I finally got my first LPS (Low Pressure Sodium) 35 SOX lamp. The start up colours are simply amazing. The lamps produces 589 nm monochromatic light when warmed up.
As a child i would watch these lamps come on nearly every night and loved the coral pink glow turning into an apricot orange colour and there are so magical and it was criminal to take them all down. The Mercury Vapour lamps are also great to watch as they warm up as well.
Same thing with hps. In my childhood my city had wonderful streetlight with handsome shapes and all of them were hps. Almost every street had different streetlight shape. Now they are all replaced with only 3 types of shitty LED. They suck at illuminating and make your eyes burn.
Mmmmm........Look at it Glowiiiiiiiiiin' :D For quite a few years now, I have had a SOX upstairs in the cupboard. One day, I will...... .....plan to dig it out and power it up. Just like yours, it is a Philips 35w lamp. I also have a Philips ballast to go with it, but the ballast is a phenomenal hefty lump!! It can run a 35w lamp and a 55w lamp. I have before now, run a 90w lamp on it OK, but the 90w lamp failed. Both of my lamps were given to me by kind street lighting engineers when I was young. I got my first SOX back in '89, but it was a failed one. A few years later, and I managed to get another one, but functional, then found a grounded street light and gutted the electrical works out of it. :D It had been walloped by a car, a replacement post was in place without a lamp on top of it, so I just stripped out the old one. :D About early 1990s, I saw a lighting engineer at the end of my road and asked him if he had any large SOX lamps in the back of his van I could have. Noticing one which was quite a bit larger than my 35w one, I asked him if he could have it, so he dug it out and gave it to me. It was the 90w one which would fail a few years later. I no longer have it. I still do have my 35w SOX though and it has been MANY years since I glowed it up! In reference to hot re-strikes, it should restart instantly. If your unit doesn't, then it might be something to do with the control gear. I have never had any issue re-striking a hot SOX. I think.... the ones which cannot re-strike when hot are the MBF-U types. Mr. Photon gave me one of those. :D Of course, as a subscriber to *_Wayne's Electrical,_* you know that. :D Watching a SOX glow-up is quite Sssatisfying! I do like that pink glow on a cold startup, and sometimes wish it would stay that colour. Interesting fact: When I lived around my other house in the 90s, we had SOX lighting everywhere. I took my SOX lamp one evening and glowed it up in my bedroom. Staying with it for the whole of the warm-up right through to full brightness, I then stayed in the room with it for a little bit, while thumping some music on my little 3D30 boombox, then I turned off the lamp, went over to the window, pulled back the curtains and looked outside. What I saw, surprised me. .......THE WHOLE STREET WAS A REALLY BRIGHT INTENSE FLUORESCENT YELLOW!!!!! Somehow, being in the room with a SOX at full brightness had done something to my eyes. :D My eyes did recover though and later on into the night, the street was the same usual SOX colour. :D I have spoken to Mr. Photon about SOX lamps. I think the smallest made, was a 10w. It's a proper-cute little thing as well, and they are very rare! Obviously speaking, appropriately-rated control gear is needed, and obtaining 10w SOX control gear is more difficult than the lamps! So yes, one day, I will dig out that SOX and glow it up. Having never glowed it up before on video, it will be a *_VIDEO EXCLUSIVE_* to Wayne's Electrical too! How tasty will that be?! For those reading this who are not yet subscribed.... I would recommend RIGHT NOW that you click my avatar, head-on over to *_Wayne's Electrical_* and then *BAAAAAANG* that subscribe button! Thanxx for showing this lamp and its fitting. If you can, do look into getting more lamps and fittings *AND MAKE SURE* that you get the related control gear too! Thanxx for showing, -Wayne's Electrical. _30th August 2020, 17.55_
These should instantly start when hot Im glad you have got one now The bigger 90w and 135w lamps are neat as they are noisy when warming up ping ping ping with the parts inside moving as they warm up
@@TheChipmunk2008 Not too strange.... Our favorite IOM CZcamsr passes through here as well. ;) Any time I see one, these lamps remind me of the old lighting on the Golden Gate Bridge which was SOX from when it opened until not all that long ago. It's just unique and I love it. See you next Saturday! Cheers from smokey Boulder, Colorado (lots forest fires at the moment)
@@Peter_S_ So i hear, re forest fires. Scary. I took a few pics back when the council (city in US speak) announced the "upgrade" from 'whatever was there' to whatever the fluorescent/led hybrid monstrosity we have now is. (it seems to depend on neighbourhood!). SOX was so gentle compared to the stark white glare :( (also MBFU, mercury vapour, typically 70w, for higher class areas!)
