150w Philips Ceramalux C150 S55: Full Powe

1 x 150w Philips Ceramalux high pressure sodium lamp at full power.
Quite bright and a lovely golden yellow colour.
I cleaned that outer envelope with IPA and it looks absolutely spotless when unlit!
A 400w MBF ballast and a variac runs this nicely :)

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Album name:	FrontSideBus / HID: High-Pressure Sodium
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Date added:	08 May, 2026
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Comment 1 to 5 of 5

Page: 1

Andy

[08 May, 2026 at 08:38 PM]

Nice lamp! The variac is very useful for lighting such lamps here on higher power ballasts to achieve correct current. It always amazes me how grubby the lamps look when lit on photos even when you have cleaned them perfectly and they look pristine when unlit. It bugs my OCD something rotten.

AngryHorse

[08 May, 2026 at 09:16 PM]

Very odd gear set up, but I don’t know much about these US lamps Smile

FrontSideBus

[09 May, 2026 at 11:34 AM]

These have low voltage 55v arc tubes which need quite a bit of current. A 400w MBF choke with the input voltage reduced seems to run this quite happily! I measured 3.2a at 56v which is bang on spec!

Danny

[09 May, 2026 at 03:02 PM]

Really nice lamp!

me400r3

[10 May, 2026 at 05:59 PM]

Such a long arc tube for a small envelope!

Comment 1 to 5 of 5

Page: 1

150w Philips Ceramalux C150 S55: Full Powe

1 x 150w Philips Ceramalux high pressure sodium lamp at full power. Quite bright and a lovely golden yellow colour. I cleaned that outer envelope with IPA and it looks absolutely spotless when unlit! A 400w MBF ballast and a variac runs this nicely :)

1 x 150w Philips Ceramalux high pressure sodium lamp at full power.
Quite bright and a lovely golden yellow colour.
I cleaned that outer envelope with IPA and it looks absolutely spotless when unlit!
A 400w MBF ballast and a variac runs this nicely :)