Yes, this guy is amazing! He provided so much detail that gave me *confidence* to do this job at home. I did focus my install the the Toggled Videos since that is the product I bought from HD. (on sale for less than 10 USD) Now, remember the golden rule, measure twice and cut once -- I completely forgot!, thankfully, I just took the extra wires and wire nuts to extend to the house wires. Also, invest in a wire cutter/stripper from HD less than 15 USD. Once you do this job, you will want to do all kinds of electrical upgrades (SIMPLE ONES LOL - leave the other stuff to the pros). Love this video!
Wow, you have the best example of this in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD. Thank you. Because of this video, I feel confident that I can change out these fixtures & remove the ballast/s. Really thank you.
Ballast ready tubes can catch fire. I've seen it happen. Yet these major manufacturers never admit it. Even tho this is a multi option tube, which is double end power, it is best to get rid of the ballast and put new sockets in. We use single end power lights. Double end power has come back recently because many of the lights sold over 5 yrs ago were double end power lights. So the fixture is wired for it already and you now pop in the new tube. You can cut the leads to the ballast tight so it never gets used again. Take out both sides of sockets. Use new sockets for the holder side and new harness kits with a disconnect on it. Harness kits should be UL listed and rated for LED tubes. Many electricians are not using proper sockets and harness kits rated for LED tube. Prime example is leviton sockets. To this day they are not allowed to be used with LED tubes. Many electricians use these and have no clue that you just voided your tube warranty. So be careful out there. Use the right sockets and harness kits. Using the old ones that have been in there for yrs may cause problems down the road. Do it right. Make it all fresh and new for your customers. Don't short cut anything. Been selling LED for over 8 yrs now. My company does it the right way.
Thanks Mr. Hardware, seems simple enough. Where I work I've been having the guys replace ballasts but I think I'll try just bulbs when I get a chance. Makes more sense.
Very well and to the point on the explanation of the different types of leds and the tombstones.No problems when i installed them in my five fixtures . Thank you.
I'm a high school custodian and were converting to LED right now. After removing the ballast, we connect the red and white wires together, then black to blue. Our fixtures have the round tombstones, but I'm not sure how they're shunted. I'm no electrician. Thanks for the video!
Fantastic!! Thank you! 3 other videos didn't explain the tombstones this way. Your way is simple. Now if I can just figure out the brightness. I'll explain my concern. I have a little desk like in the kitchen with 2 tubes about 18" long. Went to Lowes and got a 2 tube LED light. It was way way too (&^% bright. Got a 1 tube. Still pretty bright. So I took the cover from the old light and taped it, yes taped it, to the new light. Now it's just right. In my basement workshop I have 6 - 2 tube lights. they are 32 watt T8 - 48". Would any ~17 watt LED be about the same brightness?
The good thing about 48" led bulbs is you can take one out to control the amount of light w/out sacrificing electricity through a ballast. Typically I see different values of color of light, but not much in reduced lumen output.
Only one explaining if I can hook it up to 240v , fixtures says 120 to 277 but I get confused when they mark one side for load and one for neutral...thank you
You have to go to the manufacturer information for that. The wiring diagram and the requirements are there, they are so many different manufactures. I can’t instruct you and how to do each one. I’m only giving a general overview of how easy it can be.
My fixtures are just like that but I bought LED B bulbs which have the line on one end and Neutral on the other and I wired it just like you did and they are working so I assume I'm good to go correct? Again they are not the ones that work in any configuration just LED B type. What say you?
Type B is ballast bypass, you have to wire around the ballast, you can leave it there but no power gets hooked to it. I like the ones that you purchased because the power is on each end of the bulb so that you don’t have to care about wiring the hot and neutral on only one end of the bulb.
My lights were out and I took out the old ballast and rewired like you said. Everything went smoothly and the lights came right on. My GE led tubes were not marked polarity on either end so I put them in like they used to be. I turned on power and they worked. Turned off power and put everything back together, and then rechecked them and they worked. Parked my jeep under them and they went out again. I will recheck connections tomorrow, but I wonder if they may be in backwards. Also, I may buy new led 48 inch bulbs with the polarity marked.
Ha ha ha, Mr. Hardware -- our very own Fortune Teller, like you said they'd come down. Onn Amazon, I found some bulbs that were multi-connector ("Ballast Compatiable" -- just like M-HW said in his "seeing the future") and they're like $ 5-ish each now. Wow !?!?!
Mr.Hardware Thanks for the led conversion video / will this also work with single bulb fixtures. i've tried it and when i hit the power on bulb blows. I may have purchased the wrong type of bulbs since i didn't know there was more than 1 type. Thanks Ron.
