This old lamp...

Dee2

Board of Directors, Vice President
Gene
Staff member
Corporate Member
...was given to me when my fil passed. Been using it in the shop but it doesn't play well with the GFCI receptacles. Any ideas on how to convert it to leds?
188160
 

Dave Richards

Dave
Senior User
My father had one like that on his desk. Wish I'd gotten it after he passed.

I expect it could be converted to LEDs useing a short LED under cabinet type of light bar. I don't remember if there's a ballast in the base but you should be able to find room for the power supply in there and then run the power cord to the wall. Or, if you get an LED light unit that uses a brick plugged into the wall, chase the cord up the arm. Likely you'll need to do something different with the power switch. I would probably work out something to use the existing buttons but the siple route would be to bypass them and put a switch on the cord.

As for it not playing nicely now, it would probably be worth looking at the cord and the internal wiring to make sure there's no damaged wires. You'll replace them all anyway but...
 

Jeff

New User
Jeff
You have to find the right size LED bulb(s) to fit your fixture. Phil Soper told me how to remove the ballast and rewire a fluorescent light fixture for LEDs. Pretty simple.
 

Jim M.

Woody
Corporate Member
I have one similar myself but haven't gotten around to doing the conversion yet. I saved this YouTube video for when I get time.

 

Hmerkle

Board of Directors, Development Director
Hank
Staff member
Corporate Member
Looky there!
C-O-M-M-U-N-I-T-Y
 

KyleS

New User
Kyle
I did the led conversion on my shop lights. I got the ballast bypass double ended bulbs. What you do is do away with the ballast. Connect all the wires on one end to the hot wire and connect all the wires on the other side to neutral. I bought 25 48" bulbs off ebay for $105. The other thing you want to consider is clear vs milky. They recommend milky so you do not see the leds. You can also get a warm light or a cool white which is kind of blue.
 

Dee2

Board of Directors, Vice President
Gene
Staff member
Corporate Member
If that is an 18 inch bulb here is the replacement for direct 120 volts.

Thanks Mike. Actually, I inherited 2 of these lamps. The one with the base pictured above and one of the clamp-on's like featured in the video. Thought I would take the clamp-on to the shop and see how it played with the GFCI.

The base one has 2 transformers and a capacitor snuggled up inside with counterweights. I looked over the wiring and didn't see any noticeable degradation.
 

Jim M.

Woody
Corporate Member
00C0C_gADqUPYDc4S_1200x900.jpg Well it's not like I don't need another project! Saw these today for $20 so I grabbed them. Hopefully they'll give me incentive to do the one I already have.
 

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