@@TheChipmunk2008 Still had a new 90W MV installed last year in a back alley by me, replacing a failed ballast, but they are going all out to replace HPS and MV with LED when the fixture fails in most cases, though there is still a big stock of lamps for them, along with the 90W fixtures, which they are using up slowly.
@@SeanBZA Mercury vapor and LPS is dead in the UK now :(... HPS is still existent on major routes (probably due to stock as you say). I think it's sad... for both emotional reasons AND practical. SOX is damned efficient, and can be filtered easily by astronomers. MV that is pure nostalgia but.... it seems more peaceful than the stark white of LED or Fluoros
I remember that sodium lamps were used at intersections, where the lamps away from intersections were standard cool white fluorescent lamps. I used to like the yellow colour.
You got one of those too! I scored one a while back and I love the runup with the changing colours. The original tube is old and is nearly worn out, takes ages to run up to normal brightness. Great video Ray!
Great clip, low pressure sodium lamps of that design are the higher end and far more expensive over the typical road lamps that are commonly found. Great find!
It's a little strange to like a video watching a light warm up, but I was really saddened when I learned that they stopped manufacturing LPS a few years ago. This was the best lighting for general outdoor use because it emitted very little light pollution, was not disruptive to insects and wildlife, contributed next to no skyglow, and exhibited no glare even when you stared directly at it. I always liked the warm glow of LPS, a stark contrast to the cold, unwelcoming, and environmentally damaging glare of current solid state lighting. I had also forgotten about the array of colors they went through during their long, slow warmup, which the camera doesn't really pick up as well as seeing it in person.
I remember seeing in my physics class at school my teacher showed LPS lamp to us as part of excitation i think it was, I was so fascinated by it. Had a soft spot for these HID lamps since. 20 and an electrical apprentice and have a hard time throwing out good MH and HPS lamps haha, would love to get hold of a LPS lamp to play with.
I've collected a lot of SOX lamps over the years and I even have some of the really big lamps like: E90, E131 & 180w. Most people don't realize how bright they are when they are at your own height. I have a dead E-131 which is a metre long, working on the ignitor only and still gives off that lovely pink starting glow continuously. I'm actually surprised Ray, I thought you would have loads of these luminaries.
No, I did not have a LPS SOX lamp. I have lots of HPS luminaires, but no LPS. In Auckland most of these were replaced in the early 90's in favor of HPS. My interest got reignited while over in The Netherlands last year and I saw the ignition sequence of these awesome lamps. I got this lamp through one of my Australian friends from facebook on the Australian Streetlights group. This is nr 1 and I am looking for more of these awesome luminaires.
@@RODALCO2007 - I have several E-66w units with electronic ballasts, but without a bulkhead. If you are interested I could send you one and then tell me where best to post it, without splashing your address all over YT?
remember that sodium lamps were used at intersections, where the lamps away from intersections were standard cool white fluorescent lamps. I used to like the yellow colour.
Hi Tim, yes, that was also done in The Netherlands in the Northern part where I lived. Very clever idea, in case the streetsign was obscured. From the distance you knew exactly where the actual side street was located.
@@RODALCO2007 Might be worth checking in www.lighting-gallery.net Think there were some early types but not SOX. China might be making some to fill the market void.
Still plenty of them in service in the UK... got a 70w one opposite the front window & a 55w along the street a bit, mixed among HPS 70w lamps and a few LED's (not sure how many watts they are but it's in the 20's somewhere)
They were an interesting light source.. Used to have an 18W Philips " Goldeye" fixture at the back of the house on a photo switch back in the 80's up till the mid 90s.