When you purchase the bulbs get a schematic of the wiring required. Sometimes the bulbs have a 'L' and a 'N' stamped on the ends of the bulbs. If so you know where to attach the wires. L is black and N is white.
Got a 4 foot blacklight from spencers. Took me forever to figure this out, and came close to but gave up and went the spencers light. So with the black light florescent light, do you have a black light led bulb that would work on the light
I have a 4 wire run that is turned on at two locations. So what do I have then? Shunted or non-shunted? Same colored wire from all four tombstones. Yellow to and from, black to and from, red to and from, and blue to and from and a ballast. Thus is what has been holding me up changing these to LED's.
If it is one fixture, or several treated as one, that is switched from 2 locations you have no problem. The black and white wire coming out of the ballast are the same wires you are going to send to each end of the fixture in a shunted hookup. If power feeds the ballast, the same wires feed the new bulbs.
If I have non shunted ends can I use the same principle and wire one side to the white and the other to the black or should I connect all the yellows together and the red and blue with the black? Needless to say even simple wiring makes me paranoid
The bulb can come shunted or wired on one end. Check the instructions first because wiring is bulb sensitive. If you have a shunted bulb connect all the wires on the left to the white and all the wires on the right to the black.
My 4 light fixture is much different, it has 3 ballasts (1 electronic to each outer bulb, one rapid-start magnetic for the 2 center bulbs), and non-shunted tombstones. I was using T8 tubes but I have added "ballast compatible" LED's and the 2 outers no longer work [since I tried adding ballast compatible LED's] but the 2 centers work. The LED's literature says they can be run "ballast compatible" or "single-ended." So I guess the e-ballasts died? Now I guess I need to wire the 2 outers as single ended? How do I do that with unshunted tombstones that have 2, 3 or 4 wires each? Thanks.
If the bulbs are single end fed, meaning the black and white power wires go to one end only, you should be able to feed the non shunted tombstones with black on one contact and the white on the other. If you can get shunted led's you take all the wires from one end of the fixture and make them 'white', and then all the wires from the other side and wire nut them to the black and you don't need to touch the tombstones at all.
@@MrHardware1 Thanks! My tombstones on one end had red, blue & yellow going all the way from the left to the other end where the ballasts are and I used those wires because they were the longest... I snipped the blues on the left end and both wires on the 2 outer tubes on the right end and I connected the yellows to the neutral and the reds to the Line/black. So right now, it's working with two LED 5000k 3000lm tubes on the outer tubes "single-ended", and one T8 + one T12 Verilux plant bulb on the inners on a rapid-start magnetic ballast. I bought some Sylvania LEDs that didn't work and I bought four ELB LED 17w 5000k "T8 ballast compatible" that didn't work either, so I sent them back (they were 4/$17.87 when I bought them on 1/9 and now are 4/$39.88 on 1/24.)
At 4:29, wire nuts are put on. This step is critical. I wish it had been slowed down and more visible. As it is, I can see that the yellow wires are getting connected together, but can't see what's happening with the black and white wires.
One thing that's good about this type of bulb is if you rent. At least with this you can still go LED and not have to mess with the fixture so you and the landlord can still have good relations.
I just converted three old neon fixtures eliminating the ballasts, and rewiring the fixture. Boy those LED's are bright. Any ideas on how to tone down the brightness? Is there a different plastic cover that is made or cut to fit?
I have removed one of the bulbs when it was too bright in an area of the store, and some of them are dimmable but some aren’t. Check with your manufacturer if they are dimmable and you will have to get an LED dimmer to dim them not a regular old dimmer.
Misleading headline. It says without wiring, and then he dismisses that, and talks about rewiring. In fact, for most people, simply installing a new LED into a box while leaving the ballast in is just fine. That’s why they make these. When the ballast finally goes, then it can be rewired.
Then the headline makes no sense, and neither does the product you’re pushing here. There are plenty of LED lights for 120 fixtures. Why not use one of them instead? They’re made exclusively for that purpose. These have additional circuitry for the purpose of just replacing the old tubes. But if the headline is about tubes that just work, without rewiring the fixture, then talk about that instead. I have both types in my own shops. They all work just fine. Often, a fixture is high on a ceiling, and rewiring the fixture is a pain, and even dangerous. Taking it down first, is a real bother. If it’s a commercial shop, as opposed to a home shop, it’s costs money to replace lights. Estimates are that it costs between $10-16 to replace one tube in an overhead fixture. It costs a lot more to retire one first. The cost may not be recovered for years. It’s cheaper to just pop the LED replacement in.
