NAC Fluo tube replacement with LED tube.

[geldra]

Good day, I’ve read a couple of posts from @cools, @nem and @mufunyo about replacing the fluorescent tube in cabs with an LED replacement.

I’ve been refurbing a NAC during lockdown and the last thing to do is sort the the top light. I was hoping to be able to just swap in a replacement LED tube however I cannot find a 450mm (18” or 1.5ft) tube anywhere in the UK. Has anyone got anywhere the can point me to get one?

Also, is it as simple as just dropping an led into the current fitting and it working (assuming it’s 110/220v compat).

Cheers!

[cools]

Dunno if any of this helps, but the UK market for these is not great:

Pony I swapped out the entire fitting, at the time it was the best I could do (China hadn't got it's online game going) - cabinet was changed to 240v too.

Lindbergh I did two things. 1st was to try a direct fit LED tube, but because it turned out to be very directional (aluminium one side of the tube) it didn't light up the lightbox at all. So I sought out a wide angle tube on aliexpress, bought a couple and used one. That did need the fixture rewiring to remove the ballast and starter - direct fit tubes with wide angles were crazy expensive (£50+) compared to what I used (£4 inc shipping).

[geldra]

Thanks cools. Yeah I had seen a couple on aliexpress so i’ll probs go down that route to source one.

Alternatively, would a replacement standard fluo tube from the UK work in a NAC?

I got some replacement starters from Richy however these yield the same result (lamp flickers and causes interference on the monitor). So either the tube is goosed or the whole light fitting. I don’t have the technical knowledge the figure out what is wrong.

The other alt is to just replace with an led strip (I have this in another NAC that was completely missing the original fluo fitting.

[mufunyo]

It was pretty tricky to find the right size tube, 100v compatible, and capable of being used with a ballast. But once I found it, that made fitting it all the easier. When you get a "universal" LED tube, that can work with a ballast, you get a dummy "starter" that is just a fuse between the + and - of the starter fitting. Japan uses their own Edison-style starter bulbs, so I had to buy an E17 to MR6 lamp fitting adapter, break open the dummy starter, and jam the prongs of the fuse in the MR6 side of the adapter to make my own DIY Edison-style LED dummy starter. The upside of doing all that is that the procedure is fully reversible. Simply replace the LED tube with a fluorescent tube and the dummy starter with a real one, and the cabinet is back to "authentic" state.

[geldra]

Thanks @mufunyo. Don’t suppose you can share where you got your tube from?

[nem]

I only found one store locally that sells 45cm LED tubes and they asked almost 40 euros for one (versus 8 euros for a 60cm tube). I'm a cheapskate, so there's no way I'm paying that. Instead I've just put some LED strip on an fluorescent tube, disconnected the AC connector, and wired the strip to the PSU.

[wigsplitta]

Alternatively, would a replacement standard fluo tube from the UK work in a NAC?

I got some replacement starters from Richy however these yield the same result (lamp flickers and causes interference on the monitor). So either the tube is goosed or the whole light fitting. I don’t have the technical knowledge the figure out what is wrong.

I got a couple of tubes linked below, one for an Astro City and one for a Konami Windy. I also got some starters off Richy, and they worked nicely together.
You'd just need to decide if you want a cool/warm/day light. If you were only replacing one tube, but had two cabs next to each other, I'd definitely recommend getting two tubes so that they match better.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from ... ngth+438mm

[mufunyo]

Thanks @mufunyo. Don’t suppose you can share where you got your tube from?

I got it off eBay, but it was for a Blast City which requires a 60cm tube. It was also in 2016 and apparently eBay only lets you view past purchases from the past 3 years.

[geldra]

Aaaah! I actually mistakenly bought a 60cm tube thinking it would fit the NAC (shoulda measured first, oh well).

Was thinking in worst case I could widen the tube holder in the NAC however I’ve just bought a replacemy boggo standard fluo tube (450mm) as it appears aliexpress aren’t sending anything to the UK at the min.

[nem]

I was in the local hardware store today and popped by the fluorescent tube aisle. Noticed they had a cheap 438mm G13 LED tube in stock. Go on then, let's have a try.

airam_led_tube_438mm_g13_1.jpg

Absolutely perfect size.

airam_led_tube_438mm_g13_2.jpg

Jumped both the ballast and starter (ballast is next to the PSU in the Kyotaro).

No pic, but it's absolutely flicker free with 100V and looks great. It is slightly warm white (3000K) instead of cool white, but I'm not complaining for 9 euros. It's a Finnish brand, Airam, no idea if it's available anywhere else. Voltage is supposed to be 220-240V 50/60Hz.

Massive success. Will grab more next week.

[geotrig]

hmm was wondering about the 220-240 v thing recently , good to here it worked .... what do you mean you jumped the ballast and starter ?

[nem]

Well, bypassed would probably be the correct term. Soldered the two wires going to the ballast together, same for the starter.

[geotrig]

I should have raised that. Must five it a whirl on a cab here, would make it easier than I'm porting a light and starter