Fluorescent light question

[DocSavage]

I have a shop light in my cellar I just replace bulbs with compatible LEDs. All the other fixtures had the ballast removed installed new LEDs.

[Mal Paso]

When you touch the tube your capacitance to ground stimulates the arc inside the tube that generates the uv that stimulates the florescent material on the inside of the tube to produce visible light.

I vote for costco shop lights for $20 or less.

Sometimes capacitance to ground will cause a LED shoplight over a cement floor to glow a little when shut off. Sometimes reversing the plug will fix it.

[Finster101]

When you touch the tube your capacitance to ground stimulates the arc inside the tube that generates the uv that stimulates the florescent material on the inside of the tube to produce visible light.

I vote for costco shop lights for $20 or less.

Sometimes capacitance to ground will cause a LED shoplight over a cement floor to glow a little when shut off. Sometimes reversing the plug will fix it.

That is interesting. I have a couple that do it. No way to reverse the plug though, they are three pin.

[farmbif]

usually if you open it up, the light fixture, you will probably encounter plastic covered wire nuts connecting the fixtures wires to the plug wire. if you reverse them just leave the ground wire alone. I dont know about anyone else but ive got boxes of fluorescent tubes and a bunch of fixtures., they still work, dont see much reason to buy something new to replace something that still does what its supposed to do. I dont understand the logic of new sometimes, to do what send more of my money over to china to get the latest greatest stuff. if I were to get new led stuff what would I do with the florescent fixtures I got now, send them to the dump?
maybe I could apply the logic to guns
the 30-06 is no good anymore, cuz its old and the shell uses a lot of powder, a lot more the new 6.5 creed moor that all the gun magazines have super stories about, yeah I better take that old 30-06 and put it in the trash can cuz I got me a new fangled latest greatest super wiz bang 6.5. the bullets use less lead and the shells takes less powder.

[GhostHawk]

"5000 Lumen 4 ft. LED Hanging Shop Light"
https://www.harborfreight.com/5000-l...ght-64410.html

It is a single strip LED light that puts out a LOT of light.
Just need a plugin handy or an extention cord. Comes wired with a pull chain switch in the light.

I used a pair of these for a Hydroponics project, worked great.
Now I have them all over the house.

[JRLesan]

Interesting; I have a two bulb 'rapid start' fixture (96" single pin tubes) that does the same thing. However, I don't have to touch the bulb(s) with my finger. Just get very close (1/8" or so) and they both light up. Always kinda wondered what was going on but ruled out loose connection somewhere when I noticed I didn't have to touch the bulb...

[smoked turkey]

I'm in the middle of a lighting upgrade project here. Basically i'm keeping my 48" tube four bulb drop in troffer fixtures. They are heavy duty commercial grade that are far and away better than the the cheap junk being sold now. So it is my opinion that going with a rewired ballast free fixture with LEDs is the best way for me to go and is a definite upgrade from the old 40 watt florescents I had. The replacement tubes can be had for about $5 each. The T8 tubes will work on the T12 sockets, so no problem there. I'm converting a 4 tube florescent to a 4 tube LED for $20. My labor for the project is free to me. So the bottom line is that if your fixtures are some of the old good ones, keep them in place and convert them to no ballest LEDs.

[JSnover]

Now that the question has been answered I don't feel so bad about hijacking the thread... so here's my question: I replaced ballasts in my garage a while ago. They were probably late 70s vintage and all were marked for industrial use only - not for residential installation. I would have expected the opposite; that residential ballasts couldn't used in industrial locations. Any idea what the difference was?

[Dieselhorses]

Evidently LED bulbs work even if you don't remove ballasts lol

[Ithaca Gunner]

Evidently LED bulbs work even if you don't remove ballasts lol

They will, they won't last as long.

[one-eyed fat man]

Some LED fixtures do not comply with FCC Part 15 requirements. "Cheap" LED lights often have spurious emissions that can cause trouble with radio communications.

[GregLaROCHE]

For me the big difference is that LEDs consume a lot less electricity. They are are supposed to last longer, but I’ve had a couple that didn’t last long at all.

[smoked turkey]

Speaking about post #28 concerning the replacement of ballast with commercial ones. In my experience a ballast is a ballast. The commercial variety concerns mounting the ballast in the fixture. Mine slide into pre-made tabs on one end and are held in the fixture with nuts on the opposite end. So I think it is simply a mechanical difference in the mounting. The older magnetic ballast are bad about leaking the black compound which leaks out with heat over time. The newer solid state ballast are lighter and will usually slip right in where the older magnetic type was. Sometimes the solid state ones are shorter than the older magnetic type and may need to be fitted into the old position. If the newer solid state ballasts are compatible with LEDs it will state such on the wiring diagram of the ballast. However I think a program of eliminating the ballast and replacement with no ballast LEDs is the way to go if the fixtures in question are of good quality.

[gwpercle]

I think more like putting a piece of bacon on the rabbit ears so you could get that one channel.

More like getting the youngest child to stand next to the TV and touch the rabbit ear ...
No way in heck my Mom Or Dad would stand for wasting good bacon when you had perfectly good kids around that worked just as good as TV reception inhancers ... Bacon was not wasted in our house ... as long as my little brother would hold the antenna we could watch Three stations ... although one station was "snowy" ... we could hear it good !
Gary

[Keyman]

I replaced all my florescent fixtures with LED fixtures as it costs .90 cents per kWh in bush Alaska. They also will start at 50 below zero, and very bright.

[Duckiller]

Moved about a year ago. New house had a large shop with floresent lights. About half of them worked. Previous owner said some of them never worked. #2 son who works for the company that provides power said switch to LED. Cheaper and better light. I did. Told contractor that if all lights didn't work I wasn't going to pay him. He laughed. All lights now work and I have great light. Not sure about cost because #2 son pays electric bill.

[Finster101]

I replaced all my florescent fixtures with LED fixtures as it costs .90 cents per kWh in bush Alaska. They also will start at 50 below zero, and very bright.

I don't ever plan to try and confirm that first hand.

[Keyman]

What part, the 50 below, or the 90 cents?

[Finster101]

I'm in Florida! Do you really need to ask?

[15meter]

That is interesting. I have a couple that do it. No way to reverse the plug though, they are three pin.

Maybe need to check the polarity on the outlets that have lights that glow? My house was wired by a guy that put what ever wire came to hand first to what ever screw was easiest to get to first.

I replaced virtually every plug in my house almost immediately after moving in. Prior owner's painting technique was roll right over outlet, cover and all. That's how I found out about his wiring ability.
It was pretty ugly.

But not quite as bad as his carpentry work. I replaced the patio door several years after moving in. The seals on the thermopane glass had gone away. He had used 8" landscape spikes to mount the door.

Most of his carpentry used was what ever nails he happened to steal from FoMoCo that week. Just curious where they used the landscape spikes at in a Ford stamping plant.