He shows that the bulb can be used without doing anything but installing it but then shows how and why its better to remove the ballast and rewire, did you not witch the video? SMH.
Mr. Hardware quick question please; 1. When you cut and cap the wires and take the ballast out, how does the led bulbs get power without rewiring?? Thank you so much I have a bunch of T12 fluro 4 foots in my basement and trying to convert.
When I disconnect the ballast output wires I take all the wires to the right of the fixture and connect them to the white romex 'feed' wire that was feeding the ballast. Then all the wires going to the left side of the fixture and connect them to the black 'feed' wire that was feeding the ballast. this way black hot goes to the tombstones on the left and the white hot wire goes to the right tombstones. Easy.
Great video. Would this work with a LeD tube that says designed to be used with A Ballast? It doesn’t have Markings on ither side of the light tube.. it’s a 24 inch great value LeD if it matters. Thanks.
Well stocked hardware stores, electrical supply houses and sometimes the big boxes. I would recommend getting them locally unless you want a case of 10 because they are fragile. We can ship 10 from Gilberts.
No this is a ‘b’, made to work directly off the line voltage, usually 120 volts. More importantly is weather you purchase shunted bulbs or ‘end feed’ bulbs. Shunted are easier to re-wire.
GOOD video But. Your not telling people about the different types of LED out there...I was at home depot yesterday to buy 4 ft. bulbs and found you must read the outside print carefully..some led bulbs require you to still use the ballast...some bulbs are single ended which requires a non-stunted tombstone on one end only..some bulbs are double ended which do not require a non-shunted tombstone..note that single and double ended bulbs require ballast disconnected and removed if you like and some easy rewiring ...so bulb ID is very important...be sharp...👍
Good point and you are correct! Unfortunately, there are no standards for LED's so all manufactures are different. You just have to check each bulb and see how they are set up. Also, have a look at color temperature (K) and lumen output and choose the best for your application.
I have LED bulbs by ge T8 replacement. I have T12s. So I checked for shunting. All 4 tombstones are Non-shunted. I was able to take off the back of the tombstones without damaging to physically verify. Not knowing if the New T8 LED bulbs are single or double ended bulbs. I took a meter to it and Checked for continuity. On both ends I have checked for ohm values. I get 12-13ohms on both ends. When I take an ohm reading from end-to-end I get an open circuit. So how would I wire it up these bulbs? Do I put a black and white at each end of the light bulbs?
@@MrHardware1 I have tried the website no information for my T12s. Going to return the bulbs and look for another manufacturer. Unfortunately, I only have a Lowe's in town. Of course they only have one brand!
@@thecrittergitter7576 Not the website for the t12s, the website for the leds. We don't care about how it was, we want to send a black hot and white hot to the new leds. remove the ballast and power straight to the led, once you find their info.
@@MrHardware1 I looked up on the get website and found nothing to convert my particular brand lights. I checked the tombstones and found that they are not shunted. So my thought was to tie one end with white neutral wires and the other black hot lead.
@@thecrittergitter7576 If you have a shunted bulb the white will feed one end of the tube and the black wire will feed the other end. If they are non shunted the black and white will feed just one tombstone. How about sending the info off the bulb to me and I'll confirm the wiring. Blair@mrhardware.com
I use this same method when converting over to LED tubes in office buildings. Office buildings have a few lights that stay on all the time, even when you turn off lights at closing. These fixtures have 3 wires: red, black, and white. How do you convert these to LED?
Only use the wires that feed the old ballast. The red wire could be the switched power or the constant one. Not an issue, use the one feeding that fixture, the other wire is continuing on to feed other fixtures and leave it alone.
lets be clear.... fluorescent lights are much brighter and they have more lumens and cripser day light than the LEDs....if you compare same watt fluorescent bulb and a LED..and on top of that LED cost more example tube lights...
$13 per bulb is cheap considering that they consume 10 times less electricity than conventional fluorescent lighting and produce the same amount of light. They pay for themselves rather quickly with the money you save on your electricity bill.
Ha ha ha, Mr. Hardware, like you said they'd come down. Man, on Amazon, I found some bulbs that were multi-connector (like M-HW said) and they're like $ 5-ish each now. Wow !?!?!
The green wire is the ground which goes to the metal fixture. The ground is only to protect against a shock if the wiring goes bad in the fixture. It does not effect the bulbs in any way.
At a premium price, it is almost always better to convert into 4' bulbs. I converted my whole store from 2-8' fixtures to 4-4' fixtures. An extra $17 for the parts to convert per fixture. I believe the converted price was less expensive than getting 8' bulbs.
