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PostPosted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 6:23 pm 
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I have aquired a 35W SON-E lamp dating from June 1993.

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I have yet to get suitable control gear to opearte it. It will be interesting to see how effective the lamp will be in an actual streetlight.

35W SON has never really caught on, partly I suspect as it is not as efficient as larger SON lamps since the thermal loss is a greater proportion of total power consumed than for the larger lamps.

It would be a more appropriate rating I suspect (than 70w or greater) for my personal pet hate of badly installed SON floodlights.


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 Post subject: Re: 35W SON lamp
PostPosted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 11:56 pm 
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I currently have a bid in for one of those too - not seen 35W SON offered for sale before.

Wonder if they are compatible with metal halide gear in the same way the larger SON and halide lamps are generally interchangeable on the same gear? I havn`t been able to find any data on their voltage/current characteristics yet so am not entirely sure.

Alternatively, could it be a similar scenario to mercury and fluorescent lighting - as with the old 80 & 125W fluorescent tubes that were designed to run using mercury gear, could these 35 watt SON lamps run suitably using 35W SOX ballasts? Would probably need a different ignitor though.

Might be worth a try, if I`m successful buying the one on Ebay tomorrow.

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 Post subject: Re: 35W SON lamp
PostPosted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 7:51 am 
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Ah, hadn't thought of 35W MH gear, that may be one solution. The seller does list suitable gear but I expect it won't be cheap. I had thought of 35W SOX gear as well.

Lamptech quotes 95v at 0.41a for a Thorn experimental 40W SON, so those are the sort of figures the lamp will need. 35W SOX is 70v/0.6A both current and voltage are a bit high, 36W fluorescent is 85v/0.42A so that may actually be near enough. I don't have figures for 35W MH gear.


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 Post subject: Re: 35W SON lamp
PostPosted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 11:24 am 
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The only metal-halide data I can find for lamps that small just now is from the Iwasaki 2008 catalogue. Unless it`s a mistake, their smallest lamps are actually listed as 39 watts, not 35, but getting close. Voltage and current ratings vary a little bit between ranges, but are around 85v 0.46A (which does work out as 39.1W so that wattage must be right). Not far off from the 36W fluorescent lamp rating.

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Just had a quick look for the recommended ballasts, and found this one at Trilight for just over £19 plus £6 postage. Not sure, but you might have to buy them in pack quantities of 10 as well, so you`re right, certainly not cheap. I havn`t found the ignitors yet but suspect a similar cost for those.

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 Post subject: Re: 35W SON lamp
PostPosted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 3:30 pm 
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Hmm, £25 for an "experiment" is not cheap! I'm going to try with a 4ft/36W fluorescent ballast sometime. Most universal SON ignitors seem to go down to 35W. I am also going to try a fluorescent glow starter and the electronic version. 70W SON-E has in effect a glow starter inside so it should work. A lot less expensive than a "proper" SON ignitor as well. Just need to find a 4ft switch start fitting to cannibalise, all my 4ft ones are vintage rapid start ones, unless I have a go at the one in the kitchen! :lol:


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 Post subject: Re: 35W SON lamp
PostPosted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 4:13 pm 
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I'm pretty sure that when I had a 35w CDM-T lantern that the gear was for both high pressure sodium and metal halide. The ignitor did a whole range of wattages.


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 Post subject: Re: 35W SON lamp
PostPosted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 7:39 pm 
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Lamptech quote 88v at 0.53a for Philips CDM-T 35w metal halide which is very close to what I quoted for 36W fluorescent. A 5kv start voltage is also mentioned, SON requires a lower starting voltage than MH, so a 36W fluorescent ballast may be suitable if it can provide a high enough starting voltage.


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 Post subject: Re: 35W SON lamp
PostPosted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 8:11 pm 
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BLTDirect, Philips 35w metal halide ballast

BLTDirect, Venture 35w metal halide/SON ballast

So Venture do a 35w ballast for SON and metal halide. The Philips one is for metal halide, but I expect it would be SON compatible too, and it's just that it's not listed as SON compatible due to the rarity of 35w SON over here rather than being incompatible. Possibly worth checking though. Certainly, the Philips ballast is a lot cheaper on BLT Direct.


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 Post subject: Re: 35W SON lamp
PostPosted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 8:21 pm 
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I was aware that the "proper" ballast is available but would rather not spend £20-25 (or even over £50) on one for a lamp that won't be running in a fitting and is only for "experimental" use. Part of the fun of this hobby is finding out information about lighting whether that be old photographs or lantern history. Likewise lantern restoration where half the challenge is how to repair broken or unobtainable parts. Improvisation of suitable control gear and experimenting with lamps is just another part of that. I take it you still remember my "instant warm" up 90w SOX!  :?  :lol:


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 Post subject: Re: 35W SON lamp
PostPosted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 8:48 pm 
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Remind me how you did the instant warm up again  :lol:

Anyhow, i'd be keen to see this 35w lamp compared to a 50w and 70w SON-E lamp at full power.


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