There are two types of ballasts we deal with for existing fluorescent lights magnetic and electronic.
Does led lights have a ballast.
This is called ballast factor.
This is why when retrofitting to led corn light bulbs you need to direct wire the socket.
This wastes time and money in the long term.
In the future they also will need replacing at some point.
Benefits of the ballast bypass.
A ballast for light emitting diode led lights is not required instead a driver is required.
Magnetic ballasts heavier than bad news on a rainy day.
Since you re bypassing the ballast the wattage on the lamp is the wattage consumed.
Most led headlight kits come with some type of conversion device like a ballast or driver.
A ballast is an intermediate device you connect to both your led headlights and vehicle for a seamless power delivery.
Leds require less power than a traditional halogen light but requires it be delivered in a unique way.
First large amounts of current aren t needed in led bulbs.
An extra couple of watts is consumed when you pair an led lamp with a ballast.
No led bulbs require a ballast although some are engineered to work with an existing ballast.
Ballasts have a average lifespan of two years so often especially with led lights it is the ballast that needs replacing more often than the actual lamp.
Safety risk the most significant negative to a ballast bypass linear led is the risk of electric shock since the sockets carry line voltage.
Unlike fluorescent lights it is not a ballast that controls the led s current and voltage regulation.
If you installed direct fit led lights and kept the ballast intact what you are seeing is in fact a bad ballast not a bad bulb.
Furthermore single power supply lamps are the safest option.
You will find ballast compatible or plug and play leds that are designed to replace linear fluorescents compact fluorescents or hids.
Those are regulated with a component called a driver inside an led that serves a similar function to a ballast.
Leds don t need a ballast because of a number of reasons.
If you see bulbs out after months or even a few years it s likely to be a ballast issue not a bulb issue.
Led light bulbs are great because they have a life of 50 000 hours.
For those of you using retrofit led tubes you ll want to note that with fixtures that have instant start ballasts you ll need to replace the g13 socket also known as tombstone or lampholder nearest where the power comes into the fixture to a non shunted g13 socket.
Incandescent and halogen lamps do not require a ballast.
Essentially led bulbs do not require ballasts in them to work.