Convert, Rewire Fluorescent to Led Lights - Double-Ended Tubes
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- Save energy with better light if conversion to LED lights from fluorescent fixtures. This describes a shunted, or double-ended bulb, rewire; a non-shunted conversion is similar, but slightly different.
Non-shunted vs. shunted socket differences are due to how electric current flows through the light fixture. Current will flow in a shunted socket by a single path, but through multiple paths in a non-shunted socket. The bulb could burn out quicker, or short if the wrong one is used.
Shunted sockets of fluorescent lights are for instant start ballasts, while non-shunted work with others like trigger start or pre-heat. The ballast gives enough voltage to start the bulbs then regulates the current.
A voltage meter set to continuity would confirm whether the lamp had a shunted or non-shunted socket - a non-shunted would show no continuity.
Direct wire is the most energy efficient because it doesn’t require a power source controller, like a ballast, to operate.
Confirm you have a shunted fixture. Otherwise, replace the non-shunted lamp holders (called tombstones) or wire for a shunted fixture. Using non-shunted tombstones can short the sockets and damage the LEDs.
1. There can be no dimmer.
2. Shut off the power going to the light.
3. Cut the wires to the ballast and remove the ballast.
4. Wire the tombstones positive lead to the live end of the power source.
5. Wire the tombstones negative lead to the neutral end of the power source.
6. Wire the ground connection.
7. Install the new T8 LED lamps, matching the end of the lamp marked “L” to the live tombstone end with the LEDs pointing down.
Once a fixture is wired for T8 LED, you can no longer put fluorescent lamps back into the light.
www.mrhardware.com
Excellent information. If viewers pay attention, it's knowledge that will last a life time.
Or at least until we have the next generation of lighting.
@@BrianHeilig1 ...that comes with the next generation of greedy capitalists.
Is that a real beard?
Out of all the videos on this subject, this one is the best.
THE BEST!!!!
I agree. The difference between his and the others, the others just tell you what to do. He gives a simply explanation, so it sinks a tad more. If I was told, just eliminate the ballast and wire the light like a traditional light with a hot and neutral wire setup, I could have done it so much easier. But going though so many videos trying to understand what I was doing is why it took so long
Thanks your comment making me watch
Finally, a video that is short and to the point. Thanks.
killed it with the bingo! perfect, just what I needed. short, clear, to the point and easy to understand. Thank you!
Thank you VERY much, Blair. I have NO electrical skills--at all--and was very nervous about undertaking this conversion. I assumed it would end with me calling an electrician...as usual. BUT, it worked PERFECTLY!!! Again, thank you very much!
Thank you. After watching 6 TH-cam videos I finally figured my fixture out when I watched yours.
Thank you for this straight forward tutorial! Since my landlord hasn't replaced my faulty ballast for 4 years I just did it myself and installed LEDs now! They work great and no more flashing!
I found this youtube video extremely helpful. My old fluorescent tube light had gone bad and needed to be replaced. I thought it was time to change to LED. Got T8 LED and installed, but they didn't come on. Did search and it turned out that I need to remove the Ballast. Th wiring shown in this video match my fixture wiring and just followed the steps. T8 LED Fluorescent worked immediately. Thanks very much Mr. Hardware
Another TH-cam Star is born. You presented how to easily swap out the old fluorescent bulbs to the modern LED bulbs. You made the task look easy. Well Done. I just became a new subscriber to your channel.
Thank you! I was pretty sure I was doing it right, but I needed somebody smarter than me to tell me before I turned the switch back on.
I've been wanting to switch to LED's in the last spot in our house. The laundry room. I've been afraid to F it up! Watched your video and not as hard as I thought. Done, working great! Thanks for your video! We are 100% LED in our house!
Once I realized I was working with a doubled ended LED, this was exactly what I needed. THANKS!!
Beat explanation of rewiring to led from a ballast.! Thank you sir!
The best video on this topic by far…thank you!!
Excellent video! Thanks - just purchased some T8s from Amazon and missed the keyword 'ballast bypass' style. Now we know :)
Best video on this task!
Thank you sir, I appreciate the expert help, you made it easy and my lights work perfectly
Thank you for making it so easy!
