Any recommendations for an SOX first-timer?

[HIDLad001]

I am thinking about purchasing a rare American Spaulding Palomar 90w SOX streetlight, and I could use some recommendations for maintenance, care, and the hardest thing: obtaining a lamp for it.

For the curious, this is what it looks like.

[AngryHorse]

Lamps are not a problem, but they are in a way!, firstly their still very much available here in the UK, (just expensive), but the problem is getting them to the US!
From what I’ve read on LG, they won’t air freight sodium as it’s a fire risk on plains!, however people indeed do get them in the states so it isn’t impossible?
Maintenance won’t be a problem, the fitting pretty much won’t go wrong until it’s about 40 years old!, just remember to only run a 90 watt horizontal.

[HIDLad001]

As far as brand new lamps go, I know of a company in China (QianShun Lighting) which make brand new SOX lamps. The TRUhalo brand ones are made by them. But the problem is that they only sell wholesale for now, and I don't know of any distributors in the US. I already know that you shouldn't burn an SOX lamp base down, but I didn't think of not being able to run a high-wattage one base up.

[Slyspark]

18, 35 & 55w can be run cap-up, but wattages over this should only be run in a horizontal position. The problem is, the larger the lamp, the more sodium it contains, run cap-up, this sodium over time will tend to pool at the bottom of the arc tube. On the smaller lamps, this isn't a huge problem, but on larger lamps, it can severely restrict the tube diameter.....

[HIDLad001]

I am guessing it will burn red because of that.

[AngryHorse]

Not necessarily, in the UK lighting enthusiasts are quite familiar with the SOX lamp, but for the new comers to SOX, I’ll explain the best I can!
Nearly all of the low pressure sodium lamps you see today are of Philips’s Hamilton construction, where as the dimples along the tube are filled with metallic sodium and as Rich says, running a 90/135 cap up would pool all the sodium to the u-bend.
However, Thorn’s SOX lamp from the Melton Road plant didn’t have these dimples and all of the sodium filling was exactly in this area of the u-bend!

And as far as I can remember growing up with SOX, very few of Thorn’s SOX ‘red burned’, even if you ran a Thorn 135 watt SOX cap up the sodium would be at the u-bend anyway!, it was there from the factory!
Saying this though, Philips lamps have rather higher doses of sodium in so I don’t know how this would affect a Philips lamp?, I have plenty of Philips 90 watts, but have never tried one cap up?

If you wish to try this in the future, I’d try it with an old lamp, (depending on how many you may come across as your collecting), but not with a new one.

[Funkybulb]

Hello HIDlad001

I Live in USA too in Texas, For sox lamps
I find Ebay and different independant lighting
Shop is the best. U can still find stuff as
Old as GEC super sox, and Norelco ( Philips)
Belguim made ones. But sadly Ebay getting
Stupid with prices lately. I also got sox lamps
From restores before too. Advanice made our
LPS ballast since the energy crisis of 1970s that
When sox got introduce into the US. Back in
1980s sox was lot more common around carpark ( Parking lot in US) about until 1990s when HPS became cheap enough
And LPS fell out of use by then. San Antonuo main Post Office Parking lot was lit by sox 180. When searching on US ebay I use Low pressure sodium search and good deals will come up now and then.

I have a few 90 watt sox lamps around but no gear from austin Restore. But It will take me a good whike to locate
Them.

[HIDLad001]

Yes, eBay is getting kind of ridiculous with their prices. $156 for an SOX lamp? Heck no! I was able to find an NOS Philips one on their for $40, and I am thinking about getting that.

Also the ReStore in my area doesn't really have any HID or fluorescent lighting anymore.