A year or two or three ago, the fluorescent light in the downstairs bathroom quit working properly. Sometimes it would work after two-three up and downs with the switch, then it might come on, blink a few times and stay on. Occasionally it wouldn’t come on at all and a person would need to go to the incandescent sink light to see to take care of business. There was a night light plugged in so there was always enough for safety but not enough to really see to take a shower, etc.
Then the overhead light would start to work as God had originally intended. Summer of 2024 the problem became a more frequent occurrence. I sort of figured it must be in the switch so I changed that with a new store bought one, rather than a used switch that I could find in my miscellaneous “saved for later” box. That didn’t make any difference. As time passed it mysteriously began to work again, as proper lights are supposed to work, it had repaired itself (again).
Summer of 2025 was a repeat of 2024. I finally realized the problem only occurred in the summer, when the humidity was high. I went on line and it was confirmed by the wise men of Youtube. The suggestion was to switch to an LED, with an easy to understand pictorial by one of the gurus of experience. The demonstrator had his fixture on the bench and it only took him a few minutes to remove the transformer, reconnect the wires, replace the original tubes with LEDs and voila! His fixture was plugged in and he had LEDs flowing all over the shop floor. Easy-peasy for an old guy, right?
There were a couple differences though, my light fixture was a drop in unit in a suspended ceiling, about 7 ½ feet off the floor. Too high for me to reach, being a little handicapped and a lot old. I had a ladder though that would work. I got my tools and the ladder and dropped the cover on the light. I turned off the light at the circuit box, I was ready! Damn, it’s dark and the other light was on the same circuit. Now I have to find a lamp and an extension cord and a live outlet somewhere.
OK, let there be light, not a lot but enough. Carefully took out the U-shaped tubes, now remove the metal wire cover and Damn!, there’s the transformer but with way more wires than the Youtube guy had. I cut the wires close to the transformer, now I’m looking out of the top of my extra thick glasses and everything is blurry and I can tell the colors of the wires but not much else. I go up another step on the ladder and now my head is hitting the drop ceiling. I have to go back down a step, tilt my head way back so I can see through the bottom of my tri-focals and find the screw that holds the transformer in. Good luck with that. Finally I find the screw and after many hits-misses with the screwdriver blade get the transformer down without dropping it but losing the screw that was holding it in. Since I didn’t need it again I knew I’d find it when I was barefoot.
Now all I have to do is strip all the wires, tie them together and I’ll be on my way. Now I have the same problem as before, I can’t see to find the right slot (it’s the smallest one, of course) on the stripper. After a lot of newly invented words that only teenagers would be able to decipher I got the wires stripped. Now to tie them together. What was it the Youtube guy said? Oh yeah, all yellow/white go together and blue/black/red get tied together. I need some wire nuts but I have a lot of boxes/coffee cans marked MISC so I probably have some of the right size. Start digging and a trip to the garage and I came up with a handful of various sizes and colors that will work.
That was fairly easy, now to get all those wires back underneath the cover. Every time I thought I had them all tucked away I’d find another one sticking out. If I had an extra hand it would be a lot easier but eventually and with the new vocabulary the wires were safely hidden under the cover. Replace the tubes with the new and improved LEDs and I’ll be in business.
Now the big test. Go to the circuit breaker box, flip the circuit breaker and go back to the bathroom. The moment of truth has arrived! I flip the switch and LET THERE BE LIGHT! It’s a miracle, all is well at the Fourscores. According to the light package these lights will work for 35 years, with any kind of luck I’ll be replacing these tubes in 2060.
Mrs F was duly impressed, “Now the pantry, the water room and the laundry room and you’ll be finished.”
lulz
“Good work! As a reward: more work!”
Spoiler: The lights won’t last for 35 years.
But, but, it say right on the package….
Keep your receipt.
I have LEDs in the kitchen light that I seem to replace every 8-12 months.
Five to ten years is pretty good. I had one over my worktable that I never turned off, it lasted five years. Might have kept going but I smashed it when I moved. Butterfingers.
They don’t build them like they used to.
Smashing it will definitely shorten the life span.
The LED will last.
The transformer will fail within five years.
Certainly a possibility. Replacing the whole dang fixture is preferred.
I had the same problem when I put new ballasts in all of my garage lights.
The important part is that your wife is impressed.
I don’t know if my wife is impressed by some of the things I can do or surprised that an idiot like me can do them.
The more important part is not falling off the ladder. That’s how my dad broke his hip in 2022.
Already did that part, 5 years ago.
I was worried about that when the ladder came into the story.
Those things are vicious.
LEDs replacement have their own driver, just leave the ballast in place. Wire it like 115v and youre set.
I didn’t put in LED’s, but all 6 of my ballasts went bad at around the same time.
I thought about going to LED, but 12 8 foot lights are too expensive.
I’m looking at 9 8-footers in the north garage but I’ll wait til spring.
Timely. I’m gonna install some LED overhead lights in my spare bedroom/gun cave over the weekend.
