Is there an electrition on here?

[Ricky 1]

Practical Fish keeping (feb) an article on new LED tubes that can replace T8 tubes and soon T5, same fittings, my question is, how do we change from electric Ballast to magnetic ballast, I want these tubes as they give a shimmer effect on the water, and are very cheap to run, no colour stuff, just pure replacements with plants in mind..........

[dcutl002]

Originally Posted by Ricky 1

Practical Fish keeping (feb) an article on new LED tubes that can replace T8 tubes and soon T5, same fittings, my question is, how do we change from electric Ballast to magnetic ballast, I want these tubes as they give a shimmer effect on the water, and are very cheap to run, no colour stuff, just pure replacements with plants in mind..........

Don't you mean it the other way around...magnetic ballast to electronic ballast? The new electronic ballast does not require a starter.

18 watt T8 LED Linear Direct Replacement

[Linwood]

I do not know about aquariums, but I just today swapped out tubes in a 4' fixture in my garage. The ones I got:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

To put these in you REMOVE the balast entirely and just wire hot to one end (to the tombstones on the end) and neutral to the other. So basically cut the wires going to the balast and wire direct to the feed. Took all of 10 minutes and most of that was getting the ballast out.

The one quoted appears to not expect you to remove the ballast, but just in terms of reliability I really like the idea of getting rid of all that old stuff - less to fail in some strange way later, or melt, or consume extra electricity.

Note again I have no idea if there are aquarium sized versions of this, or ones suitable for plants, but you might shop around a bit if you feel up to removing the ballast (and anyone who can clean an aquarium filter and cycle a tank can certainly remove a ballast).

[dcutl002]

I'm OK. I was trying to help you out. I am glad to see that you have it under control.


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[Brookster123]

No but I stayed at a holiday in last night.. what you're going to want to do.. open a window, look first than throw that fixture right out the window. Go on amazon and buy a sweet led

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[Ricky 1]

Originally Posted by Linwood

I do not know about aquariums, but I just today swapped out tubes in a 4' fixture in my garage. The ones I got:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

To put these in you REMOVE the balast entirely and just wire hot to one end (to the tombstones on the end) and neutral to the other. So basically cut the wires going to the balast and wire direct to the feed. Took all of 10 minutes and most of that was getting the ballast out.

The one quoted appears to not expect you to remove the ballast, but just in terms of reliability I really like the idea of getting rid of all that old stuff - less to fail in some strange way later, or melt, or consume extra electricity.

Note again I have no idea if there are aquarium sized versions of this, or ones suitable for plants, but you might shop around a bit if you feel up to removing the ballast (and anyone who can clean an aquarium filter and cycle a tank can certainly remove a ballast).

Thanks for the advice, you make it seem pretty easy, so is a magnetic ballast built in to the tube when you remove the electric ballast out? I am not good at electrics, that's why I asked........

[Linwood]

Originally Posted by Ricky 1

Thanks for the advice, you make it seem pretty easy, so is a magnetic ballast built in to the tube when you remove the electric ballast out? I am not good at electrics, that's why I asked........

LED's do not use ballasts.

SOME florescent replacements are made to allow the ballast to still exist and try to run in spite of them, but this makes for extra electronics inside, and also the ballast stays -- which means the tube can still fail if the ballast (which it does not actually need) fails.

LED tubes (generally) just need 110V at one end, and the neutral wire at the other. Basically like any other light. All the work to drive the LED (which is low voltage DC) is inside the tube.

But if you are not electrically handy at all, none of these are great solutions. Unless you have some special need, you are likely better off with a regular LED fixture -- smaller, simpler, etc. And you can buy them specifically for display only, or (a bit more costly) for plants. You CAN buy replacement tubes similarly aimed, but they are much more of a specialty item.

If you do have a real need to use the existing fixture, see if you can find a neighbor (or their kid) with a bit of electrical experience. This is not hard at all, but there is an element of danger whenever you work with 110V, and it needs to be someone who might be comfortable replacing a light socket (for example).

[Quest84]

there are some good cheap leds on ebay and amazon right now. I just picked a 48'' up for like 70 bucks.

and I'm not a licensed electrician, but I do all my own residental electrical work

[Ricky 1]

Ok thanks, am going to buy them, if need be ill get an electrician, I really want that shimmer effect that is natural in the wild........

[Ricky 1]

Originally Posted by Quest84

there are some good cheap leds on ebay and amazon right now. I just picked a 48'' up for like 70 bucks

I have some led light's but these new led tubes are the biz, ill put a photo on later.....

[Ricky 1]

[dcutl002]

Ricky, I can help you change the ballast, but you will need a little DIY know how. I am an electrician who has crossed over to electrical engineer. I just fear that you may hurt yourself for lack of knowledge of electricity. Electricity Must be respected.


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[Ricky 1]

That would be great, I am very careful and would not do anything silly......so fire away and thanks......if you want to PM me that's fine

[dcutl002]

First, what is the make and model of your ballast. A pic may help


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[Ricky 1]

I cant look now Dcut as my tank is off, my tank and hood came from Pond solutions, I would need to ring them or have a look tomorrow it's 11.10 pm here, sorry hope you don't mind......

[dcutl002]

I don't mind. Just post your ballast information. Make, model, voltage, Hertz. Etc


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[Ricky 1]

Thanks, will do.......

[dcutl002]

http://www.dhgate.com/store/product/...0-1|3726023848

I see you live in the UK. I posted a link to a random ballast above. If you look closely, on the left end you have the Live, Neutral, and ground wires. This is your INPUT. On the right end, you can see the wiring schematic that goes to the bulb. This particular ballast has one bulb hooked up to the output. Some ballasts that you will run across will have output to one or two bulbs. The schematic shows EXACTLY how to wire the bulbs. In this particular example, the top two wires go to one end of the tube and the bottom two wires go to the other end of the tube.

Another example:
http://www.dhgate.com/store/product/...2-1|3726023848

Here as above, on the left end there are your Live, Neutral, and ground wires. The difference is on the OUTPUT(right side). Here on the schematic you have a TWO-BULB output. Terminal 25 is wired to one pin on both bulbs and likewise terminal 26 is wired to the other pin on the left end of both bulbs. On the right end of the TOP bulb you have terminals 21 and 22. On the right end of the bottom bulb you have 23 and 24. It is just that simple.



I hope this helps.

[dcutl002]

Ricky, I just read the Practical Fishkeeping article. You were right. Those LED tube require a magnetic ballast. That is a step backwards in time. Initially I did not think that you knew what you were talking about. Nobody buys magnetic ballasts anymore! The Electronic Ballasts replaced the old magnetic ballasts years ago. To make matters worse, the magnetic ballasts require a starter. You don't want that. What you can do is something like this: G13 4FT 20W 3000K 4000K 6500K CLR STR MLK T8 Fluorescent Replacement LED Tube | eBay

These LED tubes appear to be 4 feet long and they require NO ballast. I did see 6500K tubes with three different diffusers: clear, milky, and striped. Keep looking around the UK for LED tubes that are 6500K if these are too expensive.

[Ricky 1]

Thanks Dcut,very good information for me, thank you so much for your help