Just what I needed
Thanks for sharing. This is probably the least confusing video I've seen on this topic. I've been around this block a few times trying to decide which wiring configuration is better - single or double ended. If I'm understanding this correctly, shunted tombstones should be used in a double-ended configuration only (Type B), and non-shunted tombstones in either a single-ended configuration (Type A) or in a double-ended configuration if the tombstones are shunted (Type B). So, which is better? Which is safer? Which provides the longest life for the LED? I have 29 fixtures with a total of 70 T12 tubes in home and garage that I would like to replace in multiple phases over the next several years as time permits, and I want to do it right starting with the first tube!
I rewired my entire hardware store with type a single ended tubes because I had 8 foot fixtures and I bought conversion kits that turn the center of the 8 foot fixture into the hot spot for the 4- 4’ foot tubes that replaced the 8’ bulbs. It was easy to pre-wire the center (4 tombstones on a center plate) on the bench, remove the 8’ bulbs, bypass the ballast and feed the center plate w/ 120v and boom, all 4 bulbs were fed.
1:24 Having separate power leads on left and right side of each tombstone is not a "shunted installation". Shunted simply refers to the joining of the clips of the right and left prongs of the tombstone connector (the opposite what you describe).
Is the use of Shunted Tombstones simply so that you can jump from one tombstone to the next on the same end of the fixture?
I got type A T8 tubes , this does not work with them, I needed type B and had to change tombstones to non*shunted.
Removing the ballast saves about 50 to 60 watts per light fixture and changing the bulbs to led saves about another 40 to 50 watts on a fixture with two lights. With four lights it's probably double that amount.
Very helpful
You saved me, thank you!
great video helped me out way better than any other i've seen thank for the infomation....tom'a
the LED tube to use are the ones that are not LED but are actually T12 fluorescent lights that are run on a magnetic ballast.
If you don’t like led, and don’t want to save money.
@@MrHardware1 I save money in plenty of other ways
In my garage I have an old 2 tube 8 foot fluorescent T12 fixture with a magnetic ballast. I don't use it much because it is very dim in cold weather and won't even turn on in high humidity conditions. LED tubes are now made so that I can easily retrofit it (single pin sockets) for about $40. Hot to one end and neutral to the other. Cheaper than a new fixture or electronic ballast and T8 tubes. It should solve my issues, be much brighter, save energy and the tubes should last much longer.
@@gmzx3 right, last much longer. WHEN USED IN PROPER CONDITIONS, which are clearly stated... old magnetic ballasts (especially the preheat ones) last virtually forever. I have several of them from the early 50s that are still rocking there original ballast and are used all day every day. I give a good quality LED tube maybe 5 years of constant use before the little diodes start to die, and they start to flicker. and a poor quality (which most are) one will last maybe a year or two if you are lucky.
@@WalterKnox You may be correct about lifespan as I have only used A19 LED bulbs (with no failures). I won't live long enough to put 5 years of constant use on my tubes. Maybe 1-3 hrs a week. The thing I want to fix is the poor cold/damp performance and get brighter/more light. Eventually I won't be able to get the T12's or they'll make them very expensive to convince us.
Those are shunted tombstones in this example, correct?
Yes, but even if they weren’t the wiring for shunted bulbs would be the same.
Hi
For this retrofit, does it require ballast bypass LED bulbs or standard LED bulbs?
I’m not a fan of ballast bypass. I want to remove the energy sucking ballast. The bulbs come; shunted (fed from both ends), end feed (power comes to one end of the bulb) or combo (meaning they can be fed either way). Find the bulbs first, then determine how to hook them up before starting. Shunted bulbs are the easiest to wire, you don’t have to have ‘2-pole’ tombstones.
How do you test them easily without putting them up on the ceiling?
I have an old extension cord that was cut and so I use it to temporarily feed a fixture. I wire nut it to the fixture the same as if I’m wiring it to the ceiling and the plug it in. I’m cautious when I plug it in in case I did something wrong and there is a short, you don’t want your face over a project when your testing it for the first time.
Very helpful. Thanks!!
