Theater fresnel/ Tungsten to Metal halide

E

Essor

Member
Is it safe to replace the G22 socket CP92 bulb inside of a theater fresnel with a Metal Halide G22 type bulb?

The fresnel housing is rated for 2000W and <170 degrees Celsius.

How far towards 2000W could I go in my choice of a metal halide bulb for this fixture?
 
Yes and no. Yes you can do it, but not safely with the stock socket that is in the fixture. The wattage rating of the existing socket has nothing to do with metal halide use which has its own set of issues. The sockets in a metal halide fixture are rated for HID use which includes a high voltage startup pulse. A regular tungsten rated socket only runs off of line voltage and generally will not have the pulse rating necessary. Over a few months, these startup pulses will literally corrode away the copper of a tungsten type socket. So, you will want to replace the G22 with an HID rated version like this:

http://www.vanltg.com/buhl/qrg22.htm

You can get 575w HR or 1200w NHR type bulbs with a G22 base but I've never seen a larger wattage than that in G22. A 1200w HR bulb uses a G38 base and again that would definitely have to be a metal halide / HR rated socket.
 
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