How to easily convert Fluorescent Lights to LED - 2 Ballasts, 4 Bulbs

[@fredbotello7486]

I have checked 20 different videos to get information about the replacement process....YOU ARE THE BEST....

[@footballalt]

Happy to help!

[@bharatshetty4706]

I have no idea why am I watching this. But That was a awesome explanation of details. Thank you 👍👍

[@jasonsternburgh8363]

Great video. The picture at 1:14 was nice, the instructions with my bulbs was a little less clear. While I was pretty sure what to do, seeing someone else do it is a huge help. Also only replaced 2 lights and holy cow that is a lot of light.

[@ronaldgarnes8809]

Thank You, Clear and straightforward. I knew if I looked long enough I would find a two ballast tutorial.

[@footballalt]

You're welcome!!! Glad it worked out.

[@jahras66]

I volunteered at work to help change bulbs and this was very very helpful! Thank you!

[@footballalt]

I am so glad it helped.

[@0the0ambient0]

What a great video. Surprisingly not a lot about this online. Thank you.

[@EricBuechel]

Thank you Howard, I'm now ready to change out my lights in my art studio.

[@seehowitworks1131]

This video was pretty helpful to me. I saw people with the same question I had which was what to do with the red wire. Just to clarify though my unit had Red Blue and Yellow wires. I also had Black White and Neutral (not red). My BALLLASTS had two connections with black wires (connecting two ballasts together) on one side and same on the other side just the opposite ballasts. Per the video I connected red to red, blue to blue and yellow to yellow. Blue AND Red went to BLACK (Hot) and yellow went to white (Nuetral). When I installed the bulbs into the ballast I made sure the HOT side of my tube went into a ballast with a RED OR BLUE wire coming out, leaving the other side to enter in a ballast with a YELLOW wire coming out. Worked perfectly and on all 4 ballasts. Thank you for the help.

[@derekle1461]

Hi, I'm in the same situation with only Black and White source wires from ceiling. I run red, blue, yellow wires within the fixture as in video. I connect Yellow to White, then Red and Blue both to Black. Lights are on but all just dim, nothing is bright as LED's supposed to be. Any suggestions? In your comment, you say Hot side of tube to side where Red & Blue wires come out and other side to where Yellow wire comes out. But as you can see in video, both sides of fixture have all Red, Blue, and Yellow coming out, 2 wires of each color on each side. However, I did flip the tubes to try but still same thing, all dim light.

[@seehowitworks1131]

@@derekle1461 Hi My tubes were marked on one side that I had guessed to be the hot side. I would make sure those sides are in the ballast with a red or blue coming out of it. It seems like the wires are connected correctly if your getting power to them. I wonder if your tibe is correct? This is what style I bought: T8 T10 T12 LED Tube Lights 4 Foot 20W (40W Equivalent) 4000K, G13 Dual-Ended Powered I bought a 4 pack on Amazon for about 30 bucks. I think that's what I would confirm first.

[@hankfoto]

Thanks Howard, I found this to be very Helpful.

[@Rocketyt]

Thanks to you my kind sir, as I watched your video, I paused and bought the same wire cutters and a wire twister, plus I'm thinking of sending you my Extra Ladder. haha But....Thanks again!!

[@footballalt]

Glad I could help! You're very welcome.

[@KenRausch]

I have no red coming from the ceiling box where do I connect the red wires in fixture to??

[@jonthomson1714]

Got 'er done..Worked just right Thanks for the video

[@footballalt]

GREAT!!! Enjoy

[@jamesjwv]

Will this work on my setup where the inside bulbs are controlled by a separate switch from the outside bulbs?

[@jonthomson1714]

I think I got confused about shunted and non shunted ends. So if I get this right, I buy regular led lights and i should be good to go? Don't have to worry about which end goes where.. Correct?

[@roberttheriot7612]

hi Howard if you had only a white wire and a black wire coming from power in attic how would you hook up the wires i am having a hard times with mine thanks

[@footballalt]

Can you send me a picture?

[@roberttheriot7612]

@@footballalt may i send to your email i don't know how to send with utube

[@roberttheriot7612]

Howard what is your email or gmail i don't know how to send pics on utube thanks

[@footballalt]

[e-mail]

[@johnelliott9415]

Hi Howard, that's given me a good idea what to do when I change my ones, just to confirm with you once the ballast out you connect the same colours up Brown/Red plus Blue/Black I was not sure if you had a earth but guess they connect to ground. Very helpful video thank you.

[@footballalt]

I'm glad it helped you!

