[TR] LED tube florescent light replacements

Wed Apr 15 18:34:16 MDT 2020

About 20 years ago, when we did a total make-over of our shop, I decided to go with 8’, High Output Fluorescents. You can see them in the attached pictures. (Please excuse how disorganized the place looks) Over the years, they have worked extremely well, with about half of the fixtures with their original tubes. Over the last several years, several of the original magnetic (big & heavy) ballasts have burned out and the replacement ballasts (electronic and “energy saving”) have been installed at a cost of about $45 each which is probably more than the original fixtures. The replacement ballasts often don’t start the lamps and require several on/off cycles to get the tubes lit. Also, there is some weird interference on the radio when other electronic devices are running such as battery chargers and LED night lights that can be attributed to these replacement ballasts. By the way, don’t tell me to stop listening to AM radio! My brother has the same issue, even on FM radio!

I did a little research on my options and I ended up more confused than ever. F96T12 HO lamps have a unique bi-pin terminal that is specific to them. It is not the same as the 48” bi-pin or the 96” single pin on non-HO lamps. I found that there is so much conflicting information on which way to go with replacement LED lamps. If there was an LED tube that would fit these fixtures, that would be great - especially if the old ballasts were eliminated. But some LEDs require a “driver” and others can be installed directly. At the same time, my fixtures are 20 years old. The spring loaded tombstones are showing some blackening at each end and that may be indicative of some arcing. Looking at replacement LED fixtures, we’re talking about some serious money. I have about 30 8’ Fluorescents right now. As the saying goes, that’s a lot of six-packs!

The other concern that I have is when you specify or buy an F96T12 High Output Cool White, you know exactly what the light volume (lumens) and color rendition will be like. I think the LED scene is more wild west in nature. Some LEDs have a very narrow wavelength so the color rendition can be weird. Think of mercury vapor, high pressure sodium and low pressure sodium lights often used in parking lots that make colors non-existent. Also, I have seen many LED fixtures that produce hot spots rather than a good distribution of light. I chose the open strip fluorescents years ago since I knew I would have a painted ceiling that would act as the reflector. 

Another thing to consider is when the LED elements either burn out or go bad, do you have to replace the whole fixture or can you find just the lamp. I remember the first of the compact fluorescents that had a screw in ballast and then a 2-pin or a 4-pin tube that would get pushed into the ballast. I bet those things are now considered unobtanium. (Which is probably a good thing – they were horrible)

I guess one avenue would be to visit a new shop somewhere (like a tire shop or a dealership) where they installed LEDs and if you like them, ask about where they came from. Remember, high-bay fixtures are for ceilings 16’ and higher (about) and low bay fixtures take care of the lower ceilings. I must admit, I am a proponent of purchasing capital goods such as light fixtures from a reputable distributor that are made by a reputable manufacturer. 

Another thing that I did years ago was to split up the lighting banks so I would only need to turn on what I needed. With electric rates in Connecticut at about 20 cents per KWH, things do add up over a full day in the shop! Plus, at about 2.5 amp each, I knew that I only could have about 6 – 7 fixtures per circuit so I wouldn’t be drawing more than 80% of a 20 amp circuit. The extra lights you see over the work bench have worked well. Sight is the other thing that doesn’t work as well as you get older! One thing we do is take all of the tubes out and wash them every year or two. You can’t believe how dirty they get, especially on the top.

I admit that when a ballast goes bad in the bank that I use the most, I’ll swipe an older magnetic ballast from the part of the shop that isn’t used as much and that is where the new, “improved” ballast goes.

Hope this helps, or at least, renders more investigation.

Alex Thomson 

From: Triumphs [mailto:triumphs-bounces at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Sujit Roy
Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2020 12:31 PM
To: Triumphs
Subject: [TR] LED tube florescent light replacements

I have regular florescent tube  lights in my garage and want to replace the tubes with LED equivalents. ( I don't want to replace the fixtures) Is there anything I need to look out for. I think mine have ballasts in each.

Sujit

-- 

Sujit Roy
Cupertino, California

https://triumphstagblog.wordpress.com/

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