electricallightingwiring
When I replace a Fluorescent/LED Tube Light,
(a) When removing the tube light, Which way should I turn, toward me or away from me?
(b) And when Reinstalling, which way should I turn tube light, away or towards me? Or does it matter?
All these websites are giving different directions. Just want to be sure.
Since you've got an older house, your fluorescents probably have starters. Fixtures that take a long time to turn on may have a bad starter. I'd look into replacing the starter if you can find a matching one - it should be a relatively cheap alternative to replacing the entire fixture.
It sounds like you may need to replace the ballast. They do age and eventually do need to be replaced, though not nearly as frequently as the tubes themselves.
Best Answer
I have replaced tubes on easily 20 different kinds of fixtures with a wide variety of tombstones (that's the lamp socket the tubes go into). It's a dog's breakfast.
The upshot is you really have to "go by feel" - remember you are holding onto a glass thing, force hard enough but not too hard.
For what it's worth, the tube ends will have a "dimple" perpendicular to the pins, so when it's square into the socket, the dimple is lined up with the socket.
Once the first tube is out, stop and take a close look at the tombstone, and see how it is designed to work.
Unfortunately I'm not at my site, so I can't give you a rogue's gallery of different tombstone pin paths. Suffice it to say, there are many.
Most LED tubes are aligned so the light shoots out the way the tombstones come out. If you want to get rid of the infamous LED eyeball-burning glare, at the expense of less light, install them "upside down".