[@jimmyc7162]

10:10pm I have 4 bulbs 2 ballast 1 ballast 2 light the other ballast 2 light 1 switch can you tell me how to wire it please

[@noonecares8403]

you can hook all wires together on the one side with one jumping wire.

[@trinityeasterwood4870]

It's not called breaided it's called stranded wire

[@NESig]

I continually found myself asking "why" during this video. Why swap the red and blue wires? Why remove the sockets? I had to give up on this video. Sorry.

[@edamansec9565]

Sir that was a very satisfactory explanation. May I ask if you used a double-ended powered LED?

[@Dailymailnewz]

How much does a pair of them cost? And what is the max hours it can go on?

[@DV-tc1yr]

thank you very detailed I LIKE!

[@footballalt]

You're very welcome. I'm glad it was helpful.

[@arthurchan6858]

ON THIS VIDEO, DID YOU USE SINGLE ENDED OR DUEL ENDED LAMPS? DOES IT MATTER?

[@billyboy1839]

Great instruction two thumbs up :)

[@lynnzepp7738]

I wanted to see how to open the lid. Mine do not have the little handles to simply pull down. Need a closer view of the subject matter.

[@dnbhumidifiermfg.inc.1010]

MY 4FT - 4 BULB - 2 BALLAST LIGHT ONLY HAS THE BLACK AND WHITE FOR POWER,NOT A RED,HOW WOULD YOU WIRE THAT?

[@jonthomson1714]

Okay so if I have this correct, all lines on one side go to the black and the other to the white which I have done For this method are there any specific LED bulbs I am supposed to get I've seen that I'm supposed to us a certain type. is that true

[@footballalt]

Most types will work

[@roberttheriot7612]

hi Howard forgot to ask are the bulbs single ended double ended thanks

[@footballalt]

They are double ended

[@nayivisdenis1401]

its T-8 or T-12?

[@footballalt]

T8

[@nayivisdenis1401]

thank you

[@patb8849]

Are your lights on a 3-way circuit? Mine are controlled with two switches.

[@footballalt]

Yes

[@markolesen9353]

I really struggled with this technique. I found that that many of the sections of light would only run 2 of the lamps using this. Additionally, sometimes lamps in the run wouldn't turn off depending on how the runs split to other lights. If you just clip all wires at one end of the lamp and run them to either black or white and clip all wires from other side and run them to opposite color your gin. No need to remove the tombstones from the lamp. If there are multiple wires coming in you can't take them out with all the wires in the way, as some of my lamps had 3 incoming punch-out lines. Make sure you use double sided tubes not single. 2 5ks seem to do the same job as 4 40w tubes and additionally save the ballast voltage. I used the two inside tubes as I thought it looks more cool. Only rub is on three way switches. Still working that one out.

[@benavgee]

He has 2 switches to control 2 of the bulbs in each fixture.

[@benavgee]

Also he chose to use 2 instead of 4. He said 2 5000k bulbs were enough compared to 4 4000k bulbs.

[@johndavid6956]

Thank you so much! You just answered my question! I was so confused by this video and wondering why he didn't do it like you stated. I was literally gonna ask the question you answered! Thanks again.

[@jonthomson1714]

also doing this in this manner I shouldn't worry about having non shunted Tombstone ends right?

[@footballalt]

No sure what you mean?

[@coonanfox01]

such a rebel not turning the power off

[@bobniles1928]

Why remove the tombstones, rewire in the fixture.

[@adstu145]

My fluorescent lighting fixtures are identical to yours. You have red, white and black that you connect the wires, I only have black and white and no red. when you are connecting the black/blue, yellow/white and the reds. I don’t have the red. Do I just connect the reds from each end together?

[@footballalt]

Can you send me a picture?

[@footballalt]

It looks to me from the Installation Guide that you can wire the black to one end of the bulb and the white to the other end of the bulb. You can not wire the 2 pins on one side of the bulb with bother the black and the white. The 2 pins are connected together inside the bulb. You can also contact the company at [e-mail]. I hope this helps.

[@brenellaitalia]

Hi there, I have a question I'm hoping you can answer. My two-ballast four-bulb set up has two red, yellow, and blue wires coming out of either end, just like in your video. However, my set up also has three different holes where two black and two white wires are entering (one hole on each end and one in the middle). I am guessing that I connect white-white and black-black from either end and treat the middle hole as the true hot and neutral connections?

