Substituting fluorescent bulbs

[Andy D]

This isn't for a sign, it's ceiling lights in my pantry...
I have to replace some bulbs and I have a bunch that fit and light up but are thinner, would that be a safety issue?

 

[Andy D]

Picture

 

[bannertime]

The larger ones are 40w and the smaller ones 32w. Should be fine*, but not as bright.

**unprofessional advice and do not claim to be an electrician.**

 

[James Burke]

Skip fluorescent and use LED tubes. Most fixtures are compatible, and if not, all you need to do is remove the ballast.

I just tossed every last fluro tube in my shop. It's much brighter now, and uses 1/2 the electricity...or less. I got tired of flickering fluro tubes after only a few months use.

JB

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Not interchangeable... requires different ballast.

http://www.plain-o-helpers.org/wp-c...Fluorescent-Light-Fixtures-from-T12-to-T8.pdf

 

[Andy D]

Not interchangeable... requires different ballast.

http://www.plain-o-helpers.org/wp-c...Fluorescent-Light-Fixtures-from-T12-to-T8.pdf

I put it in and it lit up fine, are you saying it would be a hazard?

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I put it in and it lit up fine, are you saying it would be a hazard?

I have no idea. I Googled and read stuff for waaay longer then I probably should of and that PDF was the best thing I found to an answer.

 

[Andy D]

I have no idea. I Googled and read stuff for waaay longer then I probably should of and that PDF was the best thing I found to an answer.

I appreciate you looking into it man!

 

[LED Signs & Designs Texas]

Skip fluorescent and use LED tubes. Most fixtures are compatible, and if not, all you need to do is remove the ballast.

I just tossed every last fluro tube in my shop. It's much brighter now, and uses 1/2 the electricity...or less. I got tired of flickering fluro tubes after only a few months use.

JB

Yes!!

 

[unclebun]

T8's will light up in a T12 system but the ballast is different from what they are designed for (because T8's produce light a different way than T12's, using internal electronics rather than electromagnetic induction). The T8 is more efficient if used with the right ballast. If you use a T12 ballast, you will not gain the efficiency and you will overdrive the bulbs, reducing life.

 

[Andy D]

Thanks to everyone for your responses. It has been on my "Honey-do-list" for way too long and my wife was fussing.
As long as it's not a fire hazard, I'm good, we don't use that room enough to worry about it too much.

 

[James Burke]

Whatever you do, don't replace the lamps with LED modules without a lens. If you put 20 modules up and then the prismatic diffuser without a lens, you'll have 20 hot spots that can be incredibly disorienting. We discovered this when retrofitting the office with the tons of leftover led's we had. Ended up replacing some with 3/16 lexan to see if that'd work. It was great, just a bit expensive! Keep in mind this is bare modules, not like a setup that looks like a fluorescent lamp.

Ours tubes are Sylvania 32W T8 compatible 4100K color temp. You'd be hard pressed to tell that they're not fluorescent, other than the LEDs are much brighter. There are some LED tubes that are nothing more than a clear tube with a string of modules. That style produces an entirely different spectrum that is very disorienting, as you mentioned.

This is what we have:
https://www.menards.com/main/electr...0-pack/75126-40084/p-1463764712062-c-7482.htm


JB

 

[GAC05]

Thanks to everyone for your responses. It has been on my "Honey-do-list" for way too long and my wife was fussing.
As long as it's not a fire hazard, I'm good, we don't use that room enough to worry about it too much.

You needed to wait for a romantic occasion and spring a set of these on her:

They come packaged in a box sturdy enough that when she hits you with it the glasses inside remain undamaged.

 

[James Burke]

You needed to wait for a romantic occasion and spring a set of these on her: View attachment 145605
They come packaged in a box sturdy enough that when she hits you with it the glasses inside remain undamaged.

Ha....makes me think of the community just up the road from me who shuns the use of electric lights.

I visited their sawmill one afternoon and it was almost dark as night inside. But fear not...there were plenty of gents milling about (and with hands deep in the workings of machinery) while wearing little head lights strapped to their hats. Must be little electric lights are ok...and the power source that re-charges their batteries.


JB

 

[James Burke]

I'm sure you just had a hard time making out the actual lamp, as the home made candles compete with LED's more often than not!

That that looks like a carbide lamp. Calcium carbide (calcium acetylide CaC2) mixed with water produces acetylene gas...it's what the miners used in their lamps way back in the day....or if you had a toy carbide cannon (typically sold on the last page of comic books...if you remember).

Imagine the issues those miners had when they broke into a vein of methane gas with that open flame.

I remember being able to buy calcium carbide from the local hardware store back in the mid 80s. It was fun filling up a ziploc bag with acetylene and setting it off with a fuse.

Kids today will never know the fun we had back then.


But on a side note, from Wikipedia, your sign vinyl is also dependent upon the stuff:
"In China, acetylene derived from calcium carbide remains a raw material for the chemical industry, in particular for the production of polyvinyl chloride".

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_carbide


JB

 

[Boudica]

Waaaay more than I needed to know. but interesting none the less.

 

[McDonald Signs]

LED Tubes and bypass the remove/ballast. I switched out every Florescent tube in my shop to LED tubes. They are bright and come on instantly. Only have LED tubes now, No ballasts to replace.