Rather than replace a dead ballast in a fluorescent fixture, I've decided to simply bypass and move to LEDs. However, I think I may have grabbed the wrong kind of replacement tubes the other day in Home Depot. They are in the Philips "InstantFit" range, and are specifically intended to be used without having to remove the ballast. But my question is the following. Is it merely that you don't have to remove the ballast (i.e. but you can if you want)? Ot is it the case that you must not remove the ballast?†
I ask because all the instructions I've been able to find are a tiny bit ambiguous (to me). In the "Warnings and Safety" section on page two of the data sheet it says††:
Philips LED T8 InstantFit lamps will only operate properly on compatible instant-start ballasts.
However, there are two ways to read that. One, which I now think is the intent, is:
Philips LED T8 InstantFit lamps will operate properly only if used with a ballast, and it must be of a compatible, instant-start type.
But the other is:
Philips LED T8 InstantFit lamps will operate properly with or without a ballast. However, if a ballast is used, then it must be of a compatible, instant-start type.
Anyone know definitively which it is?
Various numbers (from the box):
- Model: 9290012265
- Ordering Code: 20T12 EM LEF/48-4000 IF G 10/1
thanks.
† If so, that's fine. But then I need to replace them and get the kind intended for ballast bypass, of which there are several.
†† That link is to the "global" version. Curiously, the almost-but-not-quite-identical US version does not make the same explicit point.