Superior Method for 4 Pin / G24 Socket CFL to LED Conversion with Ballast Bypass 

Bought these lights and realized they are not as "easy installation" as advertised. That is until I found your video. Knocked out 7 kitchen lights in just under 2 hours thanks to you. Great video.

Thank you so much for the very didactic video, I could not have done this without it! I just wanted to add my contribution, which might also help others: 1) For the first fixture I worked on, I pulled the can down and out like you did. However, putting it back in place was quite challenging. For the five remaining I simply pushed it in and to one side of the ballast; putting in back was so much easier. 2) The first LEDs I bought (same brand as in the video) interfered with my FM radio signal. I had to return those and look for FCC compliant LEDs, which do not have this issue.

Thank you for this video. Followed your instruction and retrofitted my whole kitchen, hallway, and restrooms. Glad I stumbled upon this.

Great video IamDrCee, as a electrical contractor I am amazed how you virtually removed and installed an LED retrofit kit with one hand. It makes me want to try it and beat your time.

Used this method to change 15 of those annoying cfl recessed lights to led. First one took me about thirty minutes just to get my bearings. The rest took me 10 minutes each. Thank you so much for this.

Wow - thank you for posting this. Seriously, thank you. I just replaced all six 4-pin recessed lights in my kitchen with LED's. That saved me at least $150 versus hiring an electrician. In the end, you were right - that was pretty easy, I needed to know how to do it. I'm going to do all of the bathrooms over the next couple of months. I would add that the push-in connectors are much better than wire nuts. If you happen to live near Lake Forest, CA I'd love to buy you a couple of quality six packs!

Now that it's 2017, 2016 Title 24 allows for E26 bases as long as you use JA8 compliant LED bulb at time of inspection..

Most people would not know why you chose the red for hot and blue for neutral but it makes perfect sense to me! Red is typically the lighting switch leg color (when color coded in 3wire harness etc) and BLUE is international neutral color found in many imported devices! Normally white is used in USA but since the retrofit uses existing wiring red for hot and blue for neutral is the DUHH choice for anyone in the know....

This video has helped me tremendously. i've been hunted by those expensive 4 pins CFLs since i purchased my house. With the help of this video, i was able to convert my first ballast to retro-fit LED today! I watched this video about 10 times, and the whole process took me 2 hours, but it was so worth it! I have no background in any sort of electric work, so it is a bit confusing at first, but the wiring diagram in the beginning really helped me to understand how it works. Many thanks!

Thanks for the video, this is exactly what I wanted to do but didn't know how to. I hate those G24 bulbs/ballasts!!!

Thank You for this! I thought I was going to have to go into the attic to cut out the ballasts in order to convert my 7 5" CFL can lights in my kitchen ceiling. 4 of these would have been nearly inaccessible from the attic due to a large skylight shaft and low roof line in that location. The method in the video just required a bit of patience and a bit of dexterity - but not difficult at all if you are comfortable / competent around electrical wiring. I converted all 7 cans in 3 hours - taking my time

Thank you very much. It was a very nice video. I just replaced one light in the bathroom. The things went smoothly with me. The ballast was broken many years ago.

Thank you for the video! Well done. Those stupid four pin CFLs are expensive!

awesome video. i have 11 lights in my kitchen to convert over. I have easy attic access so will attempt thru top. less mess with blown in insulation.

Thank you for visually detailed and thorough video. My son and I watched it together several times and now his house is nearly all LED lite. Kudos again.

You have demonstrated the best "How To Video" without narrative. Very well done. It is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks.

Thanks for the incredibly detailed video. Just a heads up to those who may wish to try this. The red and blue wires could not be pulled from the fixture I have. Therefore I needed a multimeter too. I chose one of each. connected them at one end then use the continuity tester to determine which two were connected from the other end. Otherwise this came off exactly as planned. I wound up going down this road because the ballast failed. This is so much cheaper than a new ballast. It will also last longer than those idiotic bulbs. I'm convinced the older ballasts require new bulbs more frequently.

Thank you so much for sharing a great tutorial!!!. I was able to convert 17 cfl lights to led in my house. The electrician quoted me 80 dollar per light to convert. Save me a thousand dollar.

Thanks for making and sharing this!! I've been wanting to do this ever since we redid our kitchen and the city made us use those cfl only sockets. The bulbs cost $9 and aren't reliable like advertised. This rewire was really easy, especially the second one!! Now 4 more to go!!

Spot-On Video, Thank you very much! I have 6 CFL lights in my kitchen and 5 of the ballasts had failed. Instead of replacing the ballasts, I followed this video and replaced my CFLs with LEDs. The only thing I would add is that I had to get the soldering iron out and tin the wires so that they would be stiff enough to install into the "rescued" connector.