One major fault with your video you havnt suppled us with any links as to where to get that type of bulb. I have been all over the internet ...Amazon to Ebay and cant find the bulbs you have for 12 dollars. Only bulbs/tubes with a built in ballast for 45 bucks a piece and you have to buy them in bulk costing 200 dollars or more. You put out this vid in 2018 I think you better take a new look at the availability of T8 type LED tubes
Were you late for catching a train? What the hell was the hurry with all the fast-forwarding nonsense on removing the ballast and dealing with that spaghetti mess of wires? Also, you never explained that a "shunted" tombstone was simply one in which the two sockets were connected (jumped) with a metal conductor. And you never addressed the need, or lack of it, for polarizing the line and neutral. Does it really matter to which terminal of the fixture the tube's ends go? And if so, why?
We need to get these videos below 5 minutes, the average RUclips’er stays only 1 minute-45 seconds. Yes we cut all dead air. Of course an ‘end feed’ bulb only connects on one end where a shunted requires hot on one end and the neutral on the other. One may want to feed both tombstones so the bulb can be inserted either way…. A magic marker indicating the ‘hot’ tombstones for ‘end feed’ or marking the fixture as wired for shunted bulbs. Polarizing a tombstone is somewhat moot as the bulb installs either way.
One of the best install videos for the shunted tombstones...and two ended bulbs..
Thanks, Blair and Tim
Agreeing with George. First visit to channel, and I'm subbing. A brilliant man at work, is this Mr. Hardware ... And, I admire the Greats like him ...
Agreed.
Yes, this guy is amazing! He provided so much detail that gave me *confidence* to do this job at home. I did focus my install the the Toggled Videos since that is the product I bought from HD. (on sale for less than 10 USD) Now, remember the golden rule, measure twice and cut once -- I completely forgot!, thankfully, I just took the extra wires and wire nuts to extend to the house wires. Also, invest in a wire cutter/stripper from HD less than 15 USD. Once you do this job, you will want to do all kinds of electrical upgrades (SIMPLE ONES LOL - leave the other stuff to the pros). Love this video!
Wow, you have the best example of this in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD. Thank you. Because of this video, I feel confident that I can change out these fixtures & remove the ballast/s. Really thank you.
I was super confused by all the other videos that only addressed the side to side or the up and down wiring. I really appreciate the clarification!
Ballast ready tubes can catch fire. I've seen it happen. Yet these major manufacturers never admit it. Even tho this is a multi option tube, which is double end power, it is best to get rid of the ballast and put new sockets in. We use single end power lights. Double end power has come back recently because many of the lights sold over 5 yrs ago were double end power lights. So the fixture is wired for it already and you now pop in the new tube. You can cut the leads to the ballast tight so it never gets used again. Take out both sides of sockets. Use new sockets for the holder side and new harness kits with a disconnect on it. Harness kits should be UL listed and rated for LED tubes. Many electricians are not using proper sockets and harness kits rated for LED tube. Prime example is leviton sockets. To this day they are not allowed to be used with LED tubes. Many electricians use these and have no clue that you just voided your tube warranty. So be careful out there. Use the right sockets and harness kits. Using the old ones that have been in there for yrs may cause problems down the road. Do it right. Make it all fresh and new for your customers. Don't short cut anything. Been selling LED for over 8 yrs now. My company does it the right way.
thanks for that, Blair
I'm a master electrician of 40 yrs, I thought you did a great job, an I don't sugarcoat anything, especially on these you tube videos
This is a very good T8 lamp product. Economical and practical, deeply loved by consumers.
Thanks Mr. Hardware, seems simple enough. Where I work I've been having the guys replace ballasts but I think I'll try just bulbs when I get a chance. Makes more sense.
the Caribbean here.thank you for such a simple but informative demo
The best instruction I’ve seen and fun to watch this engaging Mr. Hardware!
Very well and to the point on the explanation of the different types of leds and the tombstones.No problems when i installed them in my five fixtures . Thank you.
very clear instruction,sir.
I just converted my friends lights in his taxidermy shop... amazing how easy and brite they are...
I'm a high school custodian and were converting to LED right now. After removing the ballast, we connect the red and white wires together, then black to blue.
Our fixtures have the round tombstones, but I'm not sure how they're shunted. I'm no electrician. Thanks for the video!
Mr Hardware. Always informative. Always timely.
Thanks!
This is the most confusing description I have ever seen.
Very good demonstration! Thank you!
Excellent. What they learn today, will be the tools of tomorrow.
