GMercury1985 MV lamp glows like incandescent

This is nothing interesting to most people, this mercury vapor lamp acted weird in the end and we aren't too sure why.

But in our (me and my friend) observation, we notice we would fire up the lamp and it would make a normal arc MV color but dim...After warming up some more, suddenly the arc would not arc on both sides but halfway and one of the electrodes would start glowing and as it warms up more the arc starts to slowly disappear into nothing but two glowing electrodes. Turning off then if you try to turn it back on like in 5 seconds it instantly goes back on only with electrodes glowing without any arc. But if you let it cool off, it will turn on normally again but do the all above over again.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• half
• glow
• arc
• tube
• mercury
• HID
• lamp
• ballast
• light
• weird
• strange
• why
• how
• Westinghouse
• 100
• watt
• BT
• 25
• mogul
• old

[TheGeek1028]

What is the wattage on this lamp? I know that MV lamps below 150 W usually act different than any above that.

[jecwhiz]

thiis is 100 watt, there's no such a MV that is 150 watt....the next wattage to 100 for USA is 175 watt, then theres 250, and 400 and 1000.....the 700 watt was discontinued....but Iwasaki still makes them, they make one of the best lamps!

150 watt would be HPS...

[andy136043]

boy at the last half was it making noises...

[TheGeek1028]

Sorry, I meant 175, but that fact is present in HPS and MH as well.

[form109]

Thank You.:-)

[turgi65]

Metal halide lamp gas fill is xenon gas and a mercury gas fill is argon so the break down voltage of a metal halide lamp is much higher than mercury and emmisive material cannot aid in starting.

[form109]

why dont Metal Halide Lamps have Emitter on the Electrodes?

[turgi65]

The electrodes have lost the electron emitter coating and is conducting solely by itself so it glows hot like an incandescent lamp. The early starting phase of MH lamps is also like this because their electrodes do not have the emitter coating which gives it an incandescent colour at first.

[jonathanmlang]

mine does that for a few seconds just after starting, then the electrodes go yellow/white and then stop glowing, then acts normally and warms up to full brightness. but really strange!

[form109]

weird.