Timely for me as well. I have a pair of small (24″) fluorescent lights in a closet and one of them is unreliable – have to do the flick on-off-on trick multiple times to get it to light up. I looked up LED replacement bulbs and they explain you have to modify the fixture (ballast bypass), although there are some that say they are “plug & play” and can be plugged in with the ballast intact.
Just pull the whole fixture, you only have to deal with the wires in the ceiling. Much simpler. Then everything is new.
RJ’s right. Some of the replacement LED fixtures are super cheep too.
And you get what you pay for too.
The handful I have in the shop are Cree brand. So far so good.
I had a 4’x2′ drop ceiling type fluorescent in a bathroom.. replaced it with a flat panel LED… much nicer light. 3500K color temp.
My problem with LED replacements for PAR30 and 75-100W equivalent lights is that they take about a tenth of a second to charge up and turn on. If you have incandescents and LEDs in the same circuit you see the timing difference, and the high power ones are obvious.
It just irks me.
My wife can see the LEDs cycle and can hear them She has crazy super hero vision and hearing.
Working overhead is pretty much a no go at this point.
Being old sucks.
Yesterday as I was doing my “exercises” my knee went pop and now it’s stiff and sore. Boo hoo woe is me.
I live with that knee problem. I can go up the stairs fairly well but coming down my knee does the talking.
I bought a pallet of incandescents before the ban went fully into effect.
There are only three LED bulbs in my house as I screwed up and didn’t buy any clear 60 watt bulbs for the bathroom fixture and the halogens I bought for that room kept failing as children like to play light switch raves.
If I ever get my shop insulated and lights up they will be LEDs as they are superior to the fluorescents of days gone by. I don’t like the spectrum of the LEDs but I leave the shop door open most of the time so I get natural full spectrum light and the LEDs do at least turn on when it’s cold.
Good on you.
Personally, I never could stand the brown light incandescents put out. It kept triggering the “It’s too dim in here” part of my brain, I prefer more blue in my light.
I want choice and with lights I want as close a spectrum as the sun is.
Little yellow and warm. Actual warmth. The heat given off by incandescants is a feature not a bug.
The one thing about LEDs that is a tad concerning – If they are always on, they can corrode plastics. Like Toolkote handles, plastic rulers, etc… Anything plastic under those lamps will decay.
I once replaced a plastic fan cover in a laundry room where the LEDs were never turned off. The fan cover crumbled in my hand like it was a hundred years old. It was only five years old.
They put out way too much UV.
Damn things are bad for your health. If you’re prone to SAD or depression and poor sleep you shouldn’t be around them.
“Damn things are bad for your health. If you’re prone to SAD or depression and poor sleep you shouldn’t be around them.”
Liberals?
No, RJ, seed oils.
I had never heard that before.
That can’t be good for you.
White LEDs do not produce a significant amount of UV radiation, unless the phosphor is damaged. Even then, they produce less UV than sunlight of equal intensity.
All of the above RJ and Ted.
I’m assuming the discoloration of the housing is form the heat of the rectifier?
They make tuned LEDs, I use warm indoors and cool in my shop space.
Tuned color spectrum.
But not actual full spectrum like an incandescent.
I use incandescents for pumphouse heat. I’ll miss those when my stash runs out.
Used the last 150W for the garage light. Sealed glass fixture so not for LEDs. Dunno what I’ll do when the next one burns out.
Attic insulation is done! House is healing now.
I miss streetlights that actually illuminated the street. The led ones (when not giving that purple glow) do not have the fill of sodium vapor.
Critical Drinker’s 2025 review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akl_kYPEYgQ
Y’all know I like pretty things and I will often buy things JUST because they’re pretty. I also like kooky, kitschy things (the clock). Fortunately, my husband knows this about me. (And yes, that wall hanging IS knitted fairy lights. I did not make this. I saw it on Etsy and my friend who is a knitter volunteered to make it for me.)
Ooo I like the clock.
I saw that on your X feed, pretty cool
That clock… that clock would drive me bonkers. I can read an analog clock without numbers, but I see equations and I try to solve them in my head. I get derailed solving the clock before I remember I just wanted to know it’s reading quarter to one.
This. I would want to solve them, and then put the answer right next to them.
I’ve had a clock like that! The girlfriend hated it.
My absolute favorite clock (mine no longer powers up, and they’re no longer made). Was the old TIX clock. You count the lit up LED’s in each section to get the digit, the position only matters per grouping. You could set the lights to change every minute, every 10 seconds, or every second.
Is Pinterest owned by Meta?
I’m not allowed to look without signing in, wonder if I can create an account.
Related:
https://www.artsquest.org/festivals/more-festivals-and-experiences/peepsfest/
You’re missing the 16th annual Peepsfest.
You could always make it here for the popcorn ball drop or the pierogi drop for midnight.
Power imbalance
Concerns about Merriam represent the latest flash point in a long-running debate about the power imbalance between federal judges and the often young clerks who work for them. People who work for the courts don’t enjoy the same kinds of job protections that most other American workers do.
Obviously the clerks need a union.
I didn’t see any trips to the hardware store mid fix. This story is not checking out.