LED Pool table lighting

LED Pool table lighting project

I have a Diamond Pro Am on order now, walnut stained, and unfortunately not the Dymondwood rails that we all love. Oak rails, because the only other option at this time is (PRC) black, and that just won't work for my home decor.

So while awaiting the Pro Am from Diamond, I saw a couple threads by DeadStick with his LED table light. I love the sleek slim look and decided to build one myself to help mitigate the wait. Props to DeadStick for the idea. The first couple pics are the finished product. For those interested in building one yourself, I'm including more details of light, issues that arose, and how they were resolved.

One pic is the light prior to staining.
Geek info overload to follow.

I designed the frame for the LED light set up so that I could use the Diamond lighting reflectors they use in their own table lights. This is built to nearly the same specs.

For those of you wanting to do the same, the Diamond light grid reflector is 23 1/2" by 47 1/2". Plan your width accordingly.

Framed with 1x4 boards, I installed cross bars every 16" so that I would have something sturdy to screw the LED light strips to. The 3/8" plywood panel backing I chose would be too easy to strip screws in. I also drilled large holes in the plywood backing for air circulation. Contrary to popular belief, high intensity LED lights do generate heat. Not as much as an incandescent, but better to not chance shortening the lifespan on the strip lights.

The dimensions of this project are 24 1/8" x 100" inside measurement, and between 4 3/4" - 5" tall after trim work added.

The weight of this finished light is right at 55 lbs.
You can cut down on the weight (and save $$$) by not adding the additional trim work (I used glue and brad nails), the plywood backing panel is not needed if you have thge cross pieces to hold the strip brackets to, and use standard pine boards rather than furniture grade. The furniture grade is MUCH denser and heavier, so much so that it even curled some of my brad nails when adding the trim pieces.

Now for the education I had to get on LED lighting.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of what is available 'out there'. This is just the main types I came across over a couple days of trying to understand what was available and what I needed for my project.

It seems there are 3 main types of LED strip lights in my brief investigation.
There are ones that use 12v DC, and often have a set short limit on how long (if any) they can be daisy chained. From what I saw, most of the 12v DC were 1.5 lumens in brightness. Some were dim-able, but the ones I found had to be dimmed using a remote that came with them versus a wall switch. These were what were typically found at the local Home Improvement centers. I didn't look at the actual prebuilt LED lights because the cost of them seemed a bit much.

The other 2 main types I came across were SMD (Surface mount diode?) directional strips found online, and they used the 110-120v wall outlet power, and in most cases were also dim-able if an LED compatible dimmer switch was used.

The SMD3528 LED strips were single diode and put out 4-6 Lumens per bulb.
The SMD5050 LED strips were triple diode and put out 12-14 Lumens per bulb.

Each of the latter two strip lights can be cut at 19.5 inches.
After doing the math on the SMD5050 LEDs, I figured that 3 strips of 8' 1.5" would put out the equivalent of a single 5700 lumen fluorescent bulb. So I would need 12 rows of LED lights using the SMD5050 to get the equivalent of 4 fluorescent tube lights typically found in the tournament lighting.

I went with the Bright White 6000k instead of the warmer 3000k lights because I was afraid the golden lighting would not be bright enough.

High gloss white spray paint on the inside sides to reflect light, flat on the back.

I also had to improvise my own power manifold by modifying the T-connectors that are purchased separately. I needed to put the strip lights closer than 19.5" as was intended by the default manufacturer design. Make sure you buy the correct components to mach the different type of LED strip lights (SMD3528 or SMD5050). They are not interchangeable.

I added a dimmer switch to the wall outlet because this thing was BRIGHT.

Here are a couple pics before the Diamond grid arrived.
The tape was so I would know the dimensions of the table for placement of the light.

Once the Diamond light grid arrived and I installed them, I was unhappy about the shadowing they caused.

These grid reflectors were supposed to eliminate the shadows, NOT create them!!
I was kinda pissed.

...and it was even worse when I brought in the saw horses and fabric to see if they were still there at the correct pool table height.

The secret wound up being the addition of a light diffuser panel from the home improvement store.

They didn't have these in the Diamond lights at the local pool hall. It seems the fluorescent tubes act the same for a light diffuser as these panels provide for the raw LED lighting. Before and after panel pics below.

The end result looks great.

The Diamond light grid tones down the perceived light output enough that I don't think the dimmer is necessary now. I'll leave it in place, but I was amazed at how they toned it down.

I borrowed a FLUKE 1730 power meter to get an idea of the actual power draw from the LED pool table light.

The actual power draw for the system using the dimmer is:

House wiring = 111v

Listed by Dimmer slider position (not power draw):

FULL on - 92w .913A *
At 3/4 - 54w *
At 2/3 - 45w .62A
At half - 31w .495A
Lowest = 10w .250A

* Most likely settings that I will use.

This means that the entire ~96 ft. of LED SMD5050 strip lighting at FULL brightness (22800 lumens) will use less power than a single 100w light bulb.

This is good because I'm going to spend a LOT of time on this table. :wink:

Table

Finally arrived and set up.
The room is NOT this dark, it's just the camera adjusted for the bright table light.

Linwood,

I actually used the plastic mounting brackets that came with the strip lights (In Post #4 they are visible, held in place by a screw on either side). The LED housing is insulated in soft plastic all the way around, so no paper backing or glue on the back. Manufacturer recommended to place the brackets every 12", but I did every 16" instead and found this adequate. This style rope light plugs directly into the wall outlet without having to use the DC converter bricks that I also found to be questionable for both wiring and limited length of light run.

Link to site I got my LED rope light from:
http://www.cbconcept.com/120VLEDSMD5050Rope-White.aspx

Brackets and "T" connectors:
http://www.cbconcept.com/120VSMD5050Accessories.aspx

That was a great idea for the overhead cam shots of your games.