XPost: alt.home.repair, uk.d-i-y   
   From: Gothberg"@internet.co.is   
      
   On Wed, 19 Dec 2018 12:18:54 -0000, Rod Speed  wrote:   
      
   > William Gothberg <"William Gothberg"@internet.co.is> wrote   
   >   
   >> Those fake starters people put into fluorescent fittings when they put in   
   >> an LED tube.... what's inside?   
   >   
   > A bit of wire between the pins.   
   >   
   >> An LED tube draws power from the two ends, I looked inside one of my tubes   
   >> and the two pins at each end are shorted together.   
   >   
   > They don't all do it the same way.   
   >   
   >> The LED PSU takes power from both ends if you see what I mean, it expects   
   >> live at one end and neutral at the other.  So why on earth would you need   
   >> anything in the starter, even if you left the ballast in?   
   >   
   > Because the simple bimetallic strip starters have the pins   
   > on the starter connected initially and not connected   
   > when it warms up due to the current between the pins.   
   >   
   >> Surely it's best to have the starter open circuit, i.e. just remove it.   
   >   
   > Some do work like that.   
   >   
   >> Does it perhaps in some way negate the inductive nature of the ballast to   
   >> be nicer to the LED PSU?   
   >   
   > No it does not. So its better, but not as easy, to disconnect the ballast as   
   > well.   
      
   The properly made LED tubes are connected live at one end and neutral at the   
   other.  You just remove the starter, and the LEDs operate in series with the   
   ballast (or directly to the mains if you can be bothered opening the casing   
   and shorting/removing    
   the ballast).   
      
   So the tubes where they have live and neutral on the same end, require   
   supplying a fake starter instead of just removing it, surely an unnecessary   
   extra expense.  The only reason I can find for making them like this is some   
   daft safety regulation about    
   having live and neutral at opposite ends.  Better insulation required to meet   
   safety standards incase you grab live and neutral with your two hands?  Surely   
   either the casing of the LED tube is metal, which means you can't get a   
   different voltage on each    
   hand, or plastic, which means it won't conduct power to you.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)