@@BrianHeilig1was gonna say, and here we are! Though I did pick up one of these old fixtures with ballast for two U shaped t8 bulbs. Plan on just installing CCT led strips on the inside and using it as a photography light box with variable color temp. Might even add color just to have the option as it's all so cheap today. Don't really need to spend the money on the t8 shaped led bulbs that are essentially led strips in a tube.
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
Couldn’t agree more! I was worried about this task taking more than an hour or so, popped this video on, and now the lights are back on in less than 15 minutes total. So thankful for this!
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.
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!
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!
@@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🤬
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 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!
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!
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.
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!
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!
Much clearer and way more information than many other submissions on this subject. You cleared up a lot of questions on this relatively new project for most people. Thanks Blair.
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
You just saved me from a third trip to Lowe's to exchange 10 bulbs I thought wouldn't work in my fixtures. I will rewire according to your instructions and be happy you provided this information. Thank you. Back to work.
I don’t know how many videos I watched before I found this one. This is the only one that gave me in info I needed! Thanks so much!!! Maybe the job so easy.
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 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
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!
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"
Extremely well presented and I have now subscribed . I had viewed 6 other, poorly done and essentially worthless ,videos and I had become extremely frustrated with the poor explanations and presentations so thank you for your presentation.
Thank you!! I've been re-installing new ballasts as far back as 1991 at my grandparents house / property... They are sadly long gone but my parents live there now.. They are now in their early 80's so I'm still the designated hand at these and many other general things.. The Garage ones are a real pita.. Then, the ballroom main living room with all its "moldings to hide the lights (The roof reminds me of a church building... Pointed.. I've been replacing ballasts up on an extension ladder where I probably should have scaffolding.. :/. Regardless... I just came across your video and am happy as heck! Still have 4 more ballasts to go but I'm not going to pull a "switch-a-roo" and install these lights on the other side corner and see if they can even tell... Much appreciated! Here comes a sub to go with the "like"...
Remember when you buy LED lights you can buy them from 3000 K which is red and warm to 5000 K which is blue and cold I said suggest you stay around 4000 K and they’ll never know.
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!
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.
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
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.
@@bennoyes05 did you get shunted bulbs or did you get end feed bulbs? A ‘L’ (line) on one end and a ‘N’ (neutral, white feed wire) on the other or is the ‘l’ and ‘n’ side by each next to each other? Some bulbs go both ways. Shunted is easier and is shown in the video.
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.
@@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
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.
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.
Yep, in the beauty is, you can add or subtract bulbs without affecting electricity or the fixture. That way you can adjust back, because four bulbs, would be too much light in most circumstances.
I don’t recommend ’ballast driven‘ bulbs, because why waste electricity on a ballast? You can wire either ‘shunted’ bulbs which won’t require replacing ‘shunted tombstones’ or ‘end feed’ bulbs if the existing tombstones aren’t shunted. The purpose Of the video is to teach the different types of wiring with different bulbs. I also chose bulbs w/different Kelvin ratings, 3,000 is a warm bulb and 5,000 is cooler, more blue. There should be more info on the Kelvin rating.
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.
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.
Hi sir, Loved the video. Very easy to follow. Thank you. Question, i purchased 4 new LED T8 Hybrids to replace the 4 Flourescents that had finally all blown. Says the bulbs work with and without the ballist. So i simply replaced them. Selected the 5000 selection and they worked for a couple hours. Then nothing. Stopped working . Any idea why? Fyi, lights are connected to a motion detector switch. Does that matter? Thank you.
@@derrickhelm530 ballast driven LED bulbs are easy, that’s the only thing good about them. Taking out the ballast and hooking directly to the bulbs is the most efficient way and actually will save electricity rather than letting that old ballast suck up juice. I would take the motion detector switch, which can be tweaky, and bypass it to test the bulbs before I started working in the fixture. if I were to go in that fixture, obviously I would remove the ballast and hook the bulbs up directly to the 120 V.
Much appreciated. This is my exact setup. The current ballast went bad, so this is how I'm going to wire mine up. I have four T8 4' direct current LED bulbs. I have one question. Where do I attach the ground to the fixture? I'm pretty sure the person that wired my original florescent fixture, didn't properly ground the fixture. I say this, because I got a slight shock from touching the metal side of the fixture.
@@DDDYLN wow, you might find a loose wire feeding one of the tombstones touching the metal box. The ground wire should be well attached to the metal box (fixture itself).
