R. Nelson or others electricians, please look at this.

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acroholic

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I stumbled across these dimmable Sylvania metal halide ballasts, but don't know enough to interpret all the information. My question is can these be dimmed via a programmable sequence like you can do with a Radion LED? The 400 watt ballasts are about $182 each, but they are M135, perfect for a Radium bulb.

They look to be 220 input voltage. Just not sure what "bi-level dimming" or 0-10v continuous dimming is exactly. Man, would I love to be able to program a sunrise, sunset effect using my Radiums.

Here is the info.

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When I looked at them before Dave you could dim down to 50% with one mode and the 0-10vdc CONTROL allowed continouse dimming down to 50%. I am pretty sure they have to fire and warm up at 100% for a few minutes before dimming occurs.
 
Dave,

I work VERY closely with a SLYVANIA rep for my lighting need on my commercial properties. Monday, I will reach out and get all the particulates for you. Also, I can purchase them at a much cheaper cost...
 
Looks like they are similar to the metrolight made for ice cap ballast I use to have. Once bulb was fully warmed up it would then dim down to whatever you had the 0-10 volt rheostat set to, but there was a max total dimming that you could do and it is not coming to mind at the moment.
 
Is there any way to automatically control these ballasts in a programmed type thing, like they fire up at 100% to warm up for the needed time, then dim to 50% for an hour, then 30% for an hour, 20% for an hour, 10% for an hour, peaking at 100%, then dimming again 10%, 20%, 30%, then 50%. Kind of mimicking morning to high noon intensity and back again towards dusk?

Just not my area of expertise!!!:yes:

Edit:
Sn4k33y3z;897640 wrote: Dave,

I work VERY closely with a SLYVANIA rep for my lighting need on my commercial properties. Monday, I will reach out and get all the particulates for you. Also, I can purchase them at a much cheaper cost...
Click to expand...

That would be great....thank you. I would be interested in these if the dimming could be automated.

Edit:
grouper therapy;897635 wrote: When I looked at them before Dave you could dim down to 50% with one mode and the 0-10vdc CONTROL allowed continouse dimming down to 50%. I am pretty sure they have to fire and warm up at 100% for a few minutes before dimming occurs.
Click to expand...

Yup, they have to warm up at 100% for a short period. Could the 0-10vdc dimming be automated is what I am looking for. Not useful to me if it can't be automated, and if it can, can it be done at a reasonable cost?
 
Acroholic;897689 wrote: Is there any way to automatically control these ballasts in a programmed type thing, like they fire up at 100% to warm up for the needed time, then dim to 50% for an hour, then 30% for an hour, 20% for an hour, 10% for an hour, peaking at 100%, then dimming again 10%, 20%, 30%, then 50%. Kind of mimicking morning to high noon intensity and back again towards dusk?

Just not my area of expertise!!!:yes:

Edit:

That would be great....thank you. I would be interested in these if the dimming could be automated.

Edit:

Yup, they have to warm up at 100% for a short period. Could the 0-10vdc dimming be automated is what I am looking for. Not useful to me if it can't be automated, and if it can, can it be done at a reasonable cost?
Click to expand...

I am on my phone and didn't look at the link. In addition, this is the weak side of my knowledge. But.... I think Grouper nails it. 100% until warmed up and then dimmable down to 50%. Anything less and it will lose the arc. As for how to control, I would assume any 0-10v DC source such as your RKE would suffice.


I am going on a cruise.....on my lawnmower around my yard.
 
Hey Dave I will split the cost of one if you want to and we will try it, if you do not get a definitive answer
 
grouper therapy;897728 wrote: Hey Dave I will split the cost of one if you want to and we will try it, if you do not get a definitive answer
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Dave,
Here is one of the 0-10vdc dimmer units described. It is a stand alone dimmer with 5 levels and 5 time periods.

http://www.futureelectronics.com/en/technologies/semiconductors/lighting-solutions/lighting-controls/Pages/3005037-LLC7230.aspx?IM=0">http://www.futureelectronics.com/en/technologies/semiconductors/lighting-solutions/lighting-controls/Pages/3005037-LLC7230.aspx?IM=0</a>

But it is not as simple as that. You have to buy a programmer and a cable, and the cable costs more than the dimmer at about $80. I could not find the programmer cost. Geez, the total adds up. This is too expensive for an experiment!
 
If you get the ballast and it is try rly 0-10v DC all you need is one of these. Rapid LED for under $30 if I remember correctly. If you want, bring the ballast and lamp over and I will pull this off my LEDs and we will give it a try.


I am going on a cruise.....on my lawnmower around my yard.
 
I run my 400 Radium at 250 and can bairly tell any difference.....
 
Forgot to add the pic in my last post.
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I am going on a cruise.....on my lawnmower around my yard.
 
rdnelson99;897714 wrote: I am on my phone and didn't look at the link. In addition, this is the weak side of my knowledge. But.... I think Grouper nails it. 100% until warmed up and then dimmable down to 50%. Anything less and it will lose the arc. As for how to control, I would assume any 0-10v DC source such as your RKE would suffice
Click to expand...

+1 to this
 
Edit:
nickg;897741 wrote: I run my 400 Radium at 250 and can bairly tell any difference.....
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I ran some at 250 and could tell a big difference( from 20k to 15k) but it is probably dependent upon the ballast type. On the flip side of that I could tell about the same when overdriving them as well. Maybe not on these ballast?
 
On a Lumatek eballast, a Radium 400 watt mogul run at the 250 watt or 250 watt superlumens setting (275 watts) was a lot more blue than running it at 400 watts. Generally, IME, Radiums blue out when you underdrive them, and white out when you overdrive them. That may be typical for most halide bulbs, but not sure about that.

My current Hamilton M135 magnetic ballasts drive the bulbs as specified by Radium, and it is just a bit less bright than when I ran them on Lumateks.
 
nickg;897741 wrote: I run my 400 Radium at 250 and can bairly tell any difference.....
Click to expand...

Acroholic;897795 wrote: On a Lumatek eballast, a Radium 400 watt mogul run at the 250 watt or 250 watt superlumens setting (275 watts) was a lot more blue than running it at 400 watts. Generally, IME, Radiums blue out when you underdrive them, and white out when you overdrive them. That may be typical for most halide bulbs, but not sure about that.

My current Hamilton M135 magnetic ballasts drive the bulbs as specified by Radium, and it is just a bit less bright than when I ran them on Lumateks.
Click to expand...
My apology to Nickg, I did not read your post accurately. When I ran Radiums on my friends ballast at 250 I had the same results as Acroholic. The Helios is what I had the other results from.
 
Acroholic;897795 wrote: On a Lumatek eballast, a Radium 400 watt mogul run at the 250 watt or 250 watt superlumens setting (275 watts) was a lot more blue than running it at 400 watts. Generally, IME, Radiums blue out when you underdrive them, and white out when you overdrive them. That may be typical for most halide bulbs, but not sure about that.

My current Hamilton M135 magnetic ballasts drive the bulbs as specified by Radium, and it is just a bit less bright than when I ran them on Lumateks.
Click to expand...


YES! ALL halide bulbs loose their color rendering and intensity more so then any other bulb type on the market.
 
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