That's the only lamp I haven't got, complete with a bulkhead. It still amazes me that little 18w lamp produces about 200 lumen metres per watt, which is still more efficient than an amber LED.
Found in every classroom of schools built in NSW in the mid 1980s. They'd have one in the middle, intended to add a glow to each room at night as a low power consumption security light. Rarely maintained such that they were all but useless within 10 years. Lamps too hard to get and too expensive compared to standard flouros.
30 years ago when I was a teen I found a huge light like this alongside the river bed. I broke it on a steel cable, and all of a sudden the water started to fizzle and I saw litle pellets of some sort burning in the water. I could't believe it. I told other people and nobody knew what it was or thought I was telling a bull shit story. For years I didn't have a clue what happened that day. And today I think I have found the answer. It was sodium metal from light bulbs like these (?) 😊
Sodium reacts with water. There is a special process disposing of old expired sodium bulbs in a special container with water, to get the sodium reaction exhausted in the container instead of in the rubbish truck which may catch on fire.
I don't know if they're low or high pressure, but my part of town still uses sodium street lights. I gained a couple MH 400ws when work went to HO flouro. The extension of the highway they're working on has that distinctive bright-white of LED.
Nioce! I have yet to get my paws on one... Most likely if I do, it will be a unit from the UK, as they seem to be the most readily avail and not to stupid costly. There is just something majestic about LPS... Though I really do love mercury vapour and HPS too. I hate the metal halide (been there with EOL 'asplosions, not cool), and do not like LED. LED is efficient yes, but nothing nostalgic for me about it.
Most of the UK was lit by them for decades, but no lnoger made for around 30 years sadly, so all that is left is NOS and ones removed from service. There are some SLI that are abandoned near me, but getting them would be hard, as they are high up a tunnel wall, and are well out of reach.
my entire city used these for outdoor lighting because of a nearby observatory and it was very distinct but in a good way. now they are all slowly disappearing in favor of leds and it's not the same. less character. too cold and soulless. i wish they had at least picked leds with the same spectrum.
Was that Tucson? I know they had done a full implementation of LPS because of Kitt Peak and it was still mostly (but not all) LPS when I was there in 2007. I would be surprised if they were still there today.
I got 1 LPS 35 Watt SOX in the driveway, and two HPS 50Watt on our deck. In the process adding a retrofitted HPS lamp, now LPS SOX also on our driveway.
Actually it has a CRI of 2... and that's depending on what scale you use. A different scale is literally negative. Its light is very distinct and memorable... hence their popularity with nostalgia hunters and discharge lamp enthusiasts.
I love SOX lamps... So evocative of my childhood
That pink orange glow! 🔥 🔥 🔥
That pink orange glow! 🔥 🔥 🔥
As a child i would watch these lamps come on nearly every night and loved the coral pink glow turning into an apricot orange colour and
there are so magical and it was criminal to take them all down. The Mercury Vapour lamps are also great to watch as they warm up as well.
Same thing with hps. In my childhood my city had wonderful streetlight with handsome shapes and all of them were hps. Almost every street had different streetlight shape.
Now they are all replaced with only 3 types of shitty LED. They suck at illuminating and make your eyes burn.
Astronomers were really happy with these - just needed a monochromatic filter to remove any light pollution from their images.
and they didn't ruin your night vision for as long
They're all over the big island of Hawaii for exactly that reason
Mmmmm........Look at it Glowiiiiiiiiiin' :D
For quite a few
years now, I have
had a SOX upstairs
in the cupboard. One day, I will......
.....plan to dig it out and power it up.
Just like yours, it is a Philips 35w lamp. I also have a Philips ballast to
go with it, but the ballast is a phenomenal hefty lump!! It can run a 35w lamp and a 55w lamp.
I have before now, run a 90w lamp on it OK, but the 90w lamp failed.
Both of my lamps were given to me by kind street lighting engineers when I was
young. I got my first SOX back in '89, but it was a failed one.
A few years later, and I managed to get another one, but functional, then found a
grounded street light and gutted the electrical works out of it. :D It had been walloped by a
car, a replacement post was in place without a lamp on top of it, so I just stripped out the old one. :D
About early 1990s, I saw a lighting engineer at the end of my road and asked him if he had any
large SOX lamps in the back of his van I could have. Noticing one which was quite a bit larger
than my 35w one, I asked him if he could have it, so he dug it out and gave it to me. It was the
90w one which would fail a few years later. I no longer have it.
