I'm in the process of converting a fluorescent fixture to LED using Ty B double-ended bulbs. I've removed the ballast and wired the hot to one side and the neutral to the other. However, the LED bulbs won't light up. I used a non-contact tester to check for voltage and confirmed there's power at the hot end. When I insert the LED bulb, power runs through it but stops before reaching the neutral tombstone. I've tried flipping the bulb, but the same issue occurs. Are my bulbs faulty, or have I possibly made an error in my wiring? I also noticed that the hot side of the tombstone had two wires, and according to the instructions, if there are two wires coming from the lamp holder, they should be connected or shunted. I connected all four wires together to the hot wire and I'm unsure if that's correct.
2 Answers
It sounds like you’re using LED ballast bypass lamps, which often come in two styles. One style connects hot to one end and neutral to the other, while the other has both hot and neutral on one end and a dummy pin on the other. Ensure you've wired everything according to the correct configuration of your specific bulbs. If the instructions said to connect all wires on one side to hot and the other side to neutral, just double-check that you’ve implemented that correctly.
You should check the tombstones because they can either be shunted or non-shunted, which affects how you need to wire them. A volt/ohm meter can help you determine their type before connecting the hot and neutral. It sounds like something might be off there if you’re not getting power to the bulb properly.