Adam: Assuming you have bypassed the original 4 pin CLF ballast by rewiring the fixture as shown in the video, then, to connect an E27 light bulb socket, simply connect the Red fixture wire to the E27 center conductor and the Blue wire to the outer conductor of the socket. Use caution to make your connections per electrical code.

Your video was very helpful. It took me a while but the result is much better. No more 10.00 light bulbs that fail due to the hot and cold temperature changes.

Thanks.. very useful.. I never knew how to unclip the can from the ring.. It's annoying that CA still encourages obsolete CFL lighting and it's nice to fix it.

A few of my 4 pin bulbs periodically fall out of the ceiling. I’ve been dealing with it for years. Thank you for this video! Replacing it wasn’t as hard as I thought it might be.

Instead of music it's helpful to talk about what you are doing and explaining things for people.

Awesome! As I was giving up on this project, this video gave me confidence. Yes the bypass was intimidating. So I had to draw my own bypass diagram on a paper cauze I couldn't draw it in my mind. Did it successfully. Wife was impressed. Thank you for the video.

Great video! This is exactly the method I used and you did a great job pointing out some of the possible issues. Good work!

That was perfect. Ive been trying to think how i was going to bypass the ballast. I have 20 of those dang things to do this week. Thanks so much. Calvin6

This video and posting saved me a lot of work... My only challenge was my cans did not have the clips to hang the new retrofit LED from Costco. So I had to fabricate the brackets.

nice video. I don't think I would have made it through that work but well done! I waited till the next CFL burned out in our mismatched kitchen and then ended up buying eight of the led bulbs with plug and play compatibility with electronic ballast CFLs. Took about five minutes total for me to switch out all eight bulbs. Mine look great too and are very bright. There is an occasional slight flicker which I'm sure is from the conversion but I don't mind.

This video was very helpful. For an additional tip, you can push the CAN inside the ceiling instead of pulling it and later pushing it back. Make my conversion a lot easier for my 17 lightnings. I was battling for the first 4 lightning and on my 5th I accidentally pushed it inside the ceiling and I realized, hey I can do this instead! :D

11:05 In my application, the blue and red wires were a thin guage that doesn't remain attached to the orange connector under mechanical load. It works well enough, but if I had to do it again, I would clip and strip the Edison connector wires and connect them to the blue and red wires with wire nuts.

Now try repeating the steps for the next 500 lights in the office. That is much work , it’s smarter to plug a vertical philips corepro PLC LED in there,15seconds job. Corepro PLC retrofit is meant to work with the original ballasts. The wattage rating on the Corepro LED has included the power drawn by the original ballasts.

Great video. I was able to switch to a LED lamp using the ballast bypass and using a GX24Q-E26 adapter. Took me about 15 mins. Thanks. By the way, I like the background music!

You are the man thanks for the help. I pulled my can out saw all the wires and was a bit overwhelmed, not anymore!!

Thank you so very much. I'm half way though our kitchen. I thought I'd have to replace cans just to get the edison sockets. It was just great you did this it really helped me.

This method worked for the majority of my can lights, but some wouldn't come out no matter what. I had to go into the attic to finish the bypass. Also, 2 of the existing cans were of different design. The ballast box was not located facing the hole. No other way but to bypass that in the attic as well. Thanks for the video. Helped a bit.

Just finished changing out 6 fixtures using this tutorial thanks

was doing led retrofit.... found out new room has cfl. thanks for the helpful video!

You video really help me, but I added G24 or G24 bulb converter so keep the same socket.

I lowered the music and saw this video to be very well thought. Thanks 🙏 Sr.

Don't call PL Bulb fixtures ugly, you can always use a square fixture for the 2/4 pin CFL bulbs

Great video, I've wondered if there was a way to convert my CFL cans to led. I've already replaced the 6 cfl's in my kitchen once since installing them under title 24 in CA. I know there are 4 pin led bulbs out there, but my feeling is they are probably more expensive. They are not as easily found as led conversions for A lamp sockets currently flooding the market. One of the 6 just burned out and I'm glad I found your video and now can convert them with confidence.

For me this was by far the best method in replacing my CFLs. I have some older (12+ yrs) Juno fixtures. The ballast enabled me to remove ALL the wires - sans ground - and simplify even more the connecting of the red (hot) and blue (neutral) wires. I now only have the ballast there to use as the cover for the wiring box. I also really appreciate the rescuing of the Edison socket to the Luminair connector. It was very easy to remove and re-use. Once again I have a bright kitchen. @IamDrCree - THANKS!

Thanks for a the vid, while i have plenty of theoretical knowledge my practical electricianing is a bit light and commercial/industrial stuff doesn't always apply. Guy at Lowe's was telling me I would need an entire new fixture when I asked about bypassing the ballast. Appreciate the tutorial.

