how do you bypass a ballast to install led tubes

On the surface, performing a ballast bypass seems simple:

• 1. Turn Off the Mains Power Turning off the Mains Power supply will ensure that you won’t get an electric shock during the process. ...
• 2. Locate The Ballast On The fluorescent Light Fixture ...
• 3. Cut The Hot And Neutral wires ...
• 4. Cut Socket Wires ...
• 5. Remove The Ballast ...
• 6.Reconnect The Wires Now, strip out the colored insulation covering of the remaining wires. ...

Full Answer

How do you bypass ballast?

The basic process involves a few steps:

• Turn off the breaker to the light fixture, and confirm that the power to that light fixture is off.
• Remove the fluorescent tube bulbs from the fixture. ...
• Cut the wires coming from the ballast with wire cutters. ...
• Remove the screws that hold the ballast in place and remove it from the fixture.

More items...

Do LED tubes need a ballast?

Unlike fluorescent tubes, LEDs don't require a ballast to regulate current. When using direct fit LEDs, the ballast is still using energy and eating into your possible energy savings. With a ballast bypass, you are only paying for the energy the LED lights use, which is up to 70% less than traditional bulbs! Click to see full answer.

Which light bulbs need a ballast?

No incandescent bulbs require a ballast. No halogen bulbs require a ballast. All fluorescent bulbs require a ballast. All compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs require a ballast, which is often integrated. All HID bulbs require a ballast, which is sometimes integrated.

How do you bypass a light ballast?

Bypass Ballast Turn off the power. Flipping the light switch the “off” position does not necessarily end the flow electricity. Locate your ballast. Cut the hot and neutral wires. Cut the socket lead wires. Remove the...

What is the difference between LED ballast and LED driver?

What wires go out on the other side of a ballast?

What color are the hot wires on a ballast?

What is a type B ballast?

Why turn off mains power supply?

Is T8 tube retrofitting successful?

Can you replace a fluorescent fixture with a non-shunted tombstone?

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Can I bypass the ballast for LED lights?

Since LED lights work on low DC voltage, they need a driver. Most T8 LED tubes do not need a ballast. So, if you are going to install a T8 LED tube light, it will require a ballast bypass unless you choose a ballast compatible T8 LED tube.

Can you use LED tubes without ballast?

Do LED Lights Need Ballasts? An LED light does not require a ballast because it uses a component called a “driver” to regulate the power going into the bulb.

Can a ballast be bypassed?

Socket compatibility When bypassing the ballast, you may need to change your sockets from the most common shunted sockets to non-shunted sockets. Non-shunted sockets are required if you're using single-ended tubes. This will require a small amount of additional material cost and more labor to replace them all.

Can you bypass ballast with plug and play LED lights?

The plug and play LED lights looks and are used like any ordinary fluorescent tube. Replacing a fluorescent tube with plug and play LED Tube lights is easy as they can be used without a ballast. It does not need any additional modification and is simple to install, like any incandescent or LED tube lights.

How do I know if my ballast is compatible with LED?

Simply turn the light on, then take a photo of the fixture using your smartphone or digital camera. If there are no dark bands on the resulting image, you have an electronic ballast that is likely to work with direct drop-in LED tubes (with caveats: see the next section below).

Can I directly replace fluorescent tubes with LED?

Yes, you can replace fluorescent tubes with LED tubes or LED-integrated fixtures. If you just want to replace the bulbs, you can use plug-and-play, direct-wire, or hybrid LED tubes. Plug-and-play tubes are the easiest to install as they do not require any rewiring to the fixture.

What happens if you don't use a ballast?

Without a ballast, a lamp or a bulb will rapidly increase its current draw and it can become uncontrollable as well. When a ballast is present in a lamp, the power becomes stable, and even if such lamps are connected to high power sources, the ballast will regulate the energy and avoid the current rise.

How much does it cost to bypass a ballast?

A replacement ballast costs about $10-25 depending on capacity and brand. The bite is that an electrician trip charge (which includes 30 or 60 minutes work) is going to be $75-150 probably - for about 5 minutes work on each light fixture.