Thank You!!!!!!
so what bulbs do i need to use doing away with the ballast or in other words direct wired
Line voltage LED tubes. I don’t know if there any out there that require an external driver because all the ones I’ve experienced have internal drivers and all you need to do is put 120 V to the bulb one of the several ways I described and you’re good to go.
Do I need to do anything with the ground wire?
Keep it attached to the metal fixture
I think the led bulbs i got from home depot is only one ended, how do I make it work?
I can’t say without seeing the schematic that should have come with the bulbs. If the bulbs are ‘end feed’ you’ll need non shunted tombstones.
Super great video. Thx so much. What LED brand do you recommend - with 4000K and 5000K?
I'm using Satco bulbs, but I would use any bulb from a source I could depend on.
@@MrHardware1 I did exactly what you showed. I have an 8 ft shop light. Uses 4 ft bulbs. Middle has red and blue wires and both ends have yellow. I wired it exactly like you showed. The bulbs got super bright and hot, then slowly stopped working. Any idea what's happening?
@@adamlangley7341 can you send me a picture of your wiring and a picture or model number of the LED bulbs you installed. I can only guess that possibly you wired a shunted bulb in an end-feed situation but I don’t know without any info. Better yet, contact customer service of your bulb manufacturer, (with your wiring diagram) possibly you got defective bulbs.
This didn't work for me. Blew up both my LED bulbs. I hope I can get away with returning them at Home Depot....
Did your bulbs come with the wiring diagram? Purpose of the video was to inform you to get that diagram and wire it accordingly because not all the bulbs are the same.
A well done and concise description of how to replace fluorescent tubes with LED tubes. Of course there are many technical details left out, but he keeps it down to the essentials. Perhaps a bit too spare since any work involving mains voltage is potentially dangerous. I really appreciate the lack of 'self-ego stroking' by the presenter which, unfortunately seems to be all too common in many DIY videos. Thumbs up!
Thanks, it’s all about the project, not the man.
@@MrHardware1so this is the direct wire version? I supposedly got the “plug and play” version that almost seem to catch either the bulbs, the ballast, or both on damn near fire. The bulbs quit and were smoking. So do the “plug and play” version require an electronic ballast vs a magnetic ballast? I just love (sarcastic) how the system has forced these bulbs on us in wash state without warning anyone about what was necessary for these conversions🤬
Straight and to the point. I know just enough when it comes to basic wiring and installation. The facility I work in is starting to blow all the ballasts on the traditional florescent fixtures. I was replacing the ballasts at first, then I just started swapping the whole fixture for strip led fixtures but this is going to save so much time and money it's ridiculous. Best video I've seen yet. Thank you and I will definitely look you up next issue I run into.
1:28 Wouldn't it be called a non-shunted installation because you will be using a non-shunted tombstone? If the live wire and the neutral are connecting to one end then that tombstone is not going to be shunted or connected internally, therefore it should be called a non-shunted installation if anything. I wish people wouldn't add extra information if they can't get it right. "This is called a 'shunted' installation at 1:28 ."
Edit: Sorry, I just don't understand why you would call it a shunted installation when you need to use a non-shunted tombstone. Frustrated because I think I completely understand what needs to be done but then you say it's got to be shunted and I question myself. Maybe I just don't understand. I have Type B LED tubes where the wires only need to be connected at one end to a non-shunted tombstone which is called a shunted installation I guess.
Video is Excellent for the Homeowner, good explanation and demonstration.
One caution: If you have a fluorescent fixture with a battery backup for emergency lighting (Such as in some more modern commercial buildings) you cannot remove the ballast as it will disable the battery backup. If that was the case, in an emergency such as power outage, the lights would not stay on for people to leave the building. Please be aware as well that this could impact your insurance.
We ran into this issue when we were planning to upgrade our Fluorescent tubes to LED in one of the buildings I maintain. In that event we planned on going with the direct fit ballast powered LED to maintain safety in the ones that required a ballast for backup and just bypassing the ones that didn't have the backup.
In our Kitchen at home we will be bypassing the ballast. No backups there...
Just my 2 cents-
Once again nice video!