Awesome video! Very clear and detailed step by step narration. Thank you for making this.

Thank you. That was an AWESOME video. I was confused in bypassing the ballast. you pulled out a red and a blue out. how to choose which one to pull. And from what i understood, you left the ballast back there to RIP. Thanks Iwin Andrew

I always return to this crappy video. It's all you need if you take the time to watch it. This is my forth one. Thanks dude.

Any suggestions for mitigating the drywall fallout mess? It got all over me and my kitchen. Informative tutorial with amazingly useful diagram. Thank you so much! It took me forever (3 hours 42 minutes 13.53 seconds) on my first try, including runs to Target and Home Depot because my place is wired differently, and I needed materials, but I got it done. Looking forward to doing more.

Thank you so much for posting this video the bypass worked great for me. I looked at a number of videos here on you tube but this one by far is the best one for what I needed to get done. Long story short I had 6 CFL lights in the kitchen and 3 were completely out. Bought new bulbs no luck. Bought 6 pack of LED at home depot for 55 bucks. Changed 2 out using this porcess tested them and it worked greatt. I guess 3 of my ballast went out at the same time after 2 years and only half the lights were working. People be careful the ballast that I had gave me a little shock after cutting the wires and moving them out of the way. I guess the back of my hand touched the wires as I was working in there. Apparently some current was still in there even though the breaker was off for a while guess the current was hanging out longer then I expected in the ballast after testing the first 2 lights Pobably the ballast were just shot and had become a fire hazard glad there disabled now.. If your wondering the shock was just like a little pinch in the back of my hand after cutting the wires and moving them lout of the way and working in there. No bid deal an oldtimer once told me to work with one hand and the other in your pocket so you don't get real hurt lol. A+ for the video thanks again. Rob

Followed your video and replaced a CFL with LED lights. Thank you!!!

This is a great video. I was originally going to run new wire from the attic to connect the new LED lights. But this method saved a lot of time and running wire... Thanks!!!

Huge problem trying to do this. When i slipped the can out of the ceiling it was almost impossible to put it back in. The tolerances on my can are tight with the original can bracket assembly. I almost had to destroy the ceiling to get the darn thing back in the ceiling. No way will i attempt to do this on the other five cans in my ceiling. I even tried to use lube on the can sides to get it to slip back into the ceiling fixture assembly and that did not help. What a huge hassle. My can and the metal hanger / wiring up in the ceiling joist area..looked just like the one in the video but i cannot be certain if it exactly the same metal unit.. My house is 7 years old built from the ground up so no one has ever done any remodeling. Like i said, once i got the can out of the ceiling as shown in the video with little issues, to put it back up in the ceiling is a nightmare.

Awesome. Thanks for the video. I am glad I ran across your video. I was about to cut out the fixture and ballast, as suggested by the other video on you tube. This is much easier and save $$.

Song is "Somewhere Only We Go" by The Virtues.

Excellent instructional video! Clear, easy to to and saved me lots of $$$. Thank you!

Nice video outlining process. I can follow video because I have done this replacement before. But for someone who has not and is coming here to learn, some steps can are confusing (prior comment). This would be more informative if author would annotate to video. Good job!

I have 2 issues: 1) the customer service at Halo (Cooper) told me that converting the Halo H272ICAT in this way is not advised because the UL rating would no longer be applicable and 2) are those small gauge blue and red wires coming down into the can OK for running 120vac from the supply wires which are quite a bit heavier gauge. I have seen another video where the can is replaced with one from a Halo H7ICAT, including the wiring in the flex conduit, which then also provides a screw-in receptacle at the top of the can inside so that the adapter in the LED kit can be used as is, without removing and reusing the little orange connector.

This is a nice video. I found an economical alternative: buy a GX24Q-E27 adapter for $1 on eBay does the same job. It might not look as good though...

Good video. But I wish you could talk us through the process and kill the music. Everyone hates the sound of their own voice, its normal.

Thank you! Followed your video and replaced our century old kitchen lights.

My 2008 CFLs had ballast on top of J box. Ground also came into ballast. Where does that go now?

I switched out the cfls in the master bathroom.

Thank you! Nice one handed video, by the way!

I did this fix a long time ago, glad to hear that it's up to code!!

thank you very much, your tips saved me a lot of hassle. i wish i watched it sooner

Holy shit! It's videos like this that make me really hope that RU-vid never locks features like the mute button behind Premium. That ear rape seemed interminable!

Great Guide, got me through my job in a blast.