@@MrHardware1 the ground wire was attached properly, but it wasn't tightened down enough. I'm actually not 100% sure I got shocked. The sheet metal edges on my fixture are so sharp, sometimes touching it with my arm feels like a shock. Whenever I'm working with live 110 V AC, my mind is always on edge about getting shocked.
@@MrHardware1 I wired up my fixture, but I need to test the continuity, to ensure all the wires in the wire nut are actually making contact with the hot and neutral wires. Instead of wiring it up over my head, I had a set of hot and neutral pigtails. I wired the neutral pigtail to the two yellow wires, and the hot pigtail to the 2 blue and 2 red wires. Before I attached the fixture to the ceiling, and attach the hot and neutral pigtails to the wires in the ceiling box, I want to ensure the wire nuts are working properly. My multimeter doesn't have a continuity tester. I was thinking the best method would be to check the resistance. As long as there's a small resistance, like 1-2 Ohms, that should verify proper continuity, right?
@@MrHardware1 I'm getting about 0.9 Ohm from each tombstone connector to the neutral pigtail coming out of the wire nut. I'd say that qualifies as good continuity. If I'm wrong, let me know. My hands shake quite a bit, so it's difficult for me to twist the wires together such that they're really tight.
@@DDDYLN you’re killingme, lol. My concern is if you have ‘shunted’ bulbs. Ones that require all the wires on one side of the fixture to be hot, and all the wires on the other side to the neutral. The correct bulbs for the wiring configuration is the most important aspect of this job. Unless any of the wires contact the frame of the fixture you are good to go. Quit testing and let the bulbs do the testing.
LED, 48”, Shunted (fed N, neutral, on one end and L, line to the opposite end). If you get a bulb w/ L & N on the same end you’ll need a 2-wire tombstone to supply it.
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.
@@ASC-o3b by (after disconnecting the wires from the ballast) using a continuity tester, or ohm meter, check to see if the wires are shorted together or not. Sometimes you can tell visually that the 2 poles (contacts) in the tombstone aren’t connected together. Each wire goes to one pole only.
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.
What happens if you have fluorescent lights that are connected together can you do just one fixture at a time? With LEDs and leave the rest. So you don’t have to spend all the money at once on new led lights?
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?
@@BrianHeilig1was gonna say, and here we are! Though I did pick up one of these old fixtures with ballast for two U shaped t8 bulbs. Plan on just installing CCT led strips on the inside and using it as a photography light box with variable color temp. Might even add color just to have the option as it's all so cheap today. Don't really need to spend the money on the t8 shaped led bulbs that are essentially led strips in a tube.
Finally, a video that is short and to the point. Thanks.
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
Couldn’t agree more! I was worried about this task taking more than an hour or so, popped this video on, and now the lights are back on in less than 15 minutes total. So thankful for this!
killed it with the bingo! perfect, just what I needed. short, clear, to the point and easy to understand. Thank you!
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.
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!
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🤬
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. After watching 6 TH-cam videos I finally figured my fixture out when I watched yours.
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!
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!
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
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!
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!
Much clearer and way more information than many other submissions on this subject. You cleared up a lot of questions on this relatively new project for most people. Thanks Blair.
finally a video that explains the basic differences… thank you
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
Straight to the point, Can't get any simpler than this for Double ended Feed. Thank you!
You just saved me from a third trip to Lowe's to exchange 10 bulbs I thought wouldn't work in my fixtures. I will rewire according to your instructions and be happy you provided this information. Thank you. Back to work.
I don’t know how many videos I watched before I found this one. This is the only one that gave me in info I needed! Thanks so much!!! Maybe the job so easy.
Excellent tutorial, I’m upgrading 25+ fixtures in my 23 year old home.
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 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
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!
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"
Clear, simple explanation without background music. Recommended and thanks
Thank You, way less confusing than every video i watched. Right to the point without 5 minutes of rambling and blasting music.
Extremely well presented and I have now subscribed . I had viewed 6 other, poorly done and essentially worthless ,videos and I had become extremely frustrated with the poor explanations and presentations so thank you for your presentation.
Thank you
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.
One of the best most informative videos I have watched on this type conversion, well done 👍
Thank you!! I've been re-installing new ballasts as far back as 1991 at my grandparents house / property... They are sadly long gone but my parents live there now.. They are now in their early 80's so I'm still the designated hand at these and many other general things.. The Garage ones are a real pita.. Then, the ballroom main living room with all its "moldings to hide the lights (The roof reminds me of a church building... Pointed.. I've been replacing ballasts up on an extension ladder where I probably should have scaffolding.. :/. Regardless... I just came across your video and am happy as heck! Still have 4 more ballasts to go but I'm not going to pull a "switch-a-roo" and install these lights on the other side corner and see if they can even tell... Much appreciated! Here comes a sub to go with the "like"...