Straight to the point and super helpful, thank you.
finally a video that explains the basic differences… thank you
Excellent video. I followed the instructions for the double-ended bulbs. I watched other videos but came back to this one which seemed to explain things to me the best way. Once I reviewed the video a few times and studied the wiring on my fixture, I went and did the job. I think it actually took me less time to remove the ballast and rewire the fixture than it did to watch the video. Great instructions. Thanks!
Thank you.
You described the difference between the 2 types of bulbs.
And the different wiring.
Most do not. Very important. 👍
WOW!!!! My man, it just doesn't get any easier than this. The main reason I can sincerely type that is because you have excellent communication skills. I mean that. You keep it short and more importantly, simple. Good job and my hat is off to you. You made me a subscriber!
This was amazing information. Was able to get my bulb up and running in 10 minutes. Thank you!
Well done Mr. Hardware. You made my next project so easy. Thank you.
Clear, simple explanation without background music. Recommended and thanks
Very good instructions. This was so helpful. Keep the videos coming.👍
Dear Mr. Hardware,
Yours was the most clear and informative of videos on this topic and gave me what I needed to convert my fixtures. Thank you.
The last real hardware store in our town (not a big-box store) closed a couple years ago. There were men like yourself working there who you could ask and they’d explain what you needed and how to do a thing. When that closed we lost not just a store but a library of sorts. Thanks for helping fill that void with your excellent videos.
⁰
Nice work bro! Remember always be careful when connecting the black wire and red wires those wires can lead to an electric shock, spark, fire and death.
Tell your camera man stop filming your face now please just because all of us know who are talking , keep camera to field okay!!
I followed your steps and make the LIGHT ON , but how come the light is DIM ? I bought a T8 ECOSMART LED LIGHT from Home Depot , what is wrong on my step?
I couldn’t find that description on HD site for a t8. It had to come w wiring instructions, that is the rule, some bulbs wire differently and each bulbs instructions are very important.
Thank you very much. I'm grateful that you showed me how to do it. I put your knowledge immediately to work. Again I'm grateful for your help thank you
If only I would have found this video earlier I wouldn’t have wasted time on all the others I viewed that provided zero help! It took me all 10 minutes after viewing yours to replace ballast with direct wired led bulbs! Thank you!
I did this , but it did my work. I was trying this because the ballast heat kept shutting the build off. What next?
Straight to the point, Can't get any simpler than this for Double ended Feed. Thank you!
The camera person showing the work would have been nice and not necessarily your face explaining it
Good video. Great info and presentation. Thanks man.
One of the best most informative videos I have watched on this type conversion, well done 👍
Mr. Hardware....thanks so much. I must say that I watched three other "tutorials" on this subject and yours was the most help. I am now a very "Handy Mimi"
Solid video, comprehensive and to the point. I just did this with 8ft T8 LED tubes and did the exact same steps and works great.
I just did this and it worked perfectly. Thank you!
I have black and white wires going into the ballast but then blue and red coming out. Is the red power and blue neutral? Ballast doesn't say
The black and white wires are for 120 V feed to the balast only. You are removing them from the ballast and connecting the power directly to the tombstones per the type of led bulb you purchased.
This could have been a 2 minute video. Still don't know how to do this.
Hope you can help. I have a 4 ft fixture, two bulbs. There are five. They would all come on and then one or more would go off after a while and then sometimes come back on. I replaced the old bulbs wit Phillips InstaFit and those work. However, they also go off and come back on sometime later. I am making an uneducated guess it is the ballasts? I have watched so many LED replacement-remove ballast videos and am more confused than ever. Your video was the most informative, but still not clear as to what I can do.On one end of the ballast are 4 wires-2 red, 2 blue. Two red go to one tombstone, 2 blue to the other. On the other end are 2 yellow wires going to 1 tombstone, which then has 2 short white wires connecting to the other tombstone. What do I have and what do I connect if I remove the ballast?
That’s a standard ballast wiring and first you purchase the LED bulbs and follow the wiring diagram that comes with the bulbs. There are three kinds and they wire three different ways, you’ll have to watch the whole video one once you buy the bulbs to see how you have to wire them up. If you get shunted Bulbs you take the red and blue wires and strip them all and put them together and connect that to the black hot wire coming into the fixture, the ballast is not involved and is not connected to anything, and the two yellow wires will go to the white power wire coming to the fixture. It’s that simple. However some bulbs wire differently which is why you need to purchase the bulbs first and use their wiring instructions to install them.
