Unkel Kunkel Posted September 17, 2023 Report Share Posted September 17, 2023 (edited) My garage, like many thousands of others uses fluorescent lights. 5 x 5ft .Mostly very old and rusty In the space of a few days, tubes failed in 2 and a ‘ballast’ in a newer fitting failed. So, fix the lighting… This is when I learnt that this month, RoHS ( Restriction of Hazardous Substances) Regulations mean that the manufacture of T5 and T8 tubes has ceased, based concerns regarding the hazards of mercury they contain. You can still buy the tubes as stocks last. Although the effect will be gradual, there will be a need to change from fluorescents ‘as we know them’ to such things as LED ‘tubes’ in existing fittings where possible or new LED ‘ battens’ . (There must be millions of these things everywhere- in every office, supermarket, school , hospital etc.Gradually changing all those could be challenging, I imagine) Anyway… I thought this is an opportunity to modernise the garage lighting and ditch the rusting cobweb encrusted old units. - so I changed all mine to LED battens ( I used. x5 ScrewFix Reeves 5ft LED - but there are lots of other options) They are sealed ( they can even be used outdoors), they are remarkably light, they even come pre- wired, making them very easy to fit.They look smart and will be much less of a dust and cobweb magnet. The lights come on instantly; There is a very noticeable increase in light output and quality they are more energy efficient. They are really good. Edited September 17, 2023 by Unkel Kunkel 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted September 17, 2023 Report Share Posted September 17, 2023 How did the cost compare Unkel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unkel Kunkel Posted September 17, 2023 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2023 (edited) 50 minutes ago, johny said: How did the cost compare Unkel? Here is the Screwfix deal. Difficult to compare with ‘conventional’ type tube lights -some about the same some cheaper like £ 8.5O on B&Q - but since they are also marked as ‘ not currently available’ the price was irrelevant. The reviews of the product were very positive. Other factors were that my old lights were now 3 out of 5 u/s and needed change; the ease of fitting and use ;thoughts of ‘future proofing’ , as tubes will perhaps become less readily available and some small reduction in energy costs. Having fitted them , they do a much better job and look quite smart. Edited September 17, 2023 by Unkel Kunkel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted September 17, 2023 Report Share Posted September 17, 2023 I agree with Unkel! And have started to replace as necessary with LEDs. It's that they come instantly that I like best! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted September 17, 2023 Report Share Posted September 17, 2023 (edited) Just before lockdowns one of mine over the bench decided to throw its hand in. What I did was go on flea bay and get 10 meters of self adhesive strip led and a 240 to 12v transformer rectifier. Removed the fluorescent tube ballast etc and and reengineered the existing fitting. instant bright. With the advantage that it could even be run off 12v battery if required. So far it is more than adequate. As they fail I will likely repeat the process with the others Pete Edited September 17, 2023 by PeteH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted September 17, 2023 Report Share Posted September 17, 2023 I'm wondering if they fade over time. I have LEDs in the garage now for five years, but it just doesn't seem as bright as when it was all new. The lights themselves are clean, no sign of dust or anything else that would cloud the plastic covers, but they just don't seem to light the way they used to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted September 17, 2023 Report Share Posted September 17, 2023 Definitely but I think most types of lights do... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekS Posted September 17, 2023 Report Share Posted September 17, 2023 (edited) Don't know about that but one of the advantages of led is they are just as bright in really cold weather where the old fluorescents I had at our old address were badly affected with the cold. Derek. Edited September 17, 2023 by DerekS Spell checker... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahebron Posted September 18, 2023 Report Share Posted September 18, 2023 LEDs do fade over time. Also chips can die which leaves a dark spot in the lamp. But the biggest problem is with the drivers failing and the lights being thrown out as they are often sealed units. Our bathroom mirror with inbuilt heater and light stopped working recently and I could not buy a driver locally that was small enough to fit so ended up getting two from Aliexpress. Fluorescent lights being a discharge type lamp do not like cold weather and can take a long time to reach correct operating colour temperature, manufacturers info would state 15 minutes till full operating temp reached. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlubikey Posted September 18, 2023 Report Share Posted September 18, 2023 Had to replace the kitchen light - a 60-year old GE (General Electric) strip light originally from my parents house and which I had found would only accept the big old T12 tubes. I couldn't find how much light these old tubes put out so guessed and bought an LED strip. The kitchen was DAZZLINGLY bright so I had to hack the driver circuit to wind down the power to the LEDs. The old fitting had power to the centre of the fitting. The new one had the driver circuit at one end and NINE inches of mains cable - how mean is that! Had to solder in a new cable from the circuit board to run to the centre of the luminaire so it could be mounted in the same place on the ceiling. Actually, this seems to be an increasing problem with cheap far-east electrical stuff. I bought an LED security light, sealed with just 12" or 14" of cable coming out. Impossible to open up as the glued in widow is the only access point. You are forced to buy a sealed junction box to mount on the wall nearby instead of a cable neatly running all the way into the loft. 7 hours ago, ahebron said: Also chips can die which leaves a dark spot in the lamp. All the ones I've seen have the LEDs soldered onto a flexible PCB strip. They are connected in series which means if one should fail short circuit, you get the dark spot. I would have thought that, unless they are specifically designed that way (like old fashioned Xmas tree light bulbs), it's more likely they will fail open circuit and the whole strip is extinguished. That's what our bathroom light was occasionally doing. I assumed it was a dry joint (a poorly made or cracked solder joint) but in the end it was the driver module in the loft. Do they sell replacement modules? Do they hell! Had to match the characteristics and buy a driver module for a different application. Modern technology? Don't get me started on modern technology! Bring back the days when you used to get circuit diagrams in Philips and other Hi-Fi. Cheers, Richard PS: We fitted high CRI (Colour Rendition Index) striplight tubes in my wife's furniture restoration business 15 or 20 years ago. It was a cold light but made such a difference when matching the colour of new wood to old, varnish, etc. Can you buy high CRI LEDs??? They may exist but I've never seen them yet. She's just retired so it's no longer my problem! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahebron Posted September 18, 2023 Report Share Posted September 18, 2023 High CRI leds do exist but they are not cheap. Plenty out there https://www.litegear.com/literibbon/ are one of the expensive ones but the product is good. Used on film sets all over the world. But there are alternatives available that are a lot cheaper and tbh just as good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark powell Posted September 21, 2023 Report Share Posted September 21, 2023 Just bought and fitted four 5ft LED batten lights from Direct Lighting, £71.95 inc delivery. Very pleased with them https://www.lighting-direct.co.uk/tough-eco-45w-cool-white-led-weatherproof-batten-5ft-single.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted September 21, 2023 Report Share Posted September 21, 2023 That's a very good price, Mark! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerguzzi Posted September 21, 2023 Report Share Posted September 21, 2023 Hello All I fitted one over my work bench in the same position as the old one and had to move it as it was to bright in my eyes as it was in front of me and just above head height! I moved it to more above my head and is good. But I think you can have to much light if it is in the wrong place and they are the bright white type? Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted September 21, 2023 Report Share Posted September 21, 2023 I have a battery portable one which if I place it wrongly triggers the welding mask!. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahebron Posted September 21, 2023 Report Share Posted September 21, 2023 The Philips brand have a dual power output for one of their battens. Batten LED 26W 52W 3 Colour 1500mm IP20 BN132C Wide SmartBright Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgana Posted September 23, 2023 Report Share Posted September 23, 2023 I was considering something similar, but I understand they're all sealed so on failure it's either break into the thing and solder a new component, or dump it, and I hate waste, particularly plastic Chinesium waste. Is it possible to get replaceable 'bulbs/tubes' for the fittings or are they all sealed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted September 24, 2023 Report Share Posted September 24, 2023 On 21/09/2023 at 20:29, rogerguzzi said: Hello All I fitted one over my work bench in the same position as the old one and had to move it as it was to bright in my eyes as it was in front of me and just above head height! I moved it to more above my head and is good. But I think you can have to much light if it is in the wrong place and they are the bright white type? Roger Know what you mean, Roger! But I have shelf on the wall above the bench, just below eye level. I mounted the light under that, for excellent illumination! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68vitesse Posted September 30, 2023 Report Share Posted September 30, 2023 Just had one led tube of a twin fitting fail, must be the tube as swopped them and fault stayed with the tube. Bought from Toolstation fitted end of 2020 so less than three years old. Regards Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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