Will ballast compatible LED tubes work without a ballast?

The T8 LED tube won't work without the ballast, so you are forced to continue buying and replacing ballasts as long as you have an LED tube that is ONLY ballast dependent.

What happens if you dont remove ballast for LED?

You could destroy the LEDs. The ballast from fluorescent lights uses a much higher starting voltage (around 600 V) to get them started. It lasts for fractions of a second before dropping down to the normal line voltage. Depending on the LED circuit tolerances, it could be destroyed.

How do I change my fluorescent light to LED?

There are various methods for converting fluorescent lighting fixtures into LED ones. However, the simplest way is to use some sort of retrofit kit. These kits attach to already existing lighting fixtures and allow for LED bulbs to be housed in them.

Will a fluorescent ballast work with LED bulbs?

Plug-and-play or direct fit linear LED (UL type A) A plug-and-play, or direct fit, linear LED is probably what you're imagining – a simple, one-for-one swap out of the original linear fluorescent lamp. This lamp works directly with the existing fluorescent ballast, so there is no rewiring or ballast change required.

What happens if you don't use a ballast?

Without a ballast, a lamp or a bulb will rapidly increase its current draw and it can become uncontrollable as well. When a ballast is present in a lamp, the power becomes stable, and even if such lamps are connected to high power sources, the ballast will regulate the energy and avoid the current rise.

Do ballast compatible LEDs work without ballast?

Type C – Driver, not ballast for LED You do not need a ballast for LED lights, but instead a driver. This is called a Type C application, with a tube and driver that work together.

What happens if you put LED bulbs in a fluorescent fixture?

Many LED tubes are "plug and play", meaning you can just install them like you would a fluorescent bulb. For this to be true, look for bulbs that are "ballast-compatible" meaning that they can use the ballast already installed in your fluorescent fixture to power the LEDs.

Can you put LED bulbs in old fluorescent fixtures?

You have fluorescent troffers or strip fixtures already, and you're wondering if you can just pop LED tubes in them or if you'll need to change out the fixtures for something designed for LED. Good news: You can absolutely use LED tubes in your existing fixtures!

What is the difference between LED ballast and LED driver?

Once the light is on, the ballast acts as a current regulator. On the other hand, an LED driver converts the high voltage AC to low voltage DC. Since LED lights work on low DC voltage, they need a driver.

What wires go out on the other side of a ballast?

After cutting the wires providing input to the ballast, cut the neutral and hot wires that go out on the other side of the socket.

What color are the hot wires on a ballast?

Once you remove the tube and expose the ballast, cut the hot and neutral wires that supply input power. In general, the hot wires are black, and the neutral wires are white. Make a close cut and ensure that there are no longer than 2 inches of wires left.

What is a type B ballast?

Type B: These tubes are also known as ‘Ballast Bypass’ or ‘Direct wire’ T8 LED tubes. Installing them means you will have to remove an existing fluorescent tube ballast.

Why turn off mains power supply?

Turning off the Mains Power supply will ensure that you won’t get an electric shock during the process. So, locate the circuit breaker switch that provides power to the area where you will carry out the bypass and turn it off.

Is T8 tube retrofitting successful?

Congratulations! Your Ballast bypass and T8 Tube retrofitting are successful.

Can you replace a fluorescent fixture with a non-shunted tombstone?

Nonetheless, if the existing fixture offers a shunted tombstone, you should replace it with a non-shunted variant.

Why should You Bypass the ballast?

Many people are not aware that the ballast supplies a fluorescent lamp with an initial spike of high voltage.

There are three types of T8 LED tubes

Type A: These are also known as ‘Plug and Play ‘tube lights. They work with linear fluorescent ballasts, so if you’re considering a Type-A T8 LED Tube light for your home or office space, then be sure to check out compatibility sheets first!

What is ballast in fluorescent bulbs?

