Replacing Flourescent Tubes with LED tubes

[Tony JeffreeParticipant @tonyjeffree56510]

I have just replaced the tubes in 2 double 5' fluo fittings in my workshop with these:

https://www.lightbulbs-direct.com/crompton-24w-daylight-t8-glass-led-tube-light-5ft/

They were on offer at a tenner a go – they come with an "LED starter" which basically is just a shorting link in a starter capsule, and comprehensive instructions; you swap the starter, fit the tube, and away it goes. My impression is that the light output is brighter and "cleaner" than the old tubes, and of course you lose the fluorescent noise.

I also fitted the upper floor of the workshop with 4 of these:

The floor area is approx 4.5 metres square and these give a very bright light – feels like daylight in the room even before painting the walls and ceiling white.

I have tried the long strips of LEDs that supposedly stick to any surface; they are working reasonably well in my 12' X 16' shed, but two 5-metre strips isn't really enough to properly light the space and the sticky stuff on the back of the strip isn't up to the job. Solved with lots of plastic clips and squirts of transparent silicone gunk but if I was doing it again I would go for the batten lights above.

[JohnFParticipant @johnf59703]

Hi all here are a couple of photos showing the LED lights we fitted to our new establishment

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

Firstly I'm no electrician.. just the basic stuff.

I got pigged off with the strip lights in my shed dying.. the tubes are fine so it seems to be the electronic ballasts that go. Last time i switched out the fitting for a new 6 foot one but recently a second failed. So I figured LED would be the way to go.

A cursory look at internet showed a couple of simple rewiring circuits and also implied that led tubes will come with a diagram – Ha!.

The one I bought off ebay arrived promptly today. No diagram and no markings to suggest one end might be different to the other except for basic voltage/wattage and CE ROHS markings. Looking back on the web there seem to be several types of LED tube lights out there. The original listing for mine on ebay did state that for fittings with a starter then that should be removed. No suggestion of replacing with an LED fuse as some types suggest.

To me that implied that unless there was some fancy circuitry inside then it was likely simply positive one end and -ve the other end of the tube. A simple audible circuit tester confirmed continuity between the pin pairs at each end.

Therefore i wired this one +ve to both pins at the end with writing on it and -ve to both pins at the other end. It works.

For the wiring itself i unclipped the wires from the ballast and removed it. The end I designated +ve i shortened the wires in the end fitting and popped them in the incoming connector. The bits i'd cut off were just long enough to use from the other terminal to the wires to the other end cap.. bridged in this case 'cos it's all i had .. with insulated crimp spade terminals. The earth that used to go to the ballast now goes to one of the redundant ballast fixing screws.

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