I have an old fluorescent light fitting in my garage that's been up for years that uses the old style T12 tubes. Although those tubes are still available on the internet, adding on delivery makes them quite pricy. Can I use T8 tubes of the same length that have the G13 fitting? I have seen some that apparently operate on both electronic and magnetic ballasts, though I wouldn't actually know what ballast I have in my light fitting.
Light bulb query
- Thread starter grandadt
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The T stands for Tube and the 12 and 8 are the diameters in eighths of an inch, otherwise no different - apart from the length, of course.
They will certainly work with magnetic ballasts. Do they flicker and flash when you turn them on? If so T8 tubes can be used.
Are you suggesting that T8 tubes cannot be used with electronic 'ballasts'?
Kind Regards, John
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T8 tubes can be used with electronic ballasts designed for them. They should not be used with electronic ballasts designed for T12 tubes.
Afaik there are no electronic ballasts designed for T12 tubes.
All T8 tubes will run on both Electronic ballasts and usually ok with Magnetic chokes/ballasts with starters or electronic starters.
T8 will usually Not work properly with old Starterless ballast fittings.
So If your fittings have starters then its highly likely they will run T8 tubes
With no starter fittings then they will likely not run T8 tubes.
As a guide as Winston states, if they flash and flicker then strike, then your fittings would appear to have starters.
G13 is standard to T8 and T12 tubes, it means 13mm between the pins, though in the days of T12 pre metric, was called something else
Dependant on length you may need an alternative starter when changing from T12 to T8
All T8 tubes will run on both Electronic ballasts and usually ok with Magnetic chokes/ballasts with starters or electronic starters.
T8 will usually Not work properly with old Starterless ballast fittings.
So If your fittings have starters then its highly likely they will run T8 tubes
With no starter fittings then they will likely not run T8 tubes.
As a guide as Winston states, if they flash and flicker then strike, then your fittings would appear to have starters.
G13 is standard to T8 and T12 tubes, it means 13mm between the pins, though in the days of T12 pre metric, was called something else
Dependant on length you may need an alternative starter when changing from T12 to T8
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I recently replaced my thick tube with an energizer led tube £20+
Into 1960s fitting.
Lots more lovely light under it. Impressed.
My tube is fitted in the corner of the garage and unsurprisingly there is less light at the garage enterance now.
Done the same in kitchen. No downside there.
Into 1960s fitting.
Lots more lovely light under it. Impressed.
My tube is fitted in the corner of the garage and unsurprisingly there is less light at the garage enterance now.
Done the same in kitchen. No downside there.
Interesting, other people have reported less light with LED tubes. Perhaps your T12s were very old and worn.
As I've reported in the past, I've replaced a good few fluorescent tubes with LED ones of the same length (hence roughly half the power and half the claimed light output) and, in all cases, the perceived amount of resultant illumination I(at least, as perceived by me!) was at least as much as the preceding fluorescents, and certainly 'adequate for purpose'.
That might is some cases be because LEDs are more directional, so more of the light goes downwards, which is where it is usually wanted/needed. As I've also said, it's also probably partially because we tended to use more powerful fluorescents than was necessary for the purpose - the length of tube was generally chosen according to the size of the area one wanted to illuminate but, unlike the case with bubs/lamps, one didn't have a choice of different wattages for a given length of tube. In other words, I might well have been able to use tubes of half the wattage that I did (and hence get roughly the same running-cost-saving), had they been available.
Kind Regards, John
Certainly been my experience. To clarify the light is patchy, in the bright zones it is brighter but in the dull zones it is duller, the overall effect appears not to be as good. The range is definitely reduced with LED versions, as confirmed by Andy. I recently acquired an unopened box of 25 each 4ft and 5ft T8's where a customer has changed over to LED's ... then sold them back to them when the office staff complained, hee,hee,hee.
If you haven’t tried energizer ones I would recommend them. I’ve been very impressed with GLS, candle, shaving, gu10
Always brighter than incandance and excellent colour.
On the a candle for example (side by side)you can’t even tell the difference apart from being brighter!
Always brighter than incandance and excellent colour.
On the a candle for example (side by side)you can’t even tell the difference apart from being brighter!
I heard a story once (possibly read it here) of a plumber who'd got a job to renovate the bathroom(s) at a small girl's school in his locality (small school, not small girls) during the summer hols. When he rocked up on Day 1 he was met by an anxious head who apologetically said they'd forgotten to include the removal of the old materials in the spec, and how-much-extra-would-you-want-and-I-hope-it's-not-an-awful-lot.
Plumber looked at the inch-and-a-half thick, 8'x4' marble shower stall side panels, and similarly substantial multiple washbasin stands, and period WC pans and cisterns, and said he'd take care of it for only an extra couple of hundred.
And one from the horses mouth I heard when I went on a tour of Battersea power station after it had shut down but before it became derelict and then redeveloped. The chimneys had huge baulks of timber inside them - they used to spray water in at the top and these caused it to splash around, and the smoke to swirl, the idea being to cool and wash the smoke.
They were teak, and as part of the decommissioning they were to be removed. One canny contractor knew that once the outer couple of inches had been machined off there would remain a large amount of valuable wood - he underbid everybody else and reportedly made a huge profit from selling what everybody else had written off as scrap.
and usually the flicker
Which flicker ?
Most LED's running on ac flicker at 50 or 100Hz, much more so than fluo's
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