Art Todesco wrote:

On 9/28/2015 2:37 PM, badgolferman wrote:
The 4-foot ceiling mounted flourescent light above the kitchen sink
would stop coming on reliably for a few months. I would leave the
switch on and eventually it would come on some time later. I had
changed the F40 tube before so thought perhaps it might be the
ballast instead. Went to Lowes and bought a replacement LED 4-foot
light for $35 minus coupons and replaced it this weekend.

The first thing I noticed was the old fixture's ballast was too hot
to the touch after turning it off. Not sure if that is normal, but
I didn't like the idea of it burning up and causing a fire. The
next thing I noticed is how much brighter the LED light is compared
to the old one. It is supposed to be equivalent to the old one but
seems much brighter. I also bought an LED 40 watt equivalent bulb
for my desk lamp and that one seems the same as the old one.

Are these new bulbs drop in replacements? I've seen some LED 4'
tubes (admittedly early ones), where the old ballast must be removed?
The ballasts in 4' fixtures actually act as a step up transformer
because the typical 120 volts is not enough to maintain the
fluorescent arc. In Europe, the ballasts are the simple series kind,
like we use for shorter tubes. I'd be curious how these LED bulbs run
on straight 120. I wouldn't recommend that unless the manufacturer
says so, but I am curious.

No, I bought an entirely new 4-foot fixture with one LED tube.