Averted my worst nightmare

[T2R9]

Which is my shop burning to the ground.

My plan today was to scrape undercoating off my Charger that's on the lift. The high bay lights are on a separate circuit then the main area with 12 T8 fixtures with LED bulbs designed for them. Well today when I flipped the lights on I heard a crackling sound and I looked up and one of the fixtures was glowing orange on one corner with sparks flying. Quickly killed the lights then the breaker.

Has anyone seen an LED tube melt down like this? I have 24 of these in the shop and no issues for 4 years since I installed them. When I pulled the light the wiring connections were tight and no other issues other then the tube melting down. With 24 of these I m afraid to even leave the shop with the lights on. It could have happened when I was mowing the lawn or something.

 

[Darter6]

Never seen that before.

 

[hunt2elk]

Never even heard of such a thing. I have 88 of those tubes in my shop. Making me kind of nervous now.

 

[T2R9]

Never even heard of such a thing. I have 88 of those tubes in my shop. Making me kind of nervous now.

I checked every other fixture after and they all look good. Looks like it was festering for a bit. The tube is melted to the deflector.

 

[T2R9]

This is what the end of the tube looks like.

 

[Ron H]

This would make anyone paranoid. I wired up a bunch of LED lights using quick-connectors, like those over wire nuts, what a light fixture mfg I worked with gave me. Only quick thoughts would be a defective light, socket was cracked, or that blue wire was assembled poorly. I might go around each fixture with a digi thermometer to detect any that are oddly warmer. Open that one up and inspect the socket and wiring, not sure; but it might give me some peace of mind.

 

[T2R9]

Good idea with the digital thermometer.

 

[hanks73340]

It's probably the ballast. Happened to me in my garage. I got lucky also. Mine was only 1 month old. Took it back to Home Dumbo and they let me exchange for another. Found out from a friend that works there said they have been seeing this issue more and more. They also think it's the ballast on the units. You would think they would look into this? Naw, just keep selling the product. Glad your garage is ok.

 

[Ron H]

Good idea with the digital thermometer.

Viewing your photo of the light, could have been a mfg defect that QC missed. The company I did work for had a test of every light and every so often, one was bad, wired wrong, or other component failure. They didn't make the lights, but they'd run across one that was bad.

 

[493 Mike]

Remember when lights and bulbs were made in America? I go thru a lot of 4' LEDs since my conversion from fluorescents.
Mike

 

[440 PHIXX]

I don’t understand how these work with a ballast. LED’s run on DC, rectified from the AC.

 

[T2R9]

Remember when lights and bulbs were made in America? I go thru a lot of 4' LEDs since my conversion from fluorescents.
Mike

This is the first one I have had an issue with since I built the shop in 2018.

 

[Cranky]

China made crap??

 

[Ron H]

Good idea with the digital thermometer.

That was something we would do when doing building inspections on the electrical panels looking for a hot circuit. Didn't find them much at all, but we did.

 

[hanks73340]

I don’t understand how these work with a ballast. LED’s run on DC, rectified from the AC.

You can get them in both. Also come with speakers on the ends of the units.

 

[Fran Blacker]

Wonder if you worked in your for a few hours lights on. Then take a heat measuring gun and checked the temp on the end of the bulbs looking for hotter bulb end than others. Mean substantially hotter. Time for smoke detectors?

 

[YY1]

Are those retro fit LED "bulbs" in a fluorescent fixture that still has ballasts?

 

[mountain33]

Which is my shop burning to the ground.

My plan today was to scrape undercoating off my Charger that's on the lift. The high bay lights are on a separate circuit then the main area with 12 T8 fixtures with LED bulbs designed for them. Well today when I flipped the lights on I heard a crackling sound and I looked up and one of the fixtures was glowing orange on one corner with sparks flying. Quickly killed the lights then the breaker.

Has anyone seen an LED tube melt down like this? I have 24 of these in the shop and no issues for 4 years since I installed them. When I pulled the light the wiring connections were tight and no other issues other then the tube melting down. With 24 of these I m afraid to even leave the shop with the lights on. It could have happened when I was mowing the lawn or something.

View attachment 1539906

Where the bulbs twisted all the way in? I've seen where if they are not secure or the socket flexes one of the ends will arc in the socket.

 

[mountain33]

Are those retro fit LED "bulbs" in a fluorescent fixture that still has ballasts?

Most people tend to cut the wires of the existing ballast for the florescent leaving it there and then install the LED driver (ballast) next to ballast.

 

[mountain33]

I don’t understand how these work with a ballast. LED’s run on DC, rectified from the AC.

They use a driver