The florescent bulbs burned out in the light fixture in my wife's closet. I tried turning them around in their mounts and one of them had a faint glow but nothing else. I had purchased some 48" T8 replacements but they were LEDs. So I replace the originals with the LEDs and they worked fine at first. Now, when I flip the switch they come on for a few seconds and then go dark. If I toggle the switch they will sometimes very briefly flicker but still remain dark. I purchased a new switch because it seem to me that was the problem at first but before i go to the trouble of replacing it I thought I would see if there may be another possibility. Any ideas?

Could be that. Or also could be that the ballast is not compatible with the new LEDs. Some lesser quality ballasts don't work well with LED lamps. Either way, pull the ballast and wire it direct if your lamps can do that. Or, just replace the fixture.

Some of the LED tubes are compatible with a ballast, some are not. Know which kind you bought?

txag2008 said:

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Some of the LED tubes are compatible with a ballast, some are not. Know which kind you bought?

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Some bypass tubes also need different tombstones.

Following as my lights in garage are flickering too.

I am not great handling electricity but hate to spend $100+ on an electrician. I am thinking about buying new LED lights, flipping breaker, and giving it my best shot.

I do believe its likely related to the ballast but it seems like by the time I change that out you, with minimal incremental effort, I could have all new LED lights. Would be curious if others believe that assessment is right.

planoaggie123 said:

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Following as my lights in garage are flickering too.

I am not great handling electricity but hate to spend $100+ on an electrician. I am thinking about buying new LED lights, flipping breaker, and giving it my best shot.

I do believe its likely related to the ballast but it seems like by the time I change that out you, with minimal incremental effort, I could have all new LED lights. Would be curious if others believe that assessment is right.

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Minimal cost and effort yes. Just make sure to turn off the breaker when you connect the wiring.

Replaced all of the bulbs in my garage with LEDs a few years back. Had to cut the ballasts out of all of them and wire them back up. (Same for the old school uplights in my backyard when i changed to LED bulbs). After removing the ballasts, everything has been all good.

edit - answered own questions with a quick google...

So just removing the ballast and by-passing it may fix the problem? Interesting. My wife really wants a different fixture, anyway. It's a bad thing that LED tubes seem to be all you can find these days.

I know you Ags know things. I just checked the LED tubes and it says on the box that they work with existing ballasts. I took the tubes out but as I was doing that they started working again. So I left them in and once again they only stay on a few seconds and then go out. What the heck have I done? Do I need to remove the ballast and or replace tombstones? I only ask because I have other florescent fixtures in the house and I have a box of bulbs, now. So even if i change that one fixture I will still have others.....

What brand of ballast are in there? Could be a bad ballast or the ballast may not be compatible with the lamp. Also, what brand of lamp is it?

Buy the bulbs which say ballast by-pass and just take out the ballasts. Those ballasts get a lot hotter than I like when old anyway.

Thank you for all the tips. I will give the ballast a look and see if it's bad.

Have you notived the ballast humming loudly lately when turned on? That is often another sign it is on it's last leg. I would always suspect the ballast over any switch, etc, when the unit worked for years.

So remove the old ballast and then just toss these guys in and that is it??? If so that is a game-changer.