Thread: Workshop LIghting .. LED Replacements for Fluoroescent Tubes

Just got my new LED - fluoro replacements.

In my previous post I said the average power draw per fluoro tube for the 10 tubes was ~65W!
If you recall it turns out some of the lamps had ballast issues and started looking into buying some new ones, but instead I decided to just put the $$$ towards LED fluoros instead.

Removed the starters and just replaced the tubes and this gave an average draw of 46W - hardly anything to crow about.
Checking the individual lights I found the light with no ballasts and no cap drew 19W!!!!
So I removed all the caps and all the ballasts and TA-DA . . . . . . average draw is now 17W.

BTW as I was removing some of the ballasts the plastic housing just crumbled in my hands suggesting they had all clearly seen better days.

Lesson here is if you wish to ensure you get the benefit of reduced power consumption remove any old ballasts.

Originally Posted by BobL

So I removed all the caps and all the ballasts and TA-DA . . . . . . average draw is now 17W..

Nice work Bob, what brand did you end up getting?

I was thinking that the caps would only be 2W per tube at best... I might try clipping them out tomorrow and see what happens to the current.

Ray

Originally Posted by RayG

Nice work Bob, what brand did you end up getting?

Thanks Ray, Brand is same as yours

I was thinking that the caps would only be 2W per tube at best... I might try clipping them out tomorrow and see what happens to the current.

I'm so happy with them I'm going to order another pack,
There are %3 more tubes in the shed/house to replace, plus my son wants two and that leaves a few spares.

Well I had the need to replace some tubes in my fluros...so why not I thought...fit T8 led tubes...went to wholesaler and although they were more expensive than the ones RG is using .... I must say I am sort of happy with them

Ok the distribute the lumens more downward that a std fluro but I reckon they still lack a little which got me looking for tubes with more lumens

Found these on aliexpress

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/prod...1657166618.htm

Also found a many sites in USA which have or provide the 25/26w T8 led tubes in 1200/4ft...wonder why we cant get them here?...we only seem to have 18/20w and around 2000 lumen output as compared to 2500lumens...

mmm....I reckon an extra led tube ( a tripple fluro so to speak at 2000 lumens each) is going to help my aging eyes while still being able to lower consumption. But if we could get the 25w tubes I might not need the extra tube. I could stay with doubles instead of tripples?

Finished the conversion of all fluros to led T8 tubes.

it is bloody great to be able to see again...

Although all my old fluorescent tubes were daylight type and were, or at least I believed them to be working (apart from 2 which were blackening at the ends and one could see the differnce between them and the others) they were in fact all shot. Their lumens output having dropped over time and I had never noticed.

The led tubes have hopefully fixed that for good.

The lux levels directly below the twin 6000k led tubes at chest height is around 80-100 lux more than the 3000k led tubes.

Hi,

Thinking of getting some of these to try out. Notice there are 3 types of colour temperatures available.

4000K Office White
6500K Daylight White
4000K Cool White

Not sure which ones to get, but would think the ones that provide the most light would be best? I would assume the 6500K?

Thanks

Originally Posted by Com_VC

Hi,
Not sure which ones to get, but would think the ones that provide the most light would be best? I would assume the 6500K?

The extra light has to be traded off against what colour you prefer. I found 6000+K fluoros be a bit wearing when I'm in the shed all day so I went with the warmer LEDs and I'm finding them a bit easier overall.

Originally Posted by BobL

The extra light has to be traded off against what colour you prefer. I found 6000+K fluoros be a bit wearing when I'm in the shed all day so I went with the warmer LEDs and I'm finding them a bit easier overall.

I couldn't make up my mind either so I bought a 5m roll of each to try out a mixture. On a recent visit to the old exhibition build in Melbourne I noticed alternate daylight/white in their large fixtures. So it seems the pro's cant make up their minds either.

Stuart

As i was initially testing so to speak i bought 3000k tubes and they appeared very yellow
the next 2 were the 6000k and they were a lot brighter but also whiteish....but not too cold....my lamps are at 2.7m from the floor
I then mixed the 3000k with a 6000k in the same fitting and it improved the colour aspect....but i must admit i do prefer the 6000k as it does add the extra lux

However if i had to do this again i would just splurge out on 1500mm twin tube fluro fittings as opposed to 1200mm and convert to accept led tubes as the 1500 give off more lumens giving more lux at any height you want to pick

I have old style Fluorescent fittings with the magnetic ballast which I will be adding these AEG tubes to. Is there any advantage in removing the ballast, or should I should leave it as it is?

Originally Posted by Com_VC

I have old style Fluorescent fittings with the magnetic ballast which I will be adding these AEG tubes to. Is there any advantage in removing the ballast, or should I should leave it as it is?

Yes removed the caps and the ballasts - see my previous post on this.

Originally Posted by BobL

Yes removed the caps and the ballasts - see my previous post on this.

yep.

The tubes I got had a fuse to replace the starter...easy as
The Haneco tubes also allow you to turn the led section only while leaving the pins horizontal giving some sort of directional output...almost 70-80 degrees i reckon

Originally Posted by eskimo

yep.

The tubes I got had a fuse to replace the starter...easy as
The Haneco tubes also allow you to turn the led section only while leaving the pins horizontal giving some sort of directional output...almost 70-80 degrees i reckon

Have you measured the current draw of a whole lamp?

If ballasts are left in the lamp circuit they will still draw power and make heat. The difference can be more than double the Wattage consumption (46 V 17W)

Originally Posted by BobL

Have you measured the current draw of a whole lamp?

If ballasts are left in the lamp circuit they will still draw power and make heat. The difference can be more than double the Wattage consumption (46 V 17W)

the "YEP" was acknowledging removal of cap and ballast Bob