[@footballalt]

Can you send me a picture? [e-mail]

[@keithbell8690]

@@footballalt I'm trying to do the bypass. I have the same style 4 lamp fixture. My wiring is different from yours. One end of the fixture tombstones have red and blue wires. The other end of the fixture tombstones have yellow wires including jumpers. The tombstones are shunted. I found a set of direct wire led tubes made by GE at Lowe's. Should i replace my tombstones to non shunted? Guessing I can wire the yellow wires to the white neutral wires. Then the red and blue to the wires to the black hot wire. My ground is attached to the housing. When I install the leds match the Label N and L with the correct set of tombstones.

[@footballalt]

@@keithbell8690 Someone responded in the comment section that you only have to wire one end of the bulbs for them to work. I would suggest calling GE.

[@keithbell8690]

@@footballalt I don't necessarily have to use GE brand. They would be more convenient instead of ordering online with a waiting period for delivery. My real concern is the tombstones. Shunted vs non shunted. I've done a ton of research and still haven't really got a clear answer. When doing this T8 type B bulb bypass. Will shunted tombstones short my led tubes causing damage or fire hazard? If I wire one end neutral and the other end hot. Then use the correct bulbs. What type tombstones should I use? Shunted or non shunted.

[@footballalt]

@@keithbell8690 Sorry, I don't have any knowledge about this.

[@shannonrickman7620]

Why not just twist the wires from one end and connect them to the white and twist the wires from the other end and connect them to black, I watched another video and this was how he did it so I tried it and it worked perfect

[@rukiyabegumsvz7.437]

P😊

[@jonthomson1714]

by the way. great video! Gave me the inspiration to try this

[@brendanusualvlogs7842]

What did you do with the fluorescent bulbs?

[@SuperReverbious]

you can recycle them at most hardware stores like ACE. Just drop them off.

[@brianwirtzfeld7720]

Can you tell me the answer if you just have a black and white wire , no red. I'm assuming the red wires from the fixture go to the back lead from the ceiling as well??

[@footballalt]

Sorry for the late reply. Can you send me a picture(s)?

[@MrRonGul]

Only white and black from ceiling what to do ??

[@footballalt]

It looks to me from the Installation Guide that you can wire the black to one end of the bulb and the white to the other end of the bulb. You can not wire the 2 pins on one side of the bulb with bother the black and the white. The 2 pins are connected together inside the bulb. You can also contact the company at [e-mail]. I hope this helps.

[@curistinmatin7936]

Hi, sir, I really like the video you shot. Could you help us take a video of the installation of our brand's 4-foot led bulb? Looking forward to your reply.

[@footballalt]

Happy to discuss.

[@curistinmatin7936]

@@footballalt Thanks for your reply, this is my email:[e-mail] .I can't find you email

[@rupeshbhakta4880]

I followed the instructions to change our fluorescent tubes to LED tubes. I connected yellow to white, blue to black, and green (we don't have a red wire from the wall) to red. Would you be able to provide any insight? Thanks

[@matthewbaney2660]

Did you figure out what to do if you don't have the red wire coming out from the wall/ceiling? I'm having the same issue myself.

[@lionshott]

Shalom, Thank you for the informative video. After watching I was all set to change out my bulbs, but then I found slim low profile LED can lights. I installed them and they look great. What I would now like to do now, is remove the old fluorescent fixtures. In your video, you mentioned that involves a lot of work. I am clueless as to begin. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks again for the video. Michael

[@footballalt]

Can you send me some pictures?

[@lionshott]

Sure, how do I send them?

[@footballalt]

@@lionshott send to my email. [e-mail]

[@lionshott]

Sent. Thank you for your time.

[@reneperez7799]

soooo why did you wire up for 4 bulbs but only put 2?

[@footballalt]

Just in case one mount shorts out I have 2 more. Also, should I ever decide to go with 3 or 4 bulbs I can.

[@Honeycombe88]

I'm confused. He's supposedly showing a 2 ballast four bulb fixture retrofit, but then he ends up showing only a 1 ballast 2 bulb retrofit, saying "it's just the same!" If that's the case, then it's no problem viewing the videos of 2 bulb-1 ballast retrofitting, which he starts his video saying didn't show the 4 bulb-2 ballast retrofitting. I think the wiring to the 8 end connections of the 4 bulbs is different than a 1-ballast 2 bulb fixture?

