Switching-out Fluorescent Bulbs for LED strips

[RustyTools]

I know the bulb-swap has been discussed on here many-a-time, but what about how to stick the LED strips to the old fixture?

I replaced the bulbs in the living room and bathroom with LEDs and, proud of my work, left them on for several hours while doing other things. When I checked back, the strips had gotten so hot they'd pulled loose from the 2-sided tape I'd used to stick them up with. The actual fixtures were hot as well.

How do y'all electrically and thermally insulate them?

[CWP3]

That is something I worry about. I read somewhere that LEDs generate a lot of heat. Is that something we need to worry about?

[RustyTools]

Definitely a lot less heat than incandescent or even fluorescent, but it surprised me how much the LEDs actually did generate.

[nodine]

Originally Posted by RustyTools

I know the bulb-swap has been discussed on here many-a-time, but what about how to stick the LED strips to the old fixture?

I replaced the bulbs in the living room and bathroom with LEDs and, proud of my work, left them on for several hours while doing other things. When I checked back, the strips had gotten so hot they'd pulled loose from the 2-sided tape I'd used to stick them up with. The actual fixtures were hot as well.

How do y'all electrically and thermally insulate them?

I did two fixtures with the LED strips and decided I preferred to replace the tubes with LED tubes and strip out the ballast. All the fixtures in our coach are converted to LED and only two are using the strips. Just me. Here is were we get the tubes and they seem to last forever.
https://squareup.com/market/ledrvlighting

Bob

[NITEHAWK]

Me being not the brightest bulb on the tree, discovered way back when we first bought our coach, that double sided tape does NOT like heat.
So when I converted our overhead lights to LED strip lighting I used dabs of SHOE GOO every six inches.
Must have worked. The light strips are still up tight to the fixtures, right where I initially stuck them.
I even do pictures on the walls of the coach. Anything that goes on with double sided tape gets "Shoe Goo"ed.
Shoe Goo is available in the shoe department at Walmart. Bright red tube in a blister pack hanging on a hook and about $5 or $6.

[CWP3]

Originally Posted by NITEHAWK

Me being not the brightest bulb on the tree, discovered way back when we first bought our coach, that double sided tape does NOT like heat.
So when I converted our overhead lights to LED strip lighting I used dabs of SHOE GOO every six inches.
Must have worked. The light strips are still up tight to the fixtures, right where I initially stuck them.
I even do pictures on the walls of the coach. Anything that goes on with double sided tape gets "Shoe Goo"ed.
Shoe Goo is available in the shoe department at Walmart. Bright red tube in a blister pack hanging on a hook and about $5 or $6.

Interesting.... How hard is it to remove if you want to make changes? I know that they have “goo gone” but doesn’t that leave a stain?

[Chargerman]

I also removed the ballasts and the bulbs and replaced with the cut to length strips. Bought a roll of the LEDs and a package of the pigtail ends. When I installed two strips in each fixture I used a dab of silicone every few inches to be sure they stayed in place. Cost per fixture to convert was about $3 total.

M&M Electronics told me that as the ballasts age they can cause noise which can create gremlins in the Intellitec system. In my case my fantastic fans would turn on and off regularly. They have behaved themselves since removing the ballasts

[RustyTools]

Interesting ideas, thanks. Does dabbing the glue stuff every few inches help with heat dissipation, since they're mostly in air now?

When my strips were stuck to the fixture, even the fixture got hot, so I'm wondering how to minimize that.

[Spdracr39]

I bought direct replacement led bulbs from Walmart for my 18" fixtures. Made by Great Value they were only $6.88 each and work great. No rewiring just stick them in and turn them on. My goal was increased brightness and instant on. I wasn't concerned about energy usage but they do use less than the fluorescent bulbs they replaced and more than if you disconnected the ballast for strip lighting.

[153stars]

I'm hoping they come out with glass tube in 12v led replacements. But I won't hold my breath.
We just got several boxes at work 48" T8 replacements for about 3 bucks a bulb. These are so much better than the plastic for overhead fixtures ,especially in the newer style open bulb 3 lamp fixture .You can barely tell the difference as the light is still nearly 360 and bounces off all the reflectors the same way as fluorescent bulbs .We can still feed into our bulb eater when they finally fail.
Many times use 3M 77 spray glue with a brush over glue tapes or to base materials at work . It works in extreme temp swing conditions and in cold conditions when just adhesive strips won't hold . Not going to help original tape bond to led strip unless it has already failed and your repairing it.

[jacwjames]

I converted my lights to LED about 7 years ago. I completely removed each fixture, stripped and cleaned. Where I was going to attach the LED strips I cleaned with acetone to remove any residual dirt etc.

I actually put 3 LED strips and added a 2nd switch so I can have 1, 2, 3 or NO lights working, provides a lot of flexibility to control the amount of light. I used the pigtails that you can buy. I believe I spent ~$80 to do all but 1 of my lights.

Haven't had a problem with any of the adhesive coming loose.

[MSHappyCampers]

I too cleaned the metal with Acetone before sticking the strips. I have not had a single strip come loose!

[RustyTools]

I cleaned with acetone as well, but my problem wasn't so much that the tape/strip didn't stick to the fixture but that the heat softened the tape and the tape/strip pulled loose from the fixture.


What LEDs did y'all use?

[moisheh]

Sme of the tubes to replace a fluorescent are no more energy efficient than a fluorescent bulb, The 4 ft. LED tubes at Walmart are not energy efficient.