Halogen ballasted mercury lsmp
Here is a lamp claiming to be a self ballasted metal halide lamp. However, seemingly no halide salts are in the arc tube, making it a pure mercury discharge. What's also unusual is that the lamp uses a halogen capsule to ballast the arc tube instead of a standard open filament. These are the lamp sleeves, where you can see it is a self ballast meta halide lamp at 250W (not a typo on my end!) It's typical Chinese quality, but quirky enough for me to want to give them a go.

Halogen ballasted mercury lsmp

Here is a lamp claiming to be a self ballasted metal halide lamp. However, seemingly no halide salts are in the arc tube, making it a pure mercury discharge. What's also unusual is that the lamp uses a halogen capsule to ballast the arc tube instead of a standard open filament. These are the lamp sleeves, where you can see it is a self ballast meta halide lamp at 250W (not a typo on my end!) It's typical Chinese quality, but quirky enough for me to want to give them a go.

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Filename:1000044792.jpg
Album name:AgentHalogen_87 / Industrial lighting
Wattage:MBH/U? 250
Filesize:6456 KiB
Date added:02 Nov, 2026
Dimensions:4000 x 1800 pixels
Displayed:23 times
URL:http://80.229.24.59:9232/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=25846
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Beta 5   [02 Nov, 2026 at 11:42 PM]
I didn't realise these were still about, will have to pick one up soon! I guess technically these would be an MBT/U lamp if they are universal burn position?
AgentHalogen_87   [03 Nov, 2026 at 05:07 PM]
I did type A instead of B on this one, but with it being halogen, I though MBH rather than MBT with standard tungsten. There's nothing to indicate a specific burning position, so I'm assuming it's a universal burn. You should pick one or two up while stocks last.
Beta 5   [04 Nov, 2026 at 10:13 AM]
Yeah I am not sure if there was ever any distinction between the ballast being a normal filament or a halogen or if they all came under the tungsten label, I would guess it is universal burn, although I have a feeling some linear halogens don't like non-horizontal burning, so if that is the case then these may be restricted to horizontal burn only?
Andy   [04 Nov, 2026 at 07:46 PM]
The quality of these is questionable but they are nonetheless an interesting lamp for an enthusiast. It would be interesting to know how long these would last for but with the extortionate cost of electricity it would be an expensive test. Idealy these are to be burned horizontally but short vertical use shouldn't do any harm.
Flurofan96   [05 Nov, 2026 at 12:35 AM]
That pretend/made up brand SW Clarke - got a SBMV 160W coated MV lamp of that back in 2018
AgentHalogen_87   [06 Nov, 2026 at 08:21 PM]
Seems alright if you just want a light bulb to run once in a while rather than anything high quality that'll last ages

Comment 1 to 6 of 6
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