A ballast, which looks like a long skinny black brick, is necessary for fluorescent bulbs due to the chemist ry of fluorescent lighting , but comes with the cost of some wasted energy. When replacing a fluorescent tube light with an LED tube light, the ballast becomes irrelevant, but can usually be left in place.

How does a ballast work?

The ballast regulates the current to the lamps and provides sufficient voltage to start the lamps. Fluorescent lamps create light by ionizing mercury vapor that is contained in the glass tube. The ionized mercury vapor emits photons of light.

How long do ballasts last?

The more modern electronic ballasts greatly reduce flickering and don't create noise. Both types of ballast have a lifespan of around 20 years, but can fail earlier depending on conditions.

Can you remove ballast from fluorescent light?

There are a variety of ways the fluorescent fix ture might be wired, depending on how many bulbs it has, and the type of ballast. Some older fixtures have another component called a starter.

Is ballast bypass cheaper than ballast?

Ballast bypass type LED tube lights are generally slightly cheaper than Ballast Compatible. Whether going with Ballast Compatible or Ballast Bypass, it's a good idea to remove the ballast from the light fixture in order to save an extra 10% of energy per fixture. Removing the ballast from the light fixture is a quick job for an electrician, ...

Do LED lights need a ballast?

However, some LED tube lights require the ballast to be removed. When shopping for an LED tube light that can work with the ballast still in place, look for "Ballast Compatible" LED tube lights. "Ballast bypass" tube lights require the ballast to be removed. Ballast bypass type LED tube lights are generally slightly cheaper than Ballast Compatible.

What does the red wire mean on a ballast?

It is typically covered in black or red, meaning “hot” or “live”. A neutral wire (for the sake of simplicity) is a white wire which completes the circuit back to the electrical panel. In any case, once you identify the hot wire, the neutral will be on the same side. You need to cut these wires close to the ballast;

What is the difference between a hot wire and a neutral wire?

A hot wire carries the power to the fixture. It is typically covered in black or red, meaning “hot” or “live”. A neutral wire (for the sake of simplicity) is a white wire which completes the circuit back to the electrical panel. In any case, once you identify the hot wire, the neutral will be on the same side.

How to turn off a light switch?

1. Turn off the power. Flipping the light switch to the “off” position does not necessarily end the flow of electricity. You need to find the breaker box and determine the breaker switch for the power in that area. Turn the breaker switch off.

Can you retrofit LED lights without ballast?

Choosing the best retrofit LED can be a daunting task; some retrofit LEDs can even be installed without bypassing the ballast. So if you’re ready to upgrade to LED tube lights, give us a call at 1-800-624-4488. Our lighting experts can help you find direct wire LED tubes if you’re ready to tackle bypassing the ballast, or plug and play if you don’t want the hassle. We’ll help you pick the right wattage and color temperature for your specific application so that you can get the most out of your lights.

What is the difference between LED ballast and LED driver?

Once the light is on, the ballast acts as a current regulator. On the other hand, an LED driver converts the high voltage AC to low voltage DC. Since LED lights work on low DC voltage, they need a driver.

What wires go out on the other side of a ballast?

After cutting the wires providing input to the ballast, cut the neutral and hot wires that go out on the other side of the socket.

What color are the hot wires on a ballast?

Once you remove the tube and expose the ballast, cut the hot and neutral wires that supply input power. In general, the hot wires are black, and the neutral wires are white. Make a close cut and ensure that there are no longer than 2 inches of wires left.

What is a type B ballast?

Type B: These tubes are also known as ‘Ballast Bypass’ or ‘Direct wire’ T8 LED tubes. Installing them means you will have to remove an existing fluorescent tube ballast.

Why turn off mains power supply?

Turning off the Mains Power supply will ensure that you won’t get an electric shock during the process. So, locate the circuit breaker switch that provides power to the area where you will carry out the bypass and turn it off.

Is T8 tube retrofitting successful?

Congratulations! Your Ballast bypass and T8 Tube retrofitting are successful.

Can you replace a fluorescent fixture with a non-shunted tombstone?

Nonetheless, if the existing fixture offers a shunted tombstone, you should replace it with a non-shunted variant.