Hi! I know this video is 3 years old, but I just wanted to say instructions were clear and simple. Just replaced a whole bunch of old bulbs with LED and I feel so accomplished!
Great video, very clear and nicely explained. I like the part how you explained to bypass the ballast wires as literally we don't need to touch those wires anymore that cleared the puzzle I had earlier.
Thanks so much. I just did three successful conversions. I really appreciate your self effacing humor about leaving your light in the ceiling. Being a DIY we all screw up and in retrospect it's often funny. And in being persistent we end up succeeding.
Such an excellent video! Short enough to provide all the details and no time wasted with any fluff! I changed a half dozen fixtures the exact same scenario as the video. Thank you for posting!
Thank you so much. I had installed but it was dimming and turning off. I then started searching online and found this which explained I had to bypass balance in ceiling box.SO much better lighting now.
Hi, Thank you for posting this video. Your instructional video easily saved me $300-$400 in electrician labor cost. I successfully converted all 4 kitchen lights from cfl to led bulbs. Thank you again!!
Excellent video! I watched it a couple of times and attempted to convert the recessed lights in my kitchen. Success! The only issue I had was the "door" to the junction box was on the other side so I had to figure out how to take the entire ballast off. Once that was off, I was able to get it completely out of the way. Thank you Sir.
Thank you for a very detailed video! After watching about 3 other videos I almost gave up until I saw yours! It was super simple following your guide! Thank you!
Good video that will live on for many years. I do suggest removing the ballast wires from the junction box, never good to have bare ends floating around in there. Also consider removing one of the blue and red wires as unnecessary. Again, excellent tutorial.
I can't imagine a better guide to this task: a brilliant demonstration. I have 32 CFLs to replace but I'll employ someone to do it for me :) At least Charlie has provided a benchmark against which others can be measured. I won't DIY..but at least I'll know what's going on. Thank you!
Good instruction. However, i would like to make a comment on the unused wires. You should clip off the bare copper section of the unused wires and then cover the cut end with an electrical tape for extra protection even if they do not have power.
Best tutorial ever. Very very helpful. I've watched several of other videos but didn't have the confidence to replace the CFL socket until I saw your video. Thank you so much.
I finally done my first one following this video. For the most part the color wires are the same (blue/red) but the ones coming out of the ballast are different (pink, green, yellow etc) so it doesn't matter, i just separate and put aside as the video. The hardest part i found is my blue and red wires are a lot more delicate than what was shown in the video, they not solid copper inside. They are made of those stupid multi this strip of fiber copper if that makes sense. So i kept cut through them and have to get more and more precise when i strip them to connect to the new LED light wires. I think i spent too much time on stripping the blue and red wires, the rest were straight forward like in the video. DO allow about 30mins or so for the first one for learnings like mentioned. Honestly if you can just buy a new set of black/white wires and push that down into the socket and get rid of the little blue and white wires, I think that's actually the safest and easiest way, although a bit more costly.
Thanks for sharing how to convert from cfl to led. Good illustration. I will convert my lighting fixtures too. I will remember don’t forget the flashlight 🔦 😆
Very clear and easy to understand. However as shown, technically it violates the National Electrical Code (NEC). Connecting a conductor whose sheath is a color other than white, gray or tripled-striped white to the white wire (referred to as a "grounded neutral") is not permitted by the code, even though electrically it will work fine. (The grounded neutral is current-carrying; it's NOT the same as the "equipment ground", which does not normally carry current.) The idea is to make it obvious which conductor is the grounded neutral by restricting the color to either white, gray or triple-striped white. Alternatively, one can draw a single length of white-colored conductor into the armored cable sheath by attaching it at one end to the blue-colored conductor and pulling it through to the other end. I'd suggest doing the same with the black conductor, and use a conductor size of 14 AWG for each. One can use a fish-tape to do the pulling instead.
Love this video. It seems like CharlieTV is quite experienced. It helped me a ton and his voice is so chill, should take up painting and be the new Bob Ross. Just sayin, he’s got that vibe. Thanks
great video! i’m in the process of changing mine and i do have one question, the 2 red and 2 blue wires that are located behind the canned housing seem to be connected straight to the ballast and nothing else, do they HAVE to connect to the black and white cables or would it be okay to proceed and work with only connecting the red and blue to the LED recessed lighting connection
I'm not sure I understand what you're saying but to simplify it, you must not use any wires from the ballast, the wires in the can that go to your lightbulb (blue and red) connect directly to the main power source (black and white)
Great video....will it be fine if we only use one of the blue and one of the red wires from the can? I pulled one out of each then watched your video. I can keep both in moving forward but the one I am currently working on has been reduced to 1 each.
Hi, sorry for the late reply, but the gauge of the blue and red wires are very thin that’s why I use both, you can always snake the wires you pulled out back in again if you kept them, if not, you can purchase some.
Great video! I want to do this project, but my CFL cannisters do not have the integrated brackets to accept the torsion bar clips to hold in the new LED light. Do I have to replace the whole cannister?