Nice, just change the slot to a ceiling fan. But I should watch your video to the end to know you reuse the wire~~~

It was much easier for me to go to home Depot, and purchase the Edison style clip on socket adapters for $3 a piece. All I had to do was to pull down the bottom part of the fixture, chop off the all plug, and wire up the socket and clip it back in. Didn't need to go to the trouble of having to take apart the entire fixture in bypass the ballast. Now the house was built in 2005 oh, so the ballasts are starting to age. One of them has been going out for the last few years, and we'll burn out an LED bulb within 4 months, or CFL within one year. So it's about time that I bypass the ballast on that one fixture. The energy cost is around 1 watt for each ballast. Though the one going out might be constantly trying to recharge the capacitor Banks in the ballast. So when I finally get to doing it, I will be able to test to see how much energy that bad ballast has been using over the years with my kill a watt meter.

Excellent. Clearly shown process, well done.

Very clear instructional video. What's the name of the background song?

Very useful and you saved me $$$ Much appreciate your effort on walking through step by step 👍✌️👍

Thanks for the video. Somehow I got a bit lost as I didn't know what cables are you cutting though the cables are colour coded.In case in other countries, they may not be the same colour. Perhaps it'll be good to include subtitles for ease of reference.

Many thanks for your detailed procedure complete with explanations. You're a Mensch!

Thanks a lot. It is very useful guide. We have managed to change the lights at our home successfully.

Love how the camera pans away just as he shows how to move the can tabs and then again when he goes to open the ballast box.

That. was the. best. video I have ever seen. much props as you were not only able to give us perfect shots, but do it with one hand xD I can't thank you enough. to cool. New Subscriber incoming.

Love the detail in the video. Exactly what I need is displayed

Do you really need the loud music?

This helped me so much! I did two over my breakfast bar and am trying tonwork up the nerve to do 11 more that I have in the house. Three questions:1) did anyone encounter insulation falling all over the place? Seriously a mess. 2) my cans don't have the "rabbit ear" brackets to hold the new fixture. It's working ok but not as flush to the ceiling as tightly as it could be. Any thoughts?

Very nice video. Well detailed and made this task super easy. Nice work!!!

I found your video while searching for low voltage halogen to LED conversion instructions. I have Halo H1499ICAT 4" IC housings. I can get to them from the attic, but not much head-room. I think your video has convinced me to abandon the idea and just replace the cans with line voltage LED housings. The existing boxes are not meant to come apart, and I’m guessing the wires to the fixture are not heavy enough to be used for line voltage since this is designed for low voltage halogens. Plus the 4” cans are too small to work in. If you have any other suggestions, I'm all ears. Thanks for posting the video.

Great video! Thanks! If I want to just install a E27 socket for use with other LED screw base bulbs do I just connect that to the RED/BLUE wires inside the can?

It is a good video but the music is annoying

This is exactly what i needed. Wonderful video with greater details.

ok I bought the kits and started trying to do this. mine look so close to what is shown except there are no screws!? The tab things have double back sticky tape between upper part I can shove them upward but so far the can remains locked in tight I do not understand what you were doing with the thin little probe tool?? man I do not wan to have to do this from the attic! This is a narrow manufactured home for kitchen part.... I could not see how the clips held in the one in video? or why the the tab up high was highlighted with red circle?

Life safer, your video! Thanks for uploading this!

Once you remove the screw in portion are these LED lights able to dim?

Great Video! I will be working on the retrofit this weekend. The Wire Diagram shows the ground to the ballast to be cut, but in the video you leave it connected. Should this Ground Wire to the ballast (green) truly be cut? Thank you!

I dig the video. Out of curiosity, whats the song?

The red and blue wires that are to be connected to the orange title 24 connector, in my case, are stranded wire, unlike the solid wire from the video. How do I get a secure fit on the title 24 connector. The strands on the wire are not strong enough to push into the title 24 connector.

Do I really need to pull out one blue and One red wires? Can I keep both wires and connect both together?

Exactly what I have been looking for. As others have said, coloring of wires may be an issue. Other issue.. what if you have 2, 4, or in my case 10 lights to one switch. Is it the same rewiring process.. or as one comment discovered, one light works and others do not. Is that an issue many or coming across.. or each light can be wired the same and should all work?

Thanks. I got stuck and your vid fixed me.

I have dual 4 pin CFLs in the kitchen. Would I just need to bypass one ballast to convert to LED? - Thanks.

Hey - quick question if you get a chance - the Halo LED Retrofits come with a ground wire. Most of the other ones I've seen don't. It's easy enough to connect - just screw in the ground wires in the screws in the can... but why? Is a ground wire necessary? Yours didn't have one - just curious - thanks!

Has anyone used this technique with the GX23-2 fluorescent (2 pin) socket to LED? I know that the ballasts are different from one another with one being magnetic and the 4 pin being electric, but I’m not sure if that matters. Please advise

Are LED lights polarity sensitive? I wired one without paying attention to polarity and now it comes on but is so dim I can barely see it. I used a Cree and the wires are black and red. Assuming black is hot.

It will be much better without the music