Lighting

[berry]

This may be of interest to some members, sorry no pics, too focused on the project.

I entered our master bath last week flipped the switch and nothing. The circuit also has a light in the shower and that was fine. The fixture is a 10 year old 4 bulb - 4 foot fluorescent, with T-8 bulbs. It wasn't hard to figure out the ballast was bad. Ballasts aren't cheap, about $25, there is a fair amount of wiring to replace them, and their durability is always suspect so...... I decided to try one of those conversion kits to change over the lamp to LED.

There are a couple different kits on the market but only one at the Menards store. Each bulb is it's own kit. There is a LED bulb and two el cheapo wire connectors. Here are the steps:

Turn off the power to the circuit
Remove the diffuser
Remove the cover plate that hides the ballast and wiring
Cut the wires to all the 'tombstones'
Unscrew the wire nuts from the hot and neutral leads coming to the lamp
and remove the ballast
Remove the bulbs
(On the kit I purchased the ends of the bulbs do not conduct the power they are just 2-prong plastic pieces that fit in the 'tombstones'. The wiring comes directly out of the glass of the bulb about 4-5 inches from one end. The harness is about about 3 feet long.)
The hot and neutral from each of the 4 bulbs has to get under the cover plate that used to cover the ballast. You either have to drill a hole(s) for the wire or what I did was cut an inch and half from on end with tin snips. I covered the cut end of the cover plate with duct tape so there was no chance the wire could short out.
Install the new bulbs
Group all the hot wires together into one of the wire connectors or a wire nut and all the neutrals into another
Add the hot and neutral leads coming into the lamp to the correct connector
Re-install the cover plate and diffuser

It was a bit of work but no more than replacing the ballast would have been. Given the supposed life of LED bulbs I should never have to look at this fixture in what's left of my life. The light itself is exactly like the bulbs that were replaced. This was NOT cheap deal at $29/unit. Before I'd do another I think I'll wait and see if the price point moves into a more 'blue collar' neighborhood.

I'm anxious to see how this works over time.

Thanks for reading.

[moggymatt]

So does that mean you purchase 4 unis for your light fixture?

[berry]

So does that mean you purchase 4 unis for your light fixture?

You got it.

[moggymatt]

I couldn't do it. I'd have to risk going through 5 ballasts over the next 50 years before "converting".