MH Light Question

I acquired a free MH bulb and am considering upgrading my equipment and this may be a free bulb for me to use. HOWEVER, I know nothing about MH lights, this particular light and was hoping for some help. Currently i am just a starter with a 150W HPS system, so this is a big jump for me.

The bulb is a 400W Sylvania Metalarc Pro-tech bulb. This is a commercial bulb that would be used in malls, warehouses, parking lots, ect. Sylvania has a bunch of information on this bulb and here is a list of some of the stuff that might help you help me.

- METALARC PRO-TECH lamps have a reduction in UV output compared to standard metal halide lamps.With the benefit of open fixtures, these high output METALARC PRO-TECH lamps are ideal for higher ceiling applications.
- Universal Base-Up Only operating position ( does this mean i cant run it horizontal? )
- METALARC PRO-TECH design – glass shroud for containment and UV-reduction
- 40,000 Initial lumens 26,000 mean lumens 3600K (color temp) 100 LPW (not sure what that is)


I hope you guys can help.

Well, I may have overlooked it but what did you want to know? I will ramble a bit in hopes that I touch on something usefull to you. 400 W Mh bulbs come in many different sizes and shapes. Some might be the size of a football and some much smaller but still 400 W . Not sure of the purpose of the size differance but they vary none the less. You can use your ( warehouse) bulb for growing in the veg cycle just fine and will have good results. Matter of fact myself and many others have been doing it this way for a long time. I did however spend a little extra and upgraded from warehouse MH bulbs to actual grow bulb enhanced blue MH and I have seen a definate quality differance. Base up sounds like a vertical application to me...

You have to run that bulb vertically.
100LPW is lumens per watt.
It's an OK bulb if you're fine with the base-up-only part, but you're much better served with a bluer (higher color temp, say 5000K or thereabouts) bulb that works in a horizontal position. cn

it will work in a 400 watt mh ballast but i would upgade to a better bulb later on.

Thanks guys,Jimmy, thanks for your input, i realize that i really didnt ask much BUT you managed to give me some good info. Based on this stuff I dont think I'll use it just because i hate to half ass... The vertical only part is a problem for me too, But again i appreciate your help and input guys!

good luck bro