Can Plug and Play 4' LED bulbs kill fixtures?

[cash68]

I just bought a box of them, that say they work with flourescent ballasts, and all you do is remove your old bulbs and install these.

I just tried installing a couple and they lit up for a second and then went dark. No workie anymore. Removed them and reinstalled flourescent bulbs, acts dead AF.

?!

 

[Bert_]

They only work with certain kinds of ballasts. They work with pretty much all normal ballast factor instant start T8 ballast (by far the most common).

 

[cybrdyke]

There's no LED tube that works on every fluorescent ballast. As Bert said, most of them work only with electronic T8 ballasts. There are some that work only with older magnetic ballasts.
Normally, if you use the wrong combination of tube and ballast, they just misbehave . Occassionally, we see someone install a T8 LED tube onto a T12 magnetic ballast and this can kill either the tube or the ballast, maybe even both.
CD

 

[BillD]

Why not remove the ballast and run ballast-less LED tubes?

The ballasts were the bane of fluorescent lightning. When they die from old age, they are the expensive and difficult part to replace.

 

[mrjaw14]

I bought some toggled direct wire from Home Depot. Came with warning stickers, new tombstones, and good information. I had zero issues in the two fixtures I did, and I don’t have to worry about ballasts going bad anymore.

 

[Bert_]

The ballasts were the bane of fluorescent lightning. When they die from old age, they are the expensive and difficult part to replace.

This is sort of comical. Expensive? Difficult? $15 dollars and 15 minutes will do most of them...

Other than retrofit tubes all led fixtures have this thing called a driver. It's function is the exact same as a ballast. I've already had to replace a few.

I don't do the ballast compatible tubes simply because a dual end direct wire tube can be used in almost anything. I don't have to do homework to see if it will work.

 

[cash68]

I just bought new lamps. I have so many fixtures the idea of converting them all sounds like a time vampire.

 

[exranger06]

I just bought new lamps. I have so many fixtures the idea of converting them all sounds like a time vampire.

I recommend buying hybrid LED tubes. They can work with or without a ballast. You can just install the tubes and leave the ballast alone for now. Then if/when the ballast dies, or when you have some free time, you can remove the ballast and keep using the same tubes.