4' Fluorescent Tube to LED Conversion

[Dougryan]

Hi,
I have an old 4' two tube fluorescent light fixture that has been in the family for decades. It's been in several houses typically hanging over the 1970 Craftsman radial arm saw.
Needless to say, it's seen better days... It weights a ton and the fixture is in good shape, but the tombstone sockets are broken and only one bulb lights.

I'd like to 'modernize' it for continued use and though I would just upgrade to an electronic ballast. As it turns out, there are two old magnetic ballasts inside the fixture. One looks fairly corroded which is probably why only one tube works.

Anyway... I got to thinking about using direct wire LED tube lights. Nice and bright, low power consumption, and last a long time. Of course there doesn't seem to be a standard design out there yet. Or at least I can't find information that defines it.

Option 1 - Double ended LED tubes - Wired so one end is hot and the other neutral. Can use shunted tombstones since both pins would be powered the same.

Option 2 - Single ended LED tubes - Wired so that one end of the tubes gets hot and neutral connections. The tombstone at the other end just holds the bulb in place. Must NOT use shunted tombstones since at the 'powered' end, one pin would be hot and the other pin neutral.

Typically, from the information on the products, I cannot determine if the tubes are double ended or single ended... but from reading on-line information it seems like both are in the marketplace.
Just seems dangerous to have both options available since they both fit into the standard tombstone socket but are not interchangeable bulbs.

Does anyone know if there is indeed a standard in place? Or if the industry is leaning toward one vs the other?

Since the LED bulbs last for a long time, I may never have to worry about replacing them... but someone will... And I'd like them to have a safe experience.

Thanks,
Doug

 

[newbury]

The standard is there is no standard.
I've a lot of 4' and 8' fixtures on the ends of hardwired conduit.
I've been burning up my supply of bulbs and when a ballast goes out I replace with a single ended LED tube.
The place I bought most of my tubes from sent me a bag of 10 tombstones. /edit - for free
Thread here

 

[Dougryan]

Thanks for the link to the other thread. I did search a bit, but didn't find that one.
I was afraid that there was no standard... Guess I'll have to buy the bulbs first then figure out how to wire the tombstones (and label the crap out of the fixture).

I'll take some pictures along with way cuz I have a feeling this will be interesting.

Thanks again.
Doug

 

[Fossil Farm]

Just got 4 single ended Hyperikon LED tubes from Amazon a few days ago. They come with the proper tombstones. Real easy to install and so far, so good. I believe they have 4 temperature variations depending on what type of light you want. Took out (you can just bypass) the ballast of the T8 shop lights and the rewiring was very easy. The tombstones were a bit wider than the old ones, so I had to do some surgery on the fixtures, but they are just fine. I believe it cost about $20 per fixture for the bulbs. There are several YouTube videos available to watch. Some are pretty funny (or scary) on how the guys do their swaps.

I also bought a couple 4 foot LED shop lights from Home Depot before finding the replacement bulbs. They were in the $40 to $50 dollar range. They have worked well also. They replaced some CFL fixtures and the LED's are much brighter and not as heavy as the CFL fixtures were. Pricey, but hopefully prices come down more. Would like to replace more of the CFL fixtures in the other part of the barn. Good luck.

Edit - Forgot to add - you just push the wire into the tombstones. Has a lock. Be sure to use solid wire. It was interesting that a couple of the old shop lights had aluminum wire, not copper connecting the old tombstones and to the ballast. Switched those to copper. The lights I swapped took 2 bulbs per fixture.

 

[lostcreekranch]

I have been wanting to replace the 8 ft. T-12 fixtures in my shop as they are hanging on chains, about 16 ft. above the floor and a real PIA to replace tubes. Found these 8 ft. fixtures with 4 x T-8 LED tubes at Home Depot online. Bought one, on trial, for $80 / free shipping and very impressed with their brightness.

Envirolite

Went back to order 8 more and now discontinued.

EnviroLite 8 ft. 4-T8 Industrial LED Strip Light with 2 Lumen LED Tubes-EVST74T2 - The Home Depot

So ....... back to Square One.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Those 4' LED fixtures have really come down in price. Costco just had a sale on them for about $30 each and Home Depot has several in the $35 range. Costco also has a $45 four pack of 4' LED bulbs that'll drop into the existing fluorescent fixture without rewiring. I've used those in my garage and they're much brighter than the fluorescent bulbs they replaced.:2cents:

 

[lostcreekranch]

Those 4' LED fixtures have really come down in price. Costco just had a sale on them for about $30 each and Home Depot has several in the $35 range. Costco also has a $45 four pack of 4' LED bulbs that'll drop into the existing fluorescent fixture without rewiring. I've used those in my garage and they're much brighter than the fluorescent bulbs they replaced.:2cents:

RNG, Costco had theirs on sale 2 pack for $39.99 back around Thanksgiving. I'm really stuck on 8 ft. fixtures since chains and power wiring already in place.

 

[tractchores]

I just did a bunch of these and also bought the Hyperkion ones from Amazon. They were dual ended. there doesn't appear to be a standard, but most existing fixtures seem to be dual ended, so it's easier from a wiring perspective. Definitely remove the ballast VS getting one that works with a ballast. The good news is the lights are supposed to last like 20 years so you probably don't need to worry about replacement bulbs in the short term. The best part is instant on, no Flickr, no hum and in my case a LOT more light.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I have a few fixtures I want to do this too also. Subscribed!

 

[JRobyn]

I have been super impressed with the Costco (Feit) LED fixtures. When they are on sale for $25 or less, it's just not economically feasible to me to do anything with the old ballasted fixture except trash it. I've had several of my fluorescent ballasts crap out, and about the cheapest I could find a Chinese replacement was $10-$15 plus shipping, plus an hour or more to install the replacement and "adjust" the wiring. Not to mention retrofitting bulbs.

The LED fixtures are higher lumen, instant on at full brightness even when cold, no RF interference that I have found, lightweight, and advertised to last what's probably the rest of my life.

So far only available in 4ft, but the fixtures are designed to connect together end-to-end.