Shop Light Troubles

[Dara]

My shop is about 5 years old now and I started having lighting troubles after about 3 years.
Its getting worse now and I need to do something about it.
I have 12 units of double 4' flourescents
32W T8

They are going out on me. Some only one bulb lights, some none light.
If I give them a tap with a stick, sometimes they come on for a bit.

I'm down to 6 working out of 12 and they all seem dimmer than new.

These were the cheapest lights I could buy at the time so it doesn't suprise me.

They are surface mounted so not real difficult to change but I would rather not

I need some direction now.

Should I just buy more cheap replacements.
Should I buy new better ballasts.
Should I go for real good lights and how do I know whats good other than by price.

Thanks, I appreciate all the knowledgeable people in here.

Dara

[Ken Vick]

Dara, I bought Lithonia fixtures at Home Depot when I built my shop in Niagara Falls, ON 4 years ago. They are double 4', T8 lights with no reflector. Interestingly, I priced the fixtures for $54 each in Niagara Falls, ON but got them in the US because they were only $29. Since I was buying 20, it was worth going 5 miles across the border to get them. I moved about half of them across the river when I moved back to the US and they are working fine. They come on instantly, even in cold weather. Ken

[djwong]

The most inexpensive option would be to install new tubes. The problem with fluorescents if disposing of the old tubes safely, since they contain mercury.

Another option is to replace the fixtures with new LED lamps. I installed a few FEIT 2 bulb LED fixtures from the big box store. They put out such amazing light, that I am converting the rest of my fluorescents to LED. They go on sale at half the current price. FEIT LED Lamp

[Bill Wilson]

How difficult would it be to hard wire those into a switched circuit? I've done it several times with the old fashioned, plug in fluorescent fixtures, but didn't know if the new fangled stuff had different requirements.

[Robert Adams]

Bill Wilson said:

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How difficult would it be to hard wire those into a switched circuit? I've done it several times with the old fashioned, plug in fluorescent fixtures, but didn't know if the new fangled stuff had different requirements.

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Most of the led stuff is actually more simplified. No ballast with some style bulbs. Also lower wattage so you can run more on a string now.

[Robert Adams]

I would start replacing them with led tubes. Ballasts and bulbs are nearly the cost of the led tubes.

There are two types of tubes though. The common ones now that are retail are direct replacements of fl tubes. They are still powered off the ballasts.

The better replacements run 110 right to the bulb. It requires rewiring of the fixture while removing the ballast. Unfortunately it seems every manufacturer has a different way of wiring their bulbs.

I have 8' t8 fixtures in my shop and the price of conversion kits to 4' bulbs then the led bulbs costs more than just buying led fixtures. Mine are dim and flicker when turned on even when it's the middle of the summer and 100* in the shop.

Personally I rarely repair a fixture anymore. It gets upgraded to LEDs. In commercial use everything is going to led now. Course many of those even new are conventional FL fixtures with ballasts but with led tubes. Typically the parabolocs.

[3finger]

So far I have bought 12 of these and they have worked out great. Take the ballast out of the fixture and run straight line voltage into the tombstone connector on one end. One end of the bulb is the business end and the other is just for support. Just make sure the tombstone connector on the electrified end is not shunted.

[tswafford]

Home depot now has led 4 ft tubes that go into a ballasted t8 fixture. No need to change any wiring. They are priced here at 9.99, I have also used a bulb from costco that can be installed in a t12 or t8. No wire changing. $38 at costco for two. I find that these tube put out about double the light of the fluorescent. Life span is 45 years. Hope I wear them out!!

[gMike]

I bought 4 LED shoplights at Costco on Saturday for $150. They also had bare LED tubes on sale. The shoplights were cheaper than the bare tubes. I put 2 of them up today and they are not heavy duty but they will handle shop or garage duty. They put out quite a bit more light than a fluorescent.

[Steve N]

Cheap electronics. I will go out on a limb you will be given a lot of specific model numbers here. Unfortunately I have a lot of experience with this. $$$$$$$ alone doesn't guarantee you will fix the fact that these fixtures are just throw away junk today. I buy the cheapest fixtures I can find, on the chance some keep working for a long time, and some quit way too soon. Averaged out I am WAY below the spending when I used to pay for the "much better" model. Back then I was putting in several hundred units a year.

I have looked at LED replacement, but I can find no site that talks about if ANY LED can be put into ANY T8 fixture. Anyone have knowledge about that?