Florescent to LED Conversion

[TractorGuy]

<china rant>

Info for anyone else converting florescent to LEDs. Be aware they don't have a standard for wiring. I have purchased from 3 different suppliers and every one of them has required a different wiring scheme. Total BS that we may have to rewire our fixture every time we replace a bulb. Not only that but will probably have to replace in pairs. I now have 3 spare bulbs in 3 different colors that won't work in ANY of my fixtures without rewiring.

One of my previous warm white bulbs quit working and the wife said she wanted a different color so I ordered 6 Daylight bulbs. Took the warm whites out of the previously converted fixture and installed the identical looking bulbs which tripped the breaker as soon as I flipped the switch. Looked back at the ad to make sure I bought bulbs requiring ballast removal and noticed the difference in wiring in their schematic.

The bulbs I originally put in our dining room required a hot on one pin and a common on the other. They were also reversible so no matter how you put them in they worked just like a florescent would. The next was a bulb I purchased through HD to put over the kitchen sink. Fixture rewire was the same but it turned out the bulb only had connections on one end so it has to but put in the right direction to work. The latest I bought has to have common on one end and hot on the other. These make the most sense as the ballast previously had one end common and the other hot.

</china rant>

 

[jeff9366]

Replacement LEDs will outlive you.

Buy once, cry once: replace the fixtures all at once with a single brand/type of LED fixture. I just finished doing this within my closets.

Eventually you will fall off the ladder replacing fluorescents. Ladder accidents kill a fair number of seniors, not from the fall, from pneumonia.

 

[mddorange]

I am like you Jeff. When I replaced my lights with LED's, I did it once and forgot about it. It was a very simple conversion.

 

[TractorGuy]

I have a few more to do at some point so I will just label the fixtures as I go for future reference.

I wasn't expecting different wiring schematics every time I purchased. In my case I have some different lengths and haven't found every supplier to have every length.

They preach for ever lasting but I have already had one fail. The LED bulb elements MAY last forever but the little electronic boards most likely will not.

 

[ultrarunner]

I took the quick and easy way with the 1960 Flouresencts at the family home garage...

Simply removed the T12 and replaced with off the shelf Costco 4' LED... no rewire.

It was like night and day... no more Frankenstein's Lab of flickering lights waiting to warm up... almost a religious experience!

I do know over time LED are projected to lose brightness... or so I have been told with the magic number being 15 years...

That said... I still have some circa 1995 T8 bulbs in service at the hospital... they have been locked on for 24 years... impressive.

 

[Streetcar]

Almost 10 percent of my led bulbs have failed

 

[ultrarunner]

Almost 10 percent of my led bulbs have failed

I have had one CREE screw in fail and it was replaced immediately with a phone call... bought them some time ago... the replacement is much lighter and looks cheaper... called and spoke to tech support and was advised the design continues to evolve...

So far none of the Costco LED 4' have failed... 38 installed to date.

 

[the old grind]

I bought 3 types of 4' T-8 LEDs in 3 colors. Phillips and Osram/Sylvania claim to be direct replacements, but don't work with all oldie 32w ballasts. I prefer their ~4000K 'color'. Philips' ballast compatibility list is confusing, but most T-8 solid state ballasts are ok and don't generate much if any radio static with theirs. (many of us have trashed ballasts and tubes mismatching T-8/32w & T-12/40w tubes and fixtures .. )

The 25-packs of Chinese LEDs I bought came single-end fed or double end fed, and 3000K or 6000K. One of each gives a good 'average' color with the occasional blurry shadow to remind of the old blue/yellow bulb in a y-socket party gimmick. Totally not for us NPR nerds, as their ballast-boards generate a lot of radio static. I relabeled some fixtures, and re-ballasted a few.

 

[bunyip]

Had a fewLED failures, mainly underated caps exploding.

 

[plowhog]

Simply removed the T12 and replaced with off the shelf Costco 4' LED... no rewire.

I bought a small truckload of those for $19 per fixture including bulbs. I think the energy savings has paid for that ....