladies and gents...

The MA50 might be a newer SRS 201 type as it doesn't look very old and either hasn't seen very much use or has been in a large warehouse perhaps. The gear tray and interior is in mint condition.

With a bit of cleaning the canopy came up a treat

It even has a working Royce Thomson NEMA photocell, which I covered with a sock to get it going in this photo, as it kept shutting off and it took me a minute to suss

The Arc, for all its sins as a modern SON lantern, is actually rather cleverly designed. This, along with looking rather nice (and reminiscent of some American cobrahead design) was the reason I wanted one.

The canopy is released by one (rather tight) clip and locks into place once hinged upwards. The gear tray has many slots for various sizes of ballast and the lamp holder screws out, meaning a lamp change requires no unscrewing screws and can be done quickly and efficiently.

The SON lamp is new, so it barfs out a lovely golden light instead of sickly pink.

 

[Sigurthr]

Very nice! I should really look into grabbing a SON unit.

 

[trencheel303]

I was going to convert this Arc to mercury but I don't think I'll bother - it's almost fresh out of the box so it'd be a shame to spoil it. Plus, SON is actually starting to grow on me. The warmth and colour temperature is just right but colour rendering (surprisingly) remains very good. I may have been a little hasty in the past with regards to my views on SON, although I won't deny SOX's advantages...

 

[Blarg King]

Okay the workhorse 5 ballast has 4 output lines. What the heck.

 

[Sigurthr]

Yep, you don't use all of them. I'll see if I can find which two you need when I'm on my pc, or I can go out and look at my installation tomorrow.