Fluorescent to LED

[porsche tech]

I was reviewing a previous thread about changing 4 foot fluorescent bulbs to LED and would like to do this. In the previous thread I did not see any reference to the LED's messing up the garage door opener. The reason I say this is I replaced the 2 incandescent bulbs in the opener with LED and the opener became very erratic. I don't want to spend the money for the 4 foot LEDs and then have the opener mess up. Anyone who has converted fluorescent to LED experienced this? I did see one warning in an Amazon ad that warned that this could be a problem.

[Shuie]

I have (3) 4ft fixtures in my garage that I converted over to the toggle LEDs you can get from home depot and have had no issues at all with the garage door opener or anything else.

https://www.toggled.com/tk2-dimmable-led-tubes.aspx

[Dantilla]

No problems when I switched.

[fastfredracing]

Weird. I do not have an opener, but I love my led lights ! It knocked almost 100.00$ off my monthly electric bill, and the place is a ton brighter.
I am 4 years in now, and have yet to have one fail . I used to have to get up on a 12 foot ladder, twice a year to replace the 8 foot long, high out put bulbs, and tons of the 4 footers every year.

[porsche tech]

Took me a while to figure out what was going on with the garage door acting weird...sometimes work, some times not from the car, sometimes get out of car and it works from key pad...all kinds of weird. Finally googled it and found a YouTube. Put the incadescent bulbs back in the opener and all is well. Definitely want the light from LEDs (changed all my outdoor floods to LED, and had already changed all the indoor can lights to LED) but don't want to spend money and make garage door problems.

[john70t]

Is there a way to change the code and the frequency of the opener?

Also try a different set of bulbs.
Use those somewhere else.
That specific brand of 'direct replacement' LED might be emitting an interfering frequency.
Other brands might not. IDK

[OK-944]

Sometimes a compatibility issue with a wall-mounted switch or rheostat...so do check on this. I've had to change a few switches out as I've moved to LED's - but its been well worth it, especially now as LED's have come way down in price and way up on quality/versatility/spectral range.

[dad911]

Try a different brand bulb? I've been using LED bulbs mostly from Home Depot, in multiple openers ranging from a 20 year old Genie to new Chamberlains without problem.

[porsche tech]

It just dawned on me...the two LED bulbs I put in the opener assembly would come on at the same time the garage door opener was activated...thus the interference. The four foot led replacements for fluorescent would not be on when opening and closing the door, so should be no interference. I'm ordering them! Thanks for the input.

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by porsche tech

I was reviewing a previous thread about changing 4 foot fluorescent bulbs to LED and would like to do this. In the previous thread I did not see any reference to the LED's messing up the garage door opener. The reason I say this is I replaced the 2 incandescent bulbs in the opener with LED and the opener became very erratic. I don't want to spend the money for the 4 foot LEDs and then have the opener mess up. Anyone who has converted fluorescent to LED experienced this? I did see one warning in an Amazon ad that warned that this could be a problem.

I never had an issue wrt the 4' conversion LEDs but I did w/ the small bulbs in the door lift casing. Some do interfere and some don't You will have to do trial and error

[john70t]

I recently had the perfect storm with quite a few sets of 4ft florescent fixtures.
All the ballasts failed. One after another. Pop another in. It took that long for me to figure it out..

(Lights of America many years old, with Sylvania 'green' bulbs. The tenant was using saws etc on the circuit but supposedly not with the last few.)

The outlet and house wiring was very correct. Also checked by electrician.
There was just something in the frequency combo which made the ballasts fail.

[dad911]

Originally Posted by porsche tech

It just dawned on me...the two LED bulbs I put in the opener assembly would come on at the same time the garage door opener was activated...thus the interference. The four foot led replacements for fluorescent would not be on when opening and closing the door, so should be no interference. I'm ordering them! Thanks for the input.

Don't you need to remove the ballasts? I think I would change the whole fixture.

[porsche tech]

I would eliminate the ballast with LEDs which is good, because one of them won't come on and another is getting difficult to ignite. I've convinced myself that the interference problem was because the led bulbs in the opener would come on as the opener was activating. I don't think the ceiling mounted 4 footers will cause any problem (at least I'm hoping!)

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by dad911

Don't you need to remove the ballasts? I think I would change the whole fixture.

Some of the bulbs do not require removing the ballasts. I have those 4 foot, four bulb units in my office. I swapped in just 2 LED replacements per fixture. More light and a LOT less electricity. I think I went from 160 Watts per fixture to 26. 23 Fixtures in the office. 3151 Watts, 45 hours per week is about 7500 kWh per year, or about $650 per year.

I replaced all of the standard bulbs in my house with LED. I think I'm saving about $25-30 per month. At home, the big savings was a VS Pool pump! About $800 per year. I could save another $100/yr with a pool "Robot" instead of the pressure side cleaner.

[john70t]

You can change those "LED direct replacement" bulbs to "LED ballast bypass" bulb types. They should not be mixed!
(this eliminates all ballast draw and ballast problems)

It will require taking apart the fixture and re-wiring safely.
A bit complicated but doable. Don't do it otherwise.

Most B-B bulbs (without the dimmer function I believe) have the (+) and (-) connectors on one side of the fixture.
Use the fixture side where the Romex connects to the ballast.
The electronic side of the bulb should be marked or obvious.

The plan is to get the Romex connection to the bulb end connector.
Use the correct size twist ends, cut insulation to fit, ensure good twist overlap before, ensure wires are snug on each other, electric tape after.
Take your time.

[flipper35]

I put two new openers on our second garage since both were broken when we bought the house. They came with LED lights for the opener.

[porsche tech]

Certain LED screw in bulbs will work without interference. I noticed that some openers now come with those bulbs. I will eliminate the ballasts in my 4 foot units as they are the biggest problem with fluorescent fixtures (and half the time, a new fixture is cheaper than a replacement ballast).

[cabmando]

I've had LED's in my garage door opener light as well as my shop for more than a year with no issues. I did the ballast removal/wire around and installed the 4' LED tubes a year or two ago. I run the cheapest twist in style LED's in my opener and in the part of my shop that used to have twist in CFL's

[Scott Douglas]

A number of years ago I changed the fixture in our kitchen to use the 'kit' that HD sold. It was pricey, like $120 at the time. The lights are fantastic though. Super bright white. I should probably change the two fixtures in our family room over the sewing center. Eliminating the ballasts would cut down on the heat load in there as well as the electricity being used. My wife probably wouldn't mind brighter lights in there too.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by porsche tech

Anyone who has converted fluorescent to LED experienced this? I did see one warning in an Amazon ad that warned that this could be a problem.

I've had problems. I bought some 4 foot LED shop lights from Menards that totally effed-up the radio reception in my garage.
Some LED lights come with the filters or whatever they are called and work find. I was more careful when I looked for replacements that claimed not to cause radio interference. They have been just fine.
You just need to shop carefully.