I'm in the process of upgrading my kitchen lighting by replacing some old fluorescent fixtures with linkable 18" LED fixtures from Commercial Electric. The installation seemed straightforward: I disconnected the Romex from the fluorescents, pulled it into the LED base, plugged it in, and mounted it. However, when I turned the breaker back on, nothing happened. My non-contact tester confirms there's power running from where the Romex comes out of the wall, through to the internal connection, and along the linking cable to the plug. I even tried plugging the linking cable into another fixture, but it didn't work either. I'm really at a loss here—any ideas?
3 Answers
First off, make sure the old fixtures were fully functional before you swapped them out. If they were working fine, double-check your wire connections to ensure everything is snug. Sometimes, even a loose connection can cause these issues!
Check the specifications for your LED lights to confirm they are compatible with your setup. Sometimes, the issue can be related to voltage mismatches, so make sure everything aligns properly.
Just a heads up: Fluorescent lights usually have ballasts, but most LED lights don’t support them. Make sure you've completely removed any ballasts from the old setup; otherwise, it might be blocking the LED from getting power. Your new fixtures should be direct-wired and not need that ballast anymore!
I took out the entire old fluorescent fixture, including the ballast. The LEDs are self-contained and supposed to be direct-wired.
The old fixture worked perfectly until I removed it. The only connection is where the bare ends of the hot and neutral are plugged into the LED fixture.