Good video, to the point and easy to follow. 10/10 would watch again.
Very straight forward, but I’m obviously missing something, because I cannot get my replacement LED lights to work.
You have to have the install instructions for your bulbs, there is no single wiring schematic for all bulbs.
Great video, thank you so much! This gave us the confidence to rewire our kitchen fluorescent fixture and the LEDs work just fine now.
Great video, thanks! Got a link to where to get the correct bulbs when bypassing the ballast (4000 and 5000)?
@@MrHanowski sorry, the manufacturers modify and change the builds constantly. As a last resort we sell them at the hardware store , ask for Jenn or Daniel, 586-596-7276
What if your facility lighting is 277v? Do you just need a different type of LED or will the same ones work with any voltage?
It’s all about the bulbs, not all are universal voltages. Only use bulbs rated for your voltage.
explanation and video was clear and to the point. now i am going to try it.
Only question I have, I have a fixture with 2 red, two yellow, and two blue per side, 12 total. How would I convert that?
Do you have a shunted LED tube or an end-feed one?
Good video. A link to the bulbs would help. Don't I need a Type B or Type AB bulb to make this conversion? Thanks
Actually I purchase the bulbs first and then wire the fixture accordingly seeing as there are 3 types of wiring required. The point of the video was to inform viewers that the bulbs aren’t all the same wiring procedure.
Thanks I have the Sunco's and they are series (double ended) wired like yours are. However I went to buy some more and they are now single ended feed with a shunt on the other end. I tried to find them in your hardware store but I can't find them, even if I type in LED Lighting. Do you have them if so what's the part number, link and cost for a 10 pack. Thanks for the nice video. Best Wishes & Blessings. Keith Noneya
Call and ask for Daniel, he is the purchaser of the bulbs. He’ll price and ship if they are available.
Thank you for this wonderful video, and great tip. I've done this before, but in the previous fixture the yellow wires were absent. It was just one white wire on one side, and a red, and blue on the other. The one I just did moments ago, (with the help of this video), had 2 blue, and 2 red on one end, and 2 yellow on the other. On some LEDs you'd cut those yellows, but since I didn't have the instructions for the bulbs, I made sure not to cut any wires until everything was working, and I absolutely knew it was ok. Turns out my caution paid off. Had I prematurely cut those yellows I would have needed to put them back in the tombstones.
Now I have 4 really nice 5k bulbs running in the kitchen! It's brighter, it lights faster, and will save me a bit of cash on the power bill. Thank you again!
Thanks so much for the video, but it didn’t work for me. I only had one yellow wire. Does that make a difference?
Depends on if you have shunted bulbs or end feed bulbs. Shunted are easy because you take all the fixture’s wires from end, regardless of color, and connect them to the hot black power wire, and the wires from the opposite end all connect to the neutral wire. Ground wires are separate and only connect to the other grounds.
Thank you. Rewiring my shop for LEDS tomorrow
I have a row of lights that are wired together do I have to do all at once
I have 3 in my kitchen so i have on the first one 1 black and 1 white then the 2nd light has 2 black and 2 white then the 3rd light has 3 blacks and 3 white coming out how do i go about that?
Yes, if whites are wire Nutted together and feeding the ballast, and if the blacks are we are wire nutted together and feeding the ballast, leave them all together as you found them and treat them as one black and white wire. Just disconnect the ballast. The pairs of wires are simply feeding other fixtures down the line.
Why do some led direct wire bulbs say to install a 1a fuse in the hot side? All of the direct wire videos I’ve never seen anyone install one
I’m not aware of any electrical code requiring an internal fuse. If a led requires one I think it should be built in.
Thanks. I found this video easier to follow than some others.
When doing this with double ended led bulbs do I need to make sure I have shunted/nonshunted tombstones? Or can I use it with either shunted OR non shunted?
When you purchase the bulbs you’ll have to use their wiring specifications.
Hi. My fixture has two clue wires on one end and one red wire on other. Think same way you are doing applies?