[@derekle1461]

Hi, thank you for such a detailed video. Bonus is I finally found a video with exact same light fixture as mine. My fixture also has 4 bulbs, 2 ballasts with 2 red, 2 blue, and 2 yellow coming out on each side of the bulbs. My problem is my source from the ceiling only has 2 wires: black and white. Not red, blue, yellow like yours. After re-running the 3-color wires within the fixture, how should I connect to the 2-wire source then? I'm thinking to connect fixture's yellow to source's white and fixture's red & blue both to source's black. Says this is option #1. But then I see when you pull out the sockets to work in the shop, you separate 2 blue on 1 side, and 2 red, 2 yellow on the other side. So I figure should I connect fixture's blue to source's white and fixture's red & yellow both to source's black. Says this is option #2. Could you please advise which option makes more sense? Or if both are wrong, what would you suggest? Thank you very much.

[@footballalt]

The colors of the wires don't really matter. You want all the wires on one side of the fixture going to your black wire and the wires from the other side going to the white wire. It doesn't matter in this application which side goes to the white or which side goes to the black.

[@brazil004]

Basically you are making a battery circuit.

[@jonthomson1714]

I am ultra paranoid when doing this type of stuff mainly because years go by before I have to do it again and I don't want to screw up

[@ncbassfisherman54]

Only have 2 wires coming from the ceiling, white and black, no red

[@footballalt]

The diagram, which is 1min + 15 seconds into the video shows you how the wires should be hooked up if you only have 2 black and white wires. All the wires from one side of the fixture go to the black and all the wires from the other side of the fixture go to the white. It does not matter which sets of wires go to the black or white wires.

[@jimmyc7162]

Thanks

[@charger440]

Thank you sir, you just saved me a bunch of money!!!

[@footballalt]

So glad I was able to help!

[@KevinBenecke]

And you didn't even have to switch to Geico.

[@leonardamerica7688]

You need to provide a drawing of the wires to the tombstones

[@elhamatto5372]

Why Did You Change From $ To 2 Bulb

[@stevenhyland9990]

I have a 4 bulb fixture and i want to do the same thing. my question is,, my ceiling outlet that has the power to connect to the fixture only has BLACK , WHITE and BARE GROUND, How do I wire it up for that situation. I'm guessing that yours worked with two different light switches where as mine is only on 1 switch.

[@footballalt]

If you look at the wiring diagram it shows all the yellow connected to the white wire and all the blue and red connect to the black. Note that all the yellow wires are on one side of the bulbs and all the blue and red wires are on the other side of the bulbs.

[@footballalt]

Can you send me a picture?

[@footballalt]

Correct on mine having 2 different switches. It looks to me from the Installation Guide that you can wire the black to one end of the bulb and the white to the other end of the bulb. You can not wire the 2 pins on one side of the bulb with bother the black and the white. The 2 pins are connected together inside the bulb. You can also contact the company at [e-mail]. I hope this helps.

[@johnpaulricherdsion650]

what is the plastic panel covering the LED lights called ?

[@footballalt]

drop ceiling fluorescent light cover or filter

[@jimmyc7162]

The power comeing in is a red and white

[@philipstiger4737]

🤣You do not have to take the sockets down. The fixtures and non-shunts are already wired correctly for DEP led tubes. First disconnect power. After removing the ballast all you have to do is join all the yellows together from both ends. Connect yellows to common White from home service. Then bundle all reds & all blues together from both ends. Connect to line black. Top off with wire nuts. You're done! If you have a traveler wire, red or blue for seperate fixture. Wire to line....black! It's that simple. He's doing to much work when there is an easier way.

[@footballalt]

Nice. I could have used your wisdom 3 years ago. 🙃

[@keithbell8690]

I think this maybe the answer to my questions about the bypass. I have multiple fluorescent 4 lamp fixtures. 40 to be exact. I have multiple ballasts that have went bad. Instead of replacing them I want to do the bypass for led. My fixtures are old and have brittle tombstones. They're shunted tombstones with the paper backing held on with a metal staple/clip. Now I need to know. If I wire red and blue to line(black) then yellow wires to common white. Do I need non shunted tombstones?

[@philipstiger4737]

@@keithbell8690 yes sir non-shunted tombstones for most LEDs lamps. I recommend buying a package of all new tombstones non-shunted of course. Because old tombstones can get brittle over time. New lamp= new tombstones! 🤷🏾‍♂️👷🏾‍♂️⚡

[@keithbell8690]

@@philipstiger4737 Thanks for the reply! I plan on buying leds and non shunted tombstones in bulk. Do you have any recommendations on where to buy or a good brand?

[@SkyWire88]

Not too bright. ALWAYS turn off the power before you work on fluorescent fixtures. ALWAYS. ESPECIALLY when doing a wiring video.