Remember when you buy LED lights you can buy them from 3000 K which is red and warm to 5000 K which is blue and cold I said suggest you stay around 4000 K and they’ll never know.
Thank you! WAY better instructions than those on the video of the manufacturer! Got my conversion finished quickly thanks to your video!
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.
You described the difference between the 2 types of bulbs.
And the different wiring.
Most do not. Very important. 👍
Once I realized I was working with a doubled ended LED, this was exactly what I needed. THANKS!!
As A new Buildung Maintenance emploee, This was awesome, thank you sir..Will save our building alot more money.
@@AK-qe1hz are toilets seats loose? We sell these in 100 packs to institutions. th-cam.com/video/W1CfB3krFw4/w-d-xo.htmlsi=HBSFjBLY3jzxGJc-
Thanks. I found this video easier to follow than some others.
Man, that was the most straight forward explanation! Thank you!
Thanks for explaining the bulb types and the power direction. This was helpful
Best video on this subject on the whole internet.
Beat explanation of rewiring to led from a ballast.! Thank you sir!
This was amazing information. Was able to get my bulb up and running in 10 minutes. Thank you!
Straight to the point and super helpful, thank you.
Thank you for giving me the confidence to take on this project.
Great video, thank you so much! This gave us the confidence to rewire our kitchen fluorescent fixture and the LEDs work just fine now.
Very good instructional video. I was very confused on how to do it until I saw this video
Well done video, sir! You have really simplified the process for me.
Your video was very helpful. Took 10 minutes to change over. Thanks
Good video, to the point and easy to follow. 10/10 would watch again.
Very good instructions. This was so helpful. Keep the videos coming.👍
The best video on this topic by far…thank you!!
Thanks for posting this, just did my garage lighting using this video 👍👍
This video is great. Very easy and like the rest of the comments, straight to the point. Thanks for the video. 🤙🏽🤙🏽
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.
Thank you. You saved the day for me.
I was using the blue color to the white instead of the yellow wire.
Thank you much.
Thank you, great how to video... concise and easy to follow
...and I saved on replacing a bad ballast - great job
Just finished converting all of my downstairs lights....thanks to you. Oh my was it simple!!! Thanks again
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.
Well done Mr. Hardware. You made my next project so easy. Thank you.
Good reason this video has almost 500,000 views, excellent. Thanks and God Bless
I got type A T8 tubes , this does not work with them, I needed type B and had to change tombstones to non*shunted.
Thank you. Rewiring my shop for LEDS tomorrow
Great video. Clear and concise.
The best demo yet
Excellent video! Thanks - just purchased some T8s from Amazon and missed the keyword 'ballast bypass' style. Now we know :)
I just did this and it worked perfectly. Thank you!
I have a row of lights that are wired together do I have to do all at once
This was great! Fixed all of my lights, working perfectly. Thank you!
I was scratching my head then i watched your video, thanks
explanation and video was clear and to the point. now i am going to try it.
Thank you Mr. Hardware. This is very clear information.
I don't know if every bulb brand is the same, but the end of the bulbs I bought had the wiring diagram on it.
You rock dude, best video on led conversion,
I notice you didn't use ballast bypass led lights does it make a difference versus regular led bulbs
@@levialston518 I don’t want the ballast involved. It’s sucking up electricity w/no gain. So, no I don’t use bypass bulbs
Best video on this task!
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
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.
i have blue red and yellow all into the tombstones. Should they be wired in accordingly, to their respective pos/ neg?
@@bennoyes05 did you get shunted bulbs or did you get end feed bulbs? A ‘L’ (line) on one end and a ‘N’ (neutral, white feed wire) on the other or is the ‘l’ and ‘n’ side by each next to each other? Some bulbs go both ways. Shunted is easier and is shown in the video.
Thanks man. Very simple and very helpful.
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.
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
Great Video and best explanation I’ve seen. Followed your instructions but all my bulbs are burning very dim. Guess I screwed it up somehow
I would contact customer service for the bulbs, they might be ‘ballast’ led bulbs.
Good video. Great info and presentation. Thanks man.
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.
Helped me out when I was having a brain fart at work lol thanks boss!
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.
Can you use 4 bulbs instead of just 1
Yep, in the beauty is, you can add or subtract bulbs without affecting electricity or the fixture. That way you can adjust back, because four bulbs, would be too much light in most circumstances.