I still do have my 35w SOX though and it has been MANY years since I glowed it up!
In reference to hot re-strikes, it should restart instantly. If your unit doesn't, then it might be something
to do with the control gear. I have never had any issue re-striking a hot SOX.
I think.... the ones which cannot re-strike when hot are the MBF-U types.
Mr. Photon gave me one of those. :D
Of course, as a subscriber to *_Wayne's Electrical,_* you know that. :D
Watching a SOX glow-up is quite Sssatisfying!
I do like that pink glow on a cold startup, and sometimes wish it would stay that colour.
Interesting fact: When I lived around my other house in the 90s, we had SOX lighting everywhere.
I took my SOX lamp one evening and glowed it up in my bedroom. Staying with it for the whole of
the warm-up right through to full brightness, I then stayed in the room with it for a little bit, while
thumping some music on my little 3D30 boombox, then I turned off the lamp, went over to the
window, pulled back the curtains and looked outside. What I saw, surprised me.
.......THE WHOLE STREET WAS A REALLY BRIGHT INTENSE FLUORESCENT YELLOW!!!!!
Somehow, being in the room with a SOX at full brightness had done something to my eyes. :D
My eyes did recover though and later on into the night, the street was the same usual SOX colour. :D
I have spoken to Mr. Photon about SOX lamps. I think the smallest made, was a 10w. It's a proper-cute
little thing as well, and they are very rare! Obviously speaking, appropriately-rated control gear is needed,
and obtaining 10w SOX control gear is more difficult than the lamps!
So yes, one day, I will dig out that SOX and glow it up. Having never glowed it up before on video,
it will be a *_VIDEO EXCLUSIVE_* to Wayne's Electrical too! How tasty will that be?!
For those reading this who are not yet subscribed.... I would recommend RIGHT NOW that you
click my avatar, head-on over to *_Wayne's Electrical_* and then *BAAAAAANG* that subscribe button!
Thanxx for showing this lamp and its fitting. If you can, do look into getting more lamps and fittings
*AND MAKE SURE* that you get the related control gear too!
Thanxx for showing,
-Wayne's Electrical.
_30th August 2020, 17.55_
My favourite type of lamp, I own several sox lamps and two fixtures for them. Glad you finally got one!!
These should instantly start when hot
Im glad you have got one now
The bigger 90w and 135w lamps are neat as they are noisy when warming up ping ping ping with the parts inside moving as they warm up
I love these lamps. I have yet to see one in real life though. Thanks for this.
I have
Plasma based lamps are the best.
Strange places we meet Peter LOL... love these old lamps
@@TheChipmunk2008 Not too strange.... Our favorite IOM CZcamsr passes through here as well. ;) Any time I see one, these lamps remind me of the old lighting on the Golden Gate Bridge which was SOX from when it opened until not all that long ago. It's just unique and I love it. See you next Saturday! Cheers from smokey Boulder, Colorado (lots forest fires at the moment)
@@Peter_S_ So i hear, re forest fires. Scary.
I took a few pics back when the council (city in US speak) announced the "upgrade" from 'whatever was there' to whatever the fluorescent/led hybrid monstrosity we have now is. (it seems to depend on neighbourhood!). SOX was so gentle compared to the stark white glare :( (also MBFU, mercury vapour, typically 70w, for higher class areas!)
@@TheChipmunk2008 Still had a new 90W MV installed last year in a back alley by me, replacing a failed ballast, but they are going all out to replace HPS and MV with LED when the fixture fails in most cases, though there is still a big stock of lamps for them, along with the 90W fixtures, which they are using up slowly.
@@SeanBZA Mercury vapor and LPS is dead in the UK now :(... HPS is still existent on major routes (probably due to stock as you say).
I think it's sad... for both emotional reasons AND practical. SOX is damned efficient, and can be filtered easily by astronomers. MV that is pure nostalgia but.... it seems more peaceful than the stark white of LED or Fluoros
I remember that sodium lamps were used at intersections, where the lamps away from intersections were standard cool white fluorescent lamps. I used to like the yellow colour.