Sounds like it, red goes to 2 tombstones on one end, then yes.
ya light came on for 1 second and now wont light at all bulb junk smells burnt did it exactly like this
There are at least three ways to hook up LED fluorescent tubes. I’m describing one of the three, you need to look to the manufactures schematic or wiring diagram because they’re not all wired the same way.
If you have 6 at 4 ft in a room can you just do one of them
My 20+ year old kitchen 4' fluorescent fixture hasn't been working well. I think it's due to the ballast, so I will try this to bypass it and save money on LED bulbs at the same time. Thanks for this video!
Thank you very usefully information
With the example you used what type of tombstones did you use? Shunted or non-shunted?
You typically never need to buy shunted tombstone’s because all you do is connect the wires together that come out of the tombstone and now you can shunt it yourself. The problem is when you buy an ‘end-feed’ bulb that needs the hot and the neutral at the same end, you can’t un-shunt a shunted tombstone, you have to go out and replace it with a non-shunted tombstone. The bulb style dictates how the fixture is wired and hence what kind of tombstones are required.
I was scratching my head then i watched your video, thanks
Would wiring change if you have multiple lights looped together?
No, each fixture gets a 120 volt supply and a gang of them are wired same as a bunch of incandescent fixtures.
Thank you sir! I watched another video and did his method but it would short circuit my bathroom area. Fortunately i read in his comments that not all tombstones (light fixtures) are the same. So i came into your video and your way was the simplest way. I will not make this mistake again and watch another video....please forgive me! Lol. Thanks dude! Now the wife is happy once again
How do you know which way to hook it up. White on one end and black on the other. Or black and white on the same end
That all depends on the manufacturer of the bulb. Some bulbs go both ways, some are proprietary and have to be wired on the end or opposite ends. Some bulbs also will except the ballast which is counter to the goal of installing LEDs to begin with. You must get the wiring diagram before going further, I get the wiring diagram before I purchase.
Hi is a Walmart led replacement for a fluorescent does it need a ballast or can I get rid of the ballast?.
You Must get the instructions to confirm the installation method. Every manufacture must supply them. It could be wired 3 different ways and the wrong way can be trouble.
You made it very easy and I use your method and it lit momentarily and went out. I bought my bulbs from Wal Mart. I must have the non-shunted bulb. Show us the non-shunted and tell us how we can tell the difference between the two.
This is not up for experimenting, get a wiring diagram and follow it. Look for a L and a N on the ends of the bulb. L is for black and N is for white. If your tombstones are shunted (both contacts aren't separated) you will have to buy shunted bulbs or replace the tombstones.
What about if all the colored wires are on one side of ballast (and the hot/Neutral are on the other side)
There is usually enough wire to take all the wires from when into the fixture and still make it to the black or the white wire. If there is not enough length, you’ll need to use an extra wire or not in a short piece of wire so that they will reach.
True mr Hardware homie. Like the video
so I have converted some other flourescent lights to LED no problem (they did have a little different wiring setup than you are showing), this morning I noticed one of my basement ligts was out and instead having changing bulbs I thought I will convert it to LED, the old flourescent light is wired just like the one you show, I took out the ballast and wired it exactly the way you did and flipped the switch and the LED bulbs burned up, what went wrong ? It's same setup.
Not at all, what I’m trying to impress on everyone is there are three ‘or more’ types of LED 4 foot bulbs. One style wires on the end, one style wires on opposite ends and some styles go both ways and also run with the ballast still installed, which is kind of a loser because the ballast is wasting electricity so we should be skipping it always.
The bulb that burned up should have a wiring schematic specific to that bulb. That is how it should have been wired.
Thanks for the reply, I figured it out, I have this box with some LED bulbs been sitting around for awhile and didn't look real close but they were not regular LED's, they were LED's meant for fluorescent fixture, shorted them right out.
I have a very old fluorescent light fixture. Thanks for the video.
Does white have to connect with yellow lines and blue/red with black line?
The colors aren’t important, what’s more important is all the wires on the right go to the hot (black) and all the wires on the left go to the neutral (white) sorry it’s confusing. It could be the other way around, all the wires on the right could go the neutral, and all the wires in the left could go to the hot, they will still work fine.
@@MrHardware1
Great! Thanks.