Thanks, I just did this and saved a fixture.
Excellent instruction. Veryclearly explained. Thank you.
Great job, thanks for the help.
best vid yet,explained very well
Thank you Sir 😊
Thanks for your post simple straight forward
awesome... worked great as you showed in video and the lights are on...thank you
That is so simple! THANKS!
thank you very much, good instruction, my led works
Awesome video .. explaining everything which I need to know.. thanks 🙏
Single ended bulbs are the future and the best way to go. The far end tombstones are only for support. KISS principle.
Thanks Sir, you saved my ass today!
Oh man .....thanks a lot from india..
Can you please do a video on how to wire up LED lights in a non-shunted tombstone? Thank you!
Crystal clear. Great instructions
Thank you for sharing
Like & Subscribed
Thank you very much, sir.
Thanks. This was exactly what I was looking for.... looks like I have to get a ballast for this other blacklight mehhhh
Fantastic!! Thank you! 3 other videos didn't explain the tombstones this way. Your way is simple.
Now if I can just figure out the brightness. I'll explain my concern. I have a little desk like in the kitchen with 2 tubes about 18" long. Went to Lowes and got a 2 tube LED light. It was way way too (&^% bright. Got a 1 tube. Still pretty bright. So I took the cover from the old light and taped it, yes taped it, to the new light. Now it's just right.
In my basement workshop I have 6 - 2 tube lights. they are 32 watt T8 - 48". Would any ~17 watt LED be about the same brightness?
The good thing about 48" led bulbs is you can take one out to control the amount of light w/out sacrificing electricity through a ballast. Typically I see different values of color of light, but not much in reduced lumen output.
Only one explaining if I can hook it up to 240v , fixtures says 120 to 277 but I get confused when they mark one side for load and one for neutral...thank you
I have T5 48-inch bulbs I purchased that are LED.
Are they all compatible not using ballasts?
You have to go to the manufacturer information for that. The wiring diagram and the requirements are there, they are so many different manufactures. I can’t instruct you and how to do each one. I’m only giving a general overview of how easy it can be.
My fixtures are just like that but I bought LED B bulbs which have the line on one end and Neutral on the other and I wired it just like you did and they are working so I assume I'm good to go correct? Again they are not the ones that work in any configuration just LED B type. What say you?
Type B is ballast bypass, you have to wire around the ballast, you can leave it there but no power gets hooked to it. I like the ones that you purchased because the power is on each end of the bulb so that you don’t have to care about wiring the hot and neutral on only one end of the bulb.
My lights were out and I took out the old ballast and rewired like you said. Everything went smoothly and the lights came right on. My GE led tubes were not marked polarity on either end so I put them in like they used to be. I turned on power and they worked. Turned off power and put everything back together, and then rechecked them and they worked. Parked my jeep under them and they went out again. I will recheck connections tomorrow, but I wonder if they may be in backwards. Also, I may buy new led 48 inch bulbs with the polarity marked.
I am guessing that a wire nut connection may not be tight enough.
Ordered new led bulbs that had a diagram showing wiring required, They will fix it. My wire nuts were fine and voltage was fine.
you are the best!!!
Thanks.
Ha ha ha, Mr. Hardware -- our very own Fortune Teller, like you said they'd come down. Onn Amazon, I found some bulbs that were multi-connector ("Ballast Compatiable" -- just like M-HW said in his "seeing the future") and they're like $ 5-ish each now. Wow !?!?!
I just bought some for $15 each at Home Depot. I had to buy four
Great job. Subbed/liked
Awesome video.
Mr.Hardware Thanks for the led conversion video / will this also work with single bulb fixtures. i've tried it and when i hit the power on bulb blows. I may have purchased the wrong type of bulbs since i didn't know there was more than 1 type. Thanks Ron.
When you purchase the bulbs get a schematic of the wiring required. Sometimes the bulbs have a 'L' and a 'N' stamped on the ends of the bulbs. If so you know where to attach the wires. L is black and N is white.
Got a 4 foot blacklight from spencers. Took me forever to figure this out, and came close to but gave up and went the spencers light. So with the black light florescent light, do you have a black light led bulb that would work on the light
We do not, but when you find one be sure to get a wiring diagram to insure you wire it properly.
I have a 4 wire run that is turned on at two locations. So what do I have then? Shunted or non-shunted? Same colored wire from all four tombstones. Yellow to and from, black to and from, red to and from, and blue to and from and a ballast. Thus is what has been holding me up changing these to LED's.