Yes, we had similar arrangement in Loon, Drenthe NL where I lived.
You got one of those too! I scored one a while back and I love the runup with the changing colours. The original tube is old and is nearly worn out, takes ages to run up to normal brightness. Great video Ray!
Great clip, low pressure sodium lamps of that design are the higher end and far more expensive over the typical road lamps that are commonly found. Great find!
so happy Rodalco you got your first sox light 😃
It's a little strange to like a video watching a light warm up, but I was really saddened when I learned that they stopped manufacturing LPS a few years ago. This was the best lighting for general outdoor use because it emitted very little light pollution, was not disruptive to insects and wildlife, contributed next to no skyglow, and exhibited no glare even when you stared directly at it. I always liked the warm glow of LPS, a stark contrast to the cold, unwelcoming, and environmentally damaging glare of current solid state lighting. I had also forgotten about the array of colors they went through during their long, slow warmup, which the camera doesn't really pick up as well as seeing it in person.
LPS’s are my favorite type of bulbs. Hopefully they’ll keep being manufactured in the future. Best Regards!
If I had this, I would switch it on every day just to watch the stages of color change!
Rodalco @ 1:48 . . . LOL
I remember seeing in my physics class at school my teacher showed LPS lamp to us as part of excitation i think it was, I was so fascinated by it. Had a soft spot for these HID lamps since. 20 and an electrical apprentice and have a hard time throwing out good MH and HPS lamps haha, would love to get hold of a LPS lamp to play with.
LPS are really nice. I now have 3 of them.
I've collected a lot of SOX lamps over the years and I even have some of the really big lamps like: E90, E131 & 180w.
Most people don't realize how bright they are when they are at your own height.
I have a dead E-131 which is a metre long, working on the ignitor only and still gives off that lovely pink starting glow continuously. I'm actually surprised Ray, I thought you would have loads of these luminaries.
No, I did not have a LPS SOX lamp. I have lots of HPS luminaires, but no LPS. In Auckland most of these were replaced in the early 90's in favor of HPS. My interest got reignited while over in The Netherlands last year and I saw the ignition sequence of these awesome lamps. I got this lamp through one of my Australian friends from facebook on the Australian Streetlights group. This is nr 1 and I am looking for more of these awesome luminaires.
@@RODALCO2007 - I have several E-66w units with electronic ballasts, but without a bulkhead.
If you are interested I could send you one and then tell me where best to post it, without splashing your address all over YT?
It's actually two distinct lines at 589nm and 589.6nm, the so-called "sodium doublet".
remember that sodium lamps were used at intersections, where the lamps away from intersections were standard cool white fluorescent lamps. I used to like the yellow colour.
Hi Tim, yes, that was also done in The Netherlands in the Northern part where I lived. Very clever idea, in case the streetsign was obscured. From the distance you knew exactly where the actual side street was located.
Unfortunately being phased out and manufacturing has stopped in uk after around 90 years of production
I wonder if SOX lamps were ever made in Russia.
@@RODALCO2007 Might be worth checking in www.lighting-gallery.net Think there were some early types but not SOX. China might be making some to fill the market void.
China still makes SOX and SOX-E lamps, if you need any go to alibaba.
Gotta love a Sox 🔥 🔥 🔥
I'm love SOX lamps
Looks like a proper Philips fitting as well , got loads of these lamps left over at the workshop
0:36 I didn’t know that they watched The Chase in New Zealand.
The Chase is very popular in New Zealand. 7 nights a week on TV.
This was fantastic!
Still plenty of them in service in the UK... got a 70w one opposite the front window & a 55w along the street a bit, mixed among HPS 70w lamps and a few LED's (not sure how many watts they are but it's in the 20's somewhere)
They were an interesting light source.. Used to have an 18W Philips " Goldeye" fixture at the back of the house on a photo switch back in the 80's up till the mid 90s.
That's the only lamp I haven't got, complete with a bulkhead.
It still amazes me that little 18w lamp produces about 200 lumen metres per watt, which is still more efficient than an amber LED.
