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Thread: Rewiring old ballast type light fittings for LED tubes

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    Rewiring old ballast type light fittings for LED tubes

    What are the requirements for a light fitting which has had all the switch gear and wiring removed and rewired to suit the LED lamps?

    Would a supplementary COC be required, considering a light fitting is plugged into a 5 amp socket?

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    Platinum Member Derlyn's Avatar
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    Yes. The light fitting is a fixed appliance and the coc covers the wiring up to the terminals of the fixed appliance.

    The 6A plug in this case serves as an isolator.

    Ask yourself this question ..... If I was doing a coc on the house and this light fitting was without a gland where the wire goes into the fitting, would I pass it even although it is fed by a plug ? My answer would be no. That means it's part of the installation.

    It would have been another story had it been a standing lamp.

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    Rewiring luminaries as you describe is actually not legal.
    All equipment used in an installation, including luminaries, must adhere to a safety standard.
    Luminaries must comply with table 4.1 of SANS
    Once you change the wiring in a light fitting it no longer complies and cannot be used.

    Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk
    To make a mistake is human, to learn from that mistake is knowledge and knowledge is strength.

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    There's an electrical supplier in East London that retrofits the fittings before selling them.

    What they do with all the electronic starters, I don't know.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Isetech View Post
    What are the requirements for a light fitting which has had all the switch gear and wiring removed and rewired to suit the LED lamps?

    Would a supplementary COC be required, considering a light fitting is plugged into a 5 amp socket?
    Hi

    There was a previous post started by you in 2019 - I have pasted the answer I used back then - Nothing has changed and you still need to comply to ARP 032 -2014 which is available from SANS stores at a price of +/- R 290.00

    Retro fitting fluorescent fittings with LED tubes means rewiring the fitting.The minute you rewire the fitting you become the manufacturer and all the insurances and risks become yours.

    You need to comply to ARP 032 - 2014

    To migrate the risk it is cheaper to buy a channel that has been specifically wired for LED tubes - There is a minefield in the document.

    The installation regulations SANS 10142 prescribe that only SABS approved equipment may be installed in an electrical installation. The moment it is altered, changed or modified from the original design there is no way of ensuring compliance unless you follow the Approved Recommended Practice (ARP 032 – 2014 which consists of 6 sections), or an applicable approved standard. That means as soon as you retrofit the fitting you are as liable as the manufacture of the original product. You need to ensure that you carry out the tests as prescribed in the Code on this work done by you.

  6. Thanks given for this post:

    Leecatt (16-May-22)

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    Off the subject I'm afraid. I was trying to "thank" CGE on Tapatalk for the above comment and I can no longer access this thread from there. If anyone knows what I I've done wrong kindly reply. 🤔

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    Lets get this right, if I take a lamp holder, connect a 1.0mm 3 core cabtyre I become the manufacturer and the light must comply with ARP 032 - 2014?

    Time to go buy me a 5 ft LED light fit the same lamp holders and the gauge wire and keep it in my workshop for future reference. It probably be cheaper to just replace the fitting, the time to sit and modify the wires cost more than an LED shell would cost.


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    Would an LED retrofit then not pass an inspection report, because the light fitting was not designed for an LED retrofit lamp? Who would be responsible for the LED retrofit compliance the supplier or the person who installs the LED replacement.

    At what point is the light fitting modification no longer compliant , as soon as you replace the lamp or if you disconnect the ballast and join the wires together? This could get interesting, it will certainly change the way you carry out inspection reports, considering the rate people are replacing lamps in everything from 2 FT to a 400 Watt high bay.

    There have been massive LED retrofits from a person kitchen to large industrial sites. That COC you issued for the factory where they had a company into retrofit all those 250 Watt low bays, actually valid?

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    If I use a wago connector system and bring the wire directly to the lamp holder, non compliant ?


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK0E..._channel=eFIXX

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    When doing an inspection, how would one know if it is a retrofit or not ?

    The open channel fittings for conventional and led look pretty much the same.

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