If it is one fixture, or several treated as one, that is switched from 2 locations you have no problem. The black and white wire coming out of the ballast are the same wires you are going to send to each end of the fixture in a shunted hookup. If power feeds the ballast, the same wires feed the new bulbs.
If I have non shunted ends can I use the same principle and wire one side to the white and the other to the black
or should I connect all the yellows together and the red and blue with the black?
Needless to say even simple wiring makes me paranoid
The bulb can come shunted or wired on one end. Check the instructions first because wiring is bulb sensitive. If you have a shunted bulb connect all the wires on the left to the white and all the wires on the right to the black.
My 4 light fixture is much different, it has 3 ballasts (1 electronic to each outer bulb, one rapid-start magnetic for the 2 center bulbs), and non-shunted tombstones. I was using T8 tubes but I have added "ballast compatible" LED's and the 2 outers no longer work [since I tried adding ballast compatible LED's] but the 2 centers work. The LED's literature says they can be run "ballast compatible" or "single-ended." So I guess the e-ballasts died? Now I guess I need to wire the 2 outers as single ended? How do I do that with unshunted tombstones that have 2, 3 or 4 wires each? Thanks.
If the bulbs are single end fed, meaning the black and white power wires go to one end only, you should be able to feed the non shunted tombstones with black on one contact and the white on the other. If you can get shunted led's you take all the wires from one end of the fixture and make them 'white', and then all the wires from the other side and wire nut them to the black and you don't need to touch the tombstones at all.
@@MrHardware1 Thanks! My tombstones on one end had red, blue & yellow going all the way from the left to the other end where the ballasts are and I used those wires because they were the longest... I snipped the blues on the left end and both wires on the 2 outer tubes on the right end and I connected the yellows to the neutral and the reds to the Line/black.
So right now, it's working with two LED 5000k 3000lm tubes on the outer tubes "single-ended", and one T8 + one T12 Verilux plant bulb on the inners on a rapid-start magnetic ballast. I bought some Sylvania LEDs that didn't work and I bought four ELB LED 17w 5000k "T8 ballast compatible" that didn't work either, so I sent them back (they were 4/$17.87 when I bought them on 1/9 and now are 4/$39.88 on 1/24.)
At 4:29, wire nuts are put on. This step is critical. I wish it had been slowed down and more visible. As it is, I can see that the yellow wires are getting connected together, but can't see what's happening with the black and white wires.
Apparently I have the wrong type of LED bulb. They come on very dimly. I couldn't find any info on what was Line or Neutral.
One thing that's good about this type of bulb is if you rent. At least with this you can still go LED and not have to mess with the fixture so you and the landlord can still have good relations.
Ok so it works for one tube, but if you put two, only one stays lit ?
I just converted three old neon fixtures eliminating the ballasts, and rewiring the fixture. Boy those LED's are bright. Any ideas on how to tone down the brightness? Is there a different plastic cover that is made or cut to fit?
I have removed one of the bulbs when it was too bright in an area of the store, and some of them are dimmable but some aren’t. Check with your manufacturer if they are dimmable and you will have to get an LED dimmer to dim them not a regular old dimmer.
@@MrHardware1 Thanks for the reply. I will specify LED bulb specific dimmer. THUMBS UP!!
My concern is what do I do with the old ballast?
They should have a lot of copper in them, and should be recyclable.
GOOD STUFF ! JUST SUBSCRIBED !
Always love your videos. Very informative. 😀
What kind of wire do you use for the conversion? Ik there’s a ton of different types.
16 gauge thhn stranded wire. Nothing too thin.
Misleading headline. It says without wiring, and then he dismisses that, and talks about rewiring. In fact, for most people, simply installing a new LED into a box while leaving the ballast in is just fine. That’s why they make these. When the ballast finally goes, then it can be rewired.
Do it right the first time... besides, why waste electricity on that ballast when you can eliminate it?
Then the headline makes no sense, and neither does the product you’re pushing here. There are plenty of LED lights for 120 fixtures. Why not use one of them instead? They’re made exclusively for that purpose. These have additional circuitry for the purpose of just replacing the old tubes.
But if the headline is about tubes that just work, without rewiring the fixture, then talk about that instead. I have both types in my own shops. They all work just fine. Often, a fixture is high on a ceiling, and rewiring the fixture is a pain, and even dangerous. Taking it down first, is a real bother. If it’s a commercial shop, as opposed to a home shop, it’s costs money to replace lights. Estimates are that it costs between $10-16 to replace one tube in an overhead fixture. It costs a lot more to retire one first. The cost may not be recovered for years. It’s cheaper to just pop the LED replacement in.
