The Setting up LED tube lights is a great way to save money on electricity and bring out potentially hazardous fluorescent lights from home or office. However, the majority LED tube lights on the market today can not just be directly installed in a pre-existing fluorescent fixture. You need to make some simple modifications to the fixture to properly install the bulbs. The good thing is, that installing a LED tube light in a pre-existing fluorescent fixture is comparatively simple.
Fluorescent fixtures are made to support a specific types and size of fluorescent tube. A fluorescent tube is built into a fluorescent lighting mechanism which consists of two or three main components: (1) the fluorescent bulb (fluorescent bulb or tube), (2) the ballast, and (3) the starter device. In addition, the unit for a tube lamp includes a lamp holder and a switch. Dependent on the particular fluorescent lighting system, the starter may be a replaceable element, a starter may not be needed, or the starter function may be worked into the ballast. The starting performance may also rely on the actual design of the bulb. To retrofit a fluorescent light bulb to support a LED tube light, the ballast (and the starter if a single one is present) must be disconnected.
Be sure that the LED replacement tube lights are the right size for the fixture. Also, remember when servicing a fluorescent fixture or lamp for any reason, electrical power to the entire fixture should be detached.
You need a few simple tools, including a wire cutter and wire stripper (often incorporated into the same tool), a set of pliers, a screwdriver, and several wire nuts for reconnecting the wires once you have removed the ballast.
Once the old bulbs are taken off the lamp holders and the energy to the fixture is turned off, you will probably have to remove the reflector that is located behind the bulbs and provides a casing for the wiring and ballast that lie at the back of it. Typically, it is simple to remove the reflector or cover, but if it is not clear how to accomplish this, you should refer to the documentation from the bulb manufacturer.
If the fixture has an electronic ballast, you simply need to remove that and wire the power directly to the lamp grips, completing one electrical connection for each fixture. This is hassle-free, and usually you can use the present wire in the fixture and then just add more some wire nuts. If you have an older fixture with a magnetic ballast and starter, you will have to remove or open the starter and take away or short the magnetic ballast.
When the ballast (and starter, if one was existing) have been detached and the wires reconnected, to complete a circuit for each bulb, change the reflector or cover over the wiring and the place where the ballast was situated, and the LED tube lights can be inserted in the end sockets. Unlike fluorescent bulbs that do not effectively have a top or bottom, a LED tube light should have an obvious top and bottom, with metallic heatsink situated on the backside of the cylinder and the LEDs visible under a lens on the side which will be aimed towards the space to be lighted. Place the lid back on the fixture (if there was one) and turn on the electricity. Start the switch and if you have done everything properly, you must have a good or better brightness using practically half the energy and lasting as long as 50,000 hours or more.
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