Great video. What specific led light tubes would I have to get?
I don’t recommend ’ballast driven‘ bulbs, because why waste electricity on a ballast? You can wire either ‘shunted’ bulbs which won’t require replacing ‘shunted tombstones’ or ‘end feed’ bulbs if the existing tombstones aren’t shunted. The purpose Of the video is to teach the different types of wiring with different bulbs.
I also chose bulbs w/different Kelvin ratings, 3,000 is a warm bulb and 5,000 is cooler, more blue. There should be more info on the Kelvin rating.
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.
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.
Hi sir, Loved the video. Very easy to follow. Thank you.
Question, i purchased 4 new LED T8 Hybrids to replace the 4 Flourescents that had finally all blown. Says the bulbs work with and without the ballist. So i simply replaced them. Selected the 5000 selection and they worked for a couple hours. Then nothing. Stopped working .
Any idea why?
Fyi, lights are connected to a motion detector switch. Does that matter?
Thank you.
@@derrickhelm530 ballast driven LED bulbs are easy, that’s the only thing good about them. Taking out the ballast and hooking directly to the bulbs is the most efficient way and actually will save electricity rather than letting that old ballast suck up juice. I would take the motion detector switch, which can be tweaky, and bypass it to test the bulbs before I started working in the fixture. if I were to go in that fixture, obviously I would remove the ballast and hook the bulbs up directly to the 120 V.
Thank you. Good video. Will begin my conversion today.
Much appreciated. This is my exact setup. The current ballast went bad, so this is how I'm going to wire mine up. I have four T8 4' direct current LED bulbs. I have one question. Where do I attach the ground to the fixture? I'm pretty sure the person that wired my original florescent fixture, didn't properly ground the fixture. I say this, because I got a slight shock from touching the metal side of the fixture.
@@DDDYLN wow, you might find a loose wire feeding one of the tombstones touching the metal box. The ground wire should be well attached to the metal box (fixture itself).
@@MrHardware1 the ground wire was attached properly, but it wasn't tightened down enough. I'm actually not 100% sure I got shocked. The sheet metal edges on my fixture are so sharp, sometimes touching it with my arm feels like a shock. Whenever I'm working with live 110 V AC, my mind is always on edge about getting shocked.
@@MrHardware1 I wired up my fixture, but I need to test the continuity, to ensure all the wires in the wire nut are actually making contact with the hot and neutral wires. Instead of wiring it up over my head, I had a set of hot and neutral pigtails. I wired the neutral pigtail to the two yellow wires, and the hot pigtail to the 2 blue and 2 red wires. Before I attached the fixture to the ceiling, and attach the hot and neutral pigtails to the wires in the ceiling box, I want to ensure the wire nuts are working properly. My multimeter doesn't have a continuity tester. I was thinking the best method would be to check the resistance. As long as there's a small resistance, like 1-2 Ohms, that should verify proper continuity, right?
@@MrHardware1 I'm getting about 0.9 Ohm from each tombstone connector to the neutral pigtail coming out of the wire nut. I'd say that qualifies as good continuity. If I'm wrong, let me know. My hands shake quite a bit, so it's difficult for me to twist the wires together such that they're really tight.
@@DDDYLN you’re killingme, lol. My concern is if you have ‘shunted’ bulbs. Ones that require all the wires on one side of the fixture to be hot, and all the wires on the other side to the neutral. The correct bulbs for the wiring configuration is the most important aspect of this job. Unless any of the wires contact the frame of the fixture you are good to go. Quit testing and let the bulbs do the testing.
What bulbs/tubes do you look for at big box store for this retro-fit job ?
LED, 48”, Shunted (fed N, neutral, on one end and L, line to the opposite end). If you get a bulb w/ L & N on the same end you’ll need a 2-wire tombstone to supply it.
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.
How do you know if you have shunted or unshunted tombstones?
@@ASC-o3b by (after disconnecting the wires from the ballast) using a continuity tester, or ohm meter, check to see if the wires are shorted together or not. Sometimes you can tell visually that the 2 poles (contacts) in the tombstone aren’t connected together. Each wire goes to one pole only.
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.
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.
Very easy to understand. Thank you
What happens if you have fluorescent lights that are connected together can you do just one fixture at a time? With LEDs and leave the rest. So you don’t have to spend all the money at once on new led lights?
@@georgechalifoux4668 sure, each fixture gets supplied 120 volts in parallel, not in series, so do one at a time.