He shows that the bulb can be used without doing anything but installing it but then shows how and why its better to remove the ballast and rewire, did you not witch the video? SMH.
Mr. Hardware quick question please;
1. When you cut and cap the wires and take the ballast out, how does the led bulbs get power without rewiring??
Thank you so much I have a bunch of T12 fluro 4 foots in my basement and trying to convert.
When I disconnect the ballast output wires I take all the wires to the right of the fixture and connect them to the white romex 'feed' wire that was feeding the ballast. Then all the wires going to the left side of the fixture and connect them to the black 'feed' wire that was feeding the ballast. this way black hot goes to the tombstones on the left and the white hot wire goes to the right tombstones. Easy.
I went with direct wired Toggled LED's and they include the tombstones if you need them which I didn't need. All I had to do was wire up one end.
Exactly, homedepot
Great video. Would this work with a LeD tube that says designed to be used with A Ballast? It doesn’t have Markings on ither side of the light tube.. it’s a 24 inch great value LeD if it matters. Thanks.
I doubt it. You'll have to bing search it and see if the mfg comes up. The early ones I played with were ballast only. Blair
How can I convert my fluorescent fitting with emergency using led bulb
I don’t understand, emergency what?
In my case I am in a rental unit where I am not allowed to change the fixture and remove the ballast. So my only option is a direct bulb replacement.
Hi Mr hardware,thanks for the video , where can I buy that led?
Well stocked hardware stores, electrical supply houses and sometimes the big boxes. I would recommend getting them locally unless you want a case of 10 because they are fragile. We can ship 10 from Gilberts.
So is this the type ab?
No this is a ‘b’, made to work directly off the line voltage, usually 120 volts. More importantly is weather you purchase shunted bulbs or ‘end feed’ bulbs. Shunted are easier to re-wire.
just a question what can I do with the old Ballast?
Save it for your cities once a year hazardous waste collection
Fantabulosa :)
did your replaced the thumbs for retrofit
No, I’m showing how to wire to shunted tombstones. Saves having to replace the tombstones.
Where can I get a 20 inch led tube
GOOD video But. Your not telling people about the different types of LED out there...I was at home depot yesterday to buy 4 ft. bulbs and found you must read the outside print carefully..some led bulbs require you to still use the ballast...some bulbs are single ended which requires a non-stunted tombstone on one end only..some bulbs are double ended which do not require a non-shunted tombstone..note that single and double ended bulbs require ballast disconnected and removed if you like and some easy rewiring ...so bulb ID is very important...be sharp...👍
Good point and you are correct! Unfortunately, there are no standards for LED's so all manufactures are different. You just have to check each bulb and see how they are set up. Also, have a look at color temperature (K) and lumen output and choose the best for your application.
Is theLED fluorescent light bulb ballast dependent?
You can get ‘ballast’ led’s, but I prefer to eliminate the ballast, it’s wasting electricity.
I have LED bulbs by ge T8 replacement. I have T12s. So I checked for shunting. All 4 tombstones are Non-shunted. I was able to take off the back of the tombstones without damaging to physically verify. Not knowing if the New T8 LED bulbs are single or double ended bulbs. I took a meter to it and Checked for continuity. On both ends I have checked for ohm values. I get 12-13ohms on both ends. When I take an ohm reading from end-to-end I get an open circuit. So how would I wire it up these bulbs? Do I put a black and white at each end of the light bulbs?
I would not trust a meter on an led bulb. The readings are not simple. Get the info from GE, easy and safer.
@@MrHardware1 I have tried the website no information for my T12s. Going to return the bulbs and look for another manufacturer. Unfortunately, I only have a Lowe's in town. Of course they only have one brand!
@@thecrittergitter7576 Not the website for the t12s, the website for the leds. We don't care about how it was, we want to send a black hot and white hot to the new leds. remove the ballast and power straight to the led, once you find their info.
@@MrHardware1 I looked up on the get website and found nothing to convert my particular brand lights. I checked the tombstones and found that they are not shunted. So my thought was to tie one end with white neutral wires and the other black hot lead.
@@thecrittergitter7576 If you have a shunted bulb the white will feed one end of the tube and the black wire will feed the other end. If they are non shunted the black and white will feed just one tombstone. How about sending the info off the bulb to me and I'll confirm the wiring. Blair@mrhardware.com
Same principle will apply with hanging shop light that I plug into 110 outlet?
yes, that is what we are using in the demo.
I use this same method when converting over to LED tubes in office buildings. Office buildings have a few lights that stay on all the time, even when you turn off lights at closing. These fixtures have 3 wires: red, black, and white. How do you convert these to LED?
