Thread: Is There An Electrician In The House ?

So do they run on the old ballasts? Where do you get them?

Originally Posted by sharptonn

So do they run on the old ballasts? Where do you get them?

No. An electronic ballast is required.

I got mine from Menards. $99 for a 10pk. (Standard Fluorescent style T-8's run $75 for 10pk)

Whatever you do, don't let the smoke out of the ballast or any other electric component...hard to get it back in.

Originally Posted by AcesandEights

What wire do you have? Pic, if nothing else.

One of the wires is white, another is black, no green ...........

What has happened is ..... a neighbor is pretty handy. I mentioned this to him and he had two 6' bulbs brand new that he isn't going to use. Gave them to me and now that fixture is working fine.

I am still thinking of replacing the other 8' fixture with a 4' T8. I don't want to use LEDs. I've read a lot about the pros and cons, I just would rather go with the old technology.

A problem I am having is the junky fixtures available at home depot, lowes. I even tried a semi pro electrical supply, and what they carried was junk too. The old USA made fixtures I have, that were installed in 1980, are heavy duty.

I want something built like that, if it is even possible nowadays.

Yup, hear you.

I put 8 LED’s in my shop, 2 car garage and it is not enough light, thinking of going back to fluorescents over the task areas.

I had T8’s in my last shop and liked them, lots of bright light. You can find old school, 8’ft fluorescent’s cheap, on Craig’s List, put 4 in my sons garage, Ace Hardware still carries bulbs.

I put nine 45 watt LEDs in my 3 car garage.

It is very bright.

Originally Posted by rolodave

I put nine 45 watt LEDs in my 3 car garage.

It is very bright.

Are they 45 watt or 45 watt equivalent and use only 2? I just pulled those numbers out of my you know what but the advertising on the LED's is purposely confusing I think.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Yup, hear you.

I put 8 LED’s in my shop, 2 car garage and it is not enough light, thinking of going back to fluorescents over the task areas.

I had T8’s in my last shop and liked them, lots of bright light. You can find old school, 8’ft fluorescent’s cheap, on Craig’s List, put 4 in my sons garage, Ace Hardware still carries bulbs.

I think the thing about LEDs is that there's such a HUGE variety in bulbs, fixtures, etc. My shop is lit mostly by LED and I couldn't be happier - particularly when it gets cold. There's no waiting for them to warm up like there is with florescent lights.

I'm actually in the process of figuring out what the heck kind of LED configuration I could use to replace the 48" florescent fixture above the workbench. It hasn't been working well since some nail gun action shook the bulbs out a while back.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Simple job really. Condo built in 1980. Kitchen cabinets L shape, a 6' fluorescent 2 bulb on the short leg, 8' fluorescent fixture on the long leg, not working, and I don't want that long thing up there anyway. These are laying bulbs up, on top of the cabinets.

A concrete ceiling, so I just as soon replace the long one with a 4' T8 fluorescent fixture, I don't want LED. So googling around I found an outfit called 'American Fluorescent, assembled in USA. I had gone to home depot and the lithonia made in Mexico fixture got poor reviews on amazon.

The installation instructions say that buildings before 1985 have wire rated at 60C, and this fixture needs feed wire rated at 90C. So how do I know what I have ? How much does it matter ?

I've wired outlets, ceiling fans, odds and ends. So I'm not clueless about it, and feel competent to do a simple thing like this. Any info would be appreciated.

OK so here's the deal, the fixture mfg. Has done what is called derate or adjust for
temperature, the temperature near the ballast may be high causing the wire to get hot as well
The hotter the wire the less ampacity it can carry, so the mfg has specified 90° wire to account for the increased temp., The increased temp can also break down the insulation, this is the biggest reason to derate.
All you have to do is put the old wire in a junction box and take a short piece of new wire to the fixtures, 1 4x4 metal box, blank plate and 2 Romex connectors and some wire nuts, and your good to go.