[@HemiChrysler]

He advised viewers to switch off the power, despite not doing so himself, which is his choice, his risk. He covered himself, leave him alone !

[@jerrycoile338]

Ok,......I want to try and explain what I did and the fixture didn't work. I did exactly as you showed except I only have one black wire and one white wire coming out of my ceiling. I attached the yellow wires together from each side with a single strand of yellow wire to the white wire and the blue wires together from each side with a single strand of blue wire to the black wire and the red wires together from each side with a single strand of red wire together by themselves. It didn't work. I have viewed your video over and over to make sure I got it right and there are two things that you did that confused me. First off, you moved the tombstone that held the blue wires to the other side of the fixture. Why? Secondly, you had two black wires and two white wires coming out of the ceiling and I only have one of each. I tied the blue to the black, the white to the yellow and the reds to each other. Is there a possibility that I have a bad tombstone in the bunch because it isn't working?

[@footballalt]

Can you send me a picture?

[@footballalt]

It looks to me from the Installation Guide that you can wire the black to one end of the bulb and the white to the other end of the bulb. You can not wire the 2 pins on one side of the bulb with bother the black and the white. The 2 pins are connected together inside the bulb. You can also contact the company at [e-mail]. I hope this helps.

[@yentox]

mine didnt work :(

[@yentox]

help me

[@footballalt]

Can you send some pictures of your wiring?

[@stevedavis582]

As a electrician when I seen you use those gay strippers and a torch thats used for a a crack pipe on the wire I said its time to to go.good luck your gonna need it

[@footballalt]

Hilarious! Thanks for your reply.

[@keving.4020]

@@footballalt apparently they all missed the part where you say, 'turn off the power, YOU (yourself) don't, but that's up to the viewer[s]'. We all bleed red, and put our pants on two legs at a time. Funny thing is, they watched your video, so it'd seem to me they needed clarification and help.....your video is fine. You dont make yourself out to be something your not, a spade is a spade.

[@jfarinacci0329]

excellent. thank you.

[@elhamatto5372]

4 to 2

[@sonofgun3537]

Two things I don't think those stones the clipse the light connect to R-rated 120 volts second of all always a new ballast for the LED bulbs have you ever tried to change out an LED bulb why the lights on especially when they're all connected together on the same circuit think about the maintenance guy you know how hard it is to turn those bulbs in again 15 amps 120 volts and trying to find a short in a big room buy a ballast

[@RG-gl6sm]

He probably got the sh*t knocked out of him or fell off the chair is why the video got lost .

[@footballalt]

Hysterical. Love it

[@compasstrans]

12:58 thank me later

[@susanthomas5167]

Sound not good.

[@brendanusualvlogs7842]

Fluorescent lights are more efficient.

[@footballalt]

LED tube light VS fluorescent tube light. LED tube lighting lasts about 40,000 hours longer in testing, is more energy efficient, will save you more money, and will leave less impact on the environment.

[@brendanusualvlogs7842]

@@footballalt I know this because I collect fluorescent lights. We put leds in the house our bill went up. The leds are more expensive and they are a scam. Don’t listen to what the box is telling you they are saying that their bulbs are energy efficient so they can get more money.

[@footballalt]

@@brendanusualvlogs7842 You may be right. The good news about switching is no more ballasts to change, consistent lighting for the lifetime of the bulbs, they are about the same price up front but way less expensive as they last so much longer and they are better for the environment (no mercury). I still think they are also less expensive to run, but not in your experience. Even if they are more expensive to run I would still switch for convenience. I understand that not everyone would agree with me on that.

[@brendanusualvlogs7842]

@@footballalt Luckly you kept the old fixtures, the real led fixtures are junk if it burns out you have to replace the whole fixture. The ones you converted you can still change the bulbs which is good. If I was you I would have kept them fluorescent.

[@elhamatto5372]

sorry my mistake

[@James.1_2-3]

Have you heard the good news from Jesus?

[@noonecares8403]

you dont need all that extra wires! its a waste of time and money.

[@footballalt]

Great idea! Thanks

[@lynnzepp7738]

Sorry- wrong video

[@cloud10ism]

Your teaching bad habits and its clear you are not an electrician!. What is it with you older folks not following the electrical rules? Even before you get into a fixture you need to identify the panel and circuit ans then proceed with lock out tag out! Not to mention being certified!. Hot stick to test and then proceed.

[@keving.4020]

🙄😐🤣😂😂😅⬆️🤓🤓⬆️

[@sheldonkimura4793]

Accident waiting to happen. Two thumbs down.

[@footballalt]

Can you please elaborate?