Domestic electrical help this time please!

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Boac
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Domestic electrical help this time please!

#1 Post by Boac » Tue Nov 16, 2021 3:20 pm

Hoping to do better with this than with my door hinge.... :))

In my garage is a very old 8ft fluorescent tube powered through a big 'Atlas' choke and some sort of ?can capacitor? While it is still working (probably over 25 years old), how do I replace it? Can I buy a starter unit to replace all the old stuff, and will I then need a different tube?

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Re: Domestic electrical help this time please!

#2 Post by Pontius Navigator » Tue Nov 16, 2021 3:29 pm

Change the fitting.

My garage light was installed in 1973 and I got rid of it in 2010 when I partitioned the garage. I fitted two LED clusters. One of 4 and one of 2 and could direct the light where needed. It was also instant compared with the spluttering of the fluorescent tube firing up.

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Re: Domestic electrical help this time please!

#3 Post by unifoxos » Tue Nov 16, 2021 3:38 pm

and uses less power. You can get fluorescent shaped ones if you want it to sit along a joist, search for LED "batten" to see what's available, although I prefer the 600mm square where they fit.
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Re: Domestic electrical help this time please!

#4 Post by Boac » Tue Nov 16, 2021 3:52 pm

Both good ideas, but pricey. I can easily just replace it, but OQ was

"Can I buy a starter unit to replace all the old stuff, and will I then need a different tube?" It looks about £50 to replace with a batten, which is an attractive option, but.............

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Re: Domestic electrical help this time please!

#5 Post by llondel » Tue Nov 16, 2021 4:34 pm

I stripped out a load of old 8ft fluorescent tubes and fittings soon after we moved into this house. Now got a load of LED lighting up which looks way better. the old stuff had an annoying audible mains buzz on it too, the LEDs don't have that problem.

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Re: Domestic electrical help this time please!

#6 Post by johngreen » Wed Nov 17, 2021 7:36 am

Will this achieve what you want?? The blurb suggests its a straight replacement with no added parts required, all for less than £30...

https://www.lampshoponline.com/8ft-36w- ... iring.html

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Re: Domestic electrical help this time please!

#7 Post by Boac » Wed Nov 17, 2021 7:54 am

John - that would be ideal, but the minimum purchase is 4. A good pointer however and I will look around.

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Re: Domestic electrical help this time please!

#8 Post by Pontius Navigator » Wed Nov 17, 2021 8:02 am

Ebay, buy 4, sell 3, £40 each, job done

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Re: Domestic electrical help this time please!

#9 Post by Boac » Wed Nov 17, 2021 8:13 am

Would you like to be my sexual advisor? =))

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Re: Domestic electrical help this time please!

#10 Post by Pontius Navigator » Wed Nov 17, 2021 8:15 am

Sure, eject you any time

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Re: Domestic electrical help this time please!

#11 Post by Boac » Wed Nov 17, 2021 8:22 am

That's an offer I can definitely decline.......... :))

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Re: Domestic electrical help this time please!

#12 Post by Boac » Wed Nov 17, 2021 2:40 pm

Back to the OQ
"Can I buy a starter unit to replace all the old stuff, and will I then need a different tube?" Anyone know?

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Re: Domestic electrical help this time please!

#13 Post by k3k3 » Wed Nov 17, 2021 6:07 pm

To turn the question around, if you replace the fluorescent tube with an LED designed for the same fitting you will need to replace the starter with an LED starter, which is in fact a short because the LED tube doesn't need a starter.

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Re: Domestic electrical help this time please!

#14 Post by johngreen » Wed Nov 17, 2021 8:11 pm

Just as a later thought, 4 foot LED tubes seem cheap and easy to find. Some of these are single ended - meaning that the electrical connections are on one end only and the other end has pins but these are only to support the tube in the existing fittings. (I have actually used smaller versions of these for illuminating artworks...)You might be able to fit two of these using the existng sockets on the opposite ends as the electrical connections and using a couple of those springy clip things to support the tubes in the middle....

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Re: Domestic electrical help this time please!

#15 Post by Boac » Wed Nov 17, 2021 9:29 pm

Folks - I don't have an issue with replacing the unit with LED, but am interested in what I need to do to resurrect it.

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Re: Domestic electrical help this time please!

#16 Post by johngreen » Wed Nov 17, 2021 9:44 pm

Many of those 'regular' LED tubes just need to wired direct to the mains which you might manage to do with a bit of adjustment to the existing wires. The old ballast and starter become redundant.

https://www.ledmyplace.com/blogs/storie ... -a-ballast

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