I'd not have thought at the lower current that the ballast would hum very
much at all. Not sure if it might help with RF interference from the psu the
led uses, as it seems to me nobody seems to check if these new lamps cause
the interference in the first place. Some older tubes used to splat huge
amounts of hash out as they aged as well, but leds if the use switch mode
tend to put birdies at regular intervals over the spectrum.
Brian

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This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

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"ARW" wrote in message
...
On 08/04/2021 18:11, T i m wrote:
Whilst out for some exercise earlier I collected the 4 x 6' LED
fluorescent tube LED replacements from a mate, along with the 4
'Fuse' / starter replacements.

Energizer, S9914 T8 30W 40000K.

When we got home I fitted one (of the two kitchen fittings) and

A good experiment


1) The LED 'tube' illuminated quicker, even though the fluorescent
came on pretty quickly anyway (electronic starters but not HF
fittings).


That is normal for your setup

2) Initially, the LED was considerably brighter ...

Same again


3) The fluorescent became equally bright as the LED after a few
seconds. AS the LED is advertised as 3000 lumens and the fluorescent
as 6300, shouldn't the fluorescent have been much brighter?


No, you have half the lumens of the florescent aiming upwards. Although
may I suggest you get a Lux meter app for your smart phone and try it
around various place such as at the floor between both types of lights.

I have compared the app on my phone to the pro stuff we use at work and
the app work quite well.

4) The LED was whiter, even when the fluorescent was at full
brightness.

Different colour tubes and probably the fluorescents are a little aged.


Now, even if walking to through the kitchen at a reasonable pace,
the Home Automation has the kitchen lights on before I even get there,
versus half way along the kitchen. ;-)

Now I've been playing with them I'm not 'annoyed' by the mains hum
coming from the ballast(s) so I'm thinking I might bypass them but
leave them in place a) in the unlikely case I wasn't to go back to
fluorescent and b) they might as well stay there as anywhere else.

The question though is should I retain the 'starter' as it now says
'Fuse' on it, potentially protecting the automation switch from any
overload, should either tube go bad in the future, or bypass it
completely as well (relying on the MCB in the CU)?


If you are bypassing the ballasts the "starter" has no purpose and the MCB
will do its job (unless the instructions say you must used it)

Cheers, T i m

p.s. Online they are advertised as '30W (70W)' so does that mean they
are 30W consumption with the equivalent light output of a 70W
fluorescent, in the same way a '6W' LED lamp might (is supposed to)
give the same light as a 60W incandescent?


Yes.

HTH

--
Adam