Found in every classroom of schools built in NSW in the mid 1980s. They'd have one in the middle, intended to add a glow to each room at night as a low power consumption security light. Rarely maintained such that they were all but useless within 10 years. Lamps too hard to get and too expensive compared to standard flouros.
I had a 55 watt Sox Street Lamp outside my home and the bulb lasted 17 years which was a great service to the area.
Nice! Beats led any day. I have a sodium light over my work bench I think it is 35 watts if I remember correctly.
30 years ago when I was a teen I found a huge light like this alongside the river bed. I broke it on a steel cable, and all of a sudden the water started to fizzle and I saw litle pellets of some sort burning in the water. I could't believe it. I told other people and nobody knew what it was or thought I was telling a bull shit story. For years I didn't have a clue what happened that day. And today I think I have found the answer. It was sodium metal from light bulbs like these (?)
😊
Sodium reacts with water. There is a special process disposing of old expired sodium bulbs in a special container with water, to get the sodium reaction exhausted in the container instead of in the rubbish truck which may catch on fire.
That light looks like it would belong in some southern Usa city like Mobile or Miami with it mimicking our sol setting
Watching the Chase lmao
I don't know if they're low or high pressure, but my part of town still uses sodium street lights.
I gained a couple MH 400ws when work went to HO flouro.
The extension of the highway they're working on has that distinctive bright-white of LED.
I had heard of high pressure sodium but I didn't know about the low pressure version.
Nioce! I have yet to get my paws on one... Most likely if I do, it will be a unit from the UK, as they seem to be the most readily avail and not to stupid costly.
There is just something majestic about LPS... Though I really do love mercury vapour and HPS too. I hate the metal halide (been there with EOL 'asplosions, not cool), and do not like LED. LED is efficient yes, but nothing nostalgic for me about it.
Most of the UK was lit by them for decades, but no lnoger made for around 30 years sadly, so all that is left is NOS and ones removed from service. There are some SLI that are abandoned near me, but getting them would be hard, as they are high up a tunnel wall, and are well out of reach.
my entire city used these for outdoor lighting because of a nearby observatory and it was very distinct but in a good way. now they are all slowly disappearing in favor of leds and it's not the same. less character. too cold and soulless. i wish they had at least picked leds with the same spectrum.
Was that Tucson? I know they had done a full implementation of LPS because of Kitt Peak and it was still mostly (but not all) LPS when I was there in 2007. I would be surprised if they were still there today.
Any way to heat the light bulb up just to pink colour without having to go full brightness yellow colour?
These lamps don’t need to cool down before switching them back on, if u turn it off and turn it back on right away it will come on
That's a beautiful SOX there, I didn't know you were into lamp stuff. Are you going to set this up somewhere?
You are saying the guy who lights up his entire yard with street lights is not into lighting?............
@@SeanBZA I haven't noticed that until you pointed it out, i'm freakin mentally blind.
I got 1 LPS 35 Watt SOX in the driveway, and two HPS 50Watt on our deck. In the process adding a retrofitted HPS lamp, now LPS SOX also on our driveway.
@@RODALCO2007 That's a neat setup, I would put up my mercury light somewhere but neighbors and the HOA most likely would not like it.
Heaven? It has a CRI of like 15 efficient but monochromatic. It's kind of like a barbed wire sex toy
and most of us grew up with it?
Actually it has a CRI of 2... and that's depending on what scale you use. A different scale is literally negative.
Its light is very distinct and memorable... hence their popularity with nostalgia hunters and discharge lamp enthusiasts.
Hi, I was interested in buying a complete lamp like yours...can you tell me where you bought it? Thanks
that thing took ages to warm up :)
Why does this sound exactly like hereditarys sound track lol
SOX lamps should instantly restrike, even faster than HPS
I replaced the igniter, now restrikes with no issues when warm.
Strange that your lamp couldn't hot restrike. This shouldn't be an issue with low pressure discharge lamps like these and fluorescent lamps.
I have replaced the igniter which was faulty. SOX lamps normally restrike at an instant when warm.
What is the background music at 8:40?
Was that from troy
Yes