Only use the wires that feed the old ballast. The red wire could be the switched power or the constant one. Not an issue, use the one feeding that fixture, the other wire is continuing on to feed other fixtures and leave it alone.
@@MrHardware1 The black and white was feeding the ballast and the red had a wire nut. So I did not use the red and only 1 of the 4 bulbs worked
@@dravenfrost248 A picture of the fixture wiring is required for me to go further. The gauge of the red wire will spell it all out for me.
Is it a type A or B?
lets be clear.... fluorescent lights are much brighter and they have more lumens and cripser day light than the LEDs....if you compare same watt fluorescent bulb and a LED..and on top of that LED cost more example tube lights...
Has anyone come across dimmable direct line t8 LED replacements?
The sylvania ledlescent bulbs don't require you to redo any tombstones.
$13 per bulb is cheap considering that they consume 10 times less electricity than conventional fluorescent lighting and produce the same amount of light. They pay for themselves rather quickly with the money you save on your electricity bill.
What kind of bulbs did you use?
Satco, but I'm hoping for a non China brand soon.
Lol, it goes both ways
What's a rough estimate cost of replacing one fluorescent fixture of 4 tubes to LED?
$50
Ha ha ha, Mr. Hardware, like you said they'd come down. Man, on Amazon, I found some bulbs that were multi-connector (like M-HW said) and they're like $ 5-ish each now. Wow !?!?!
What did he do with the green wire?
The green wire is the ground which goes to the metal fixture. The ground is only to protect against a shock if the wiring goes bad in the fixture. It does not effect the bulbs in any way.
@@MrHardware1 thank you
Do these bulbs come in 8' size ?
At a premium price, it is almost always better to convert into 4' bulbs. I converted my whole store from 2-8' fixtures to 4-4' fixtures. An extra $17 for the parts to convert per fixture. I believe the converted price was less expensive than getting 8' bulbs.
When using ballast driven LED tubes ( UL type A), the ballast should last longer due to less loading and thus run even cooler.
Mine took a crap after a few years, at least a couple of them did.
@@jstar1000 Only twice I've had that happen of the dozens I have installed like that.
@@jolyonwelsh9834 I have six in my garage and two of them went out recently and the reason I'm moving to ballast bypass.
@@jstar1000 There's no no reason why not. Over 90% of the LED retrofits I perform are ballast bypass.
Hello Mr Hardware , would this apply to the UK lights? Great video... kind regards Danny UK
As long as you can get 220v bulbs there. That is your standard voltage right?
@@MrHardware1 yes 👍
Well you haven't tested it if it will work or not.
Yeah did, did you not watch the video?
whoaaa too fast on the important re wiring part
Let's have a diagram, please
There are different wirings for some bulbs. Get one from your bulb manufacturer
One major fault with your video you havnt suppled us with any links as to where to get that type of bulb. I have been all over the internet ...Amazon to Ebay and cant find the bulbs you have for 12 dollars. Only bulbs/tubes with a built in ballast for 45 bucks a piece and you have to buy them in bulk costing 200 dollars or more. You put out this vid in 2018 I think you better take a new look at the availability of T8 type LED tubes
You can call our store 586-776-9532 and we can ship to you. We'll be adding them to our cart asap. Thanks and sorry but we can fix.
Bad idea. Lose & bypass that faiing, energy-hogging ballast.
dual mode sucks, so does satco
Already obsolete lamps .
Don't time lapse through cutting wires. That's important to show.
Use the Wago connectors sir, vastly superior, we dont even allow wire nuts on our jobs anymore.
Hire a licensed electrician don’t make it a hobby🤔
"just watch me as I go"
Time lapse X4 🤦♂️
Were you late for catching a train? What the hell was the hurry with all the fast-forwarding nonsense on removing the ballast and dealing with that spaghetti mess of wires?
Also, you never explained that a "shunted" tombstone was simply one in which the two sockets were connected (jumped) with a metal conductor.
And you never addressed the need, or lack of it, for polarizing the line and neutral. Does it really matter to which terminal of the fixture the tube's ends go? And if so, why?
We need to get these videos below 5 minutes, the average RUclips’er stays only 1 minute-45 seconds. Yes we cut all dead air.
Of course an ‘end feed’ bulb only connects on one end where a shunted requires hot on one end and the neutral on the other. One may want to feed both tombstones so the bulb can be inserted either way…. A magic marker indicating the ‘hot’ tombstones for ‘end feed’ or marking the fixture as wired for shunted bulbs.
Polarizing a tombstone is somewhat moot as the bulb installs either way.