3D Printed Parabolic Diffuser for "Perimeter Style" lights

iusedtoberich

iusedtoberich

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I do not like "perimeter style" lights at all. I feel they are blinding from the side when walking around the room, and when down in my stance. Diamond lights, Littman lights, Brunswick Gold Crown lights, and many others, are all excellent. The difference is they have an egg crate style diffuser.

Here is my attempt to put an egg crate parabolic diffuser on them. This is a prototype only to see if it improves it. I'm using the phrase "perimeter style" as a generic term. This one is designed for the Predator Arena light, which is what my local hall has installed. The owner of the room is letting me experiment with one of his lights.


Overview:
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Closeup:
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End view. The 3D printed part will fit under the existing diffuser.
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Parabola: (existing diffuser removed for clarity)
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I'll print a very short section just an inch or two long to test the fit. Make any adjustments as needed. Then I'll print the longest length my printer can do, which is about 10". I'll print a few of those and put them end to end to try.
 
That's like high end audio! lol. The last room here had off the shelf perpendicular grids over fluorescents. Even that worked well.
 
If possible, it would be better to have them sit within the frame vs hanging from the frame. IMO, it will look unfinished and take away from the sleek aesthetics of the fixture, which is one of its key selling points.
 
rexus31 said:
If possible, it would be better to have them sit within the frame vs hanging from the frame. IMO, it will look unfinished and take away from the sleek aesthetics of the fixture, which is one of its key selling points.
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My goal is if it works, to make a video showing the difference and send it to all the companies that make these style lights, and ask them to incorporate the idea into their design. I don't have the means or the desire to make them outside of a prototype.
 
iusedtoberich said:
My goal is if it works, to make a video showing the difference and send it to all the companies that make these style lights, and ask them to incorporate the idea into their design. I don't have the means or the desire to make them outside of a prototype.
Click to expand...
Why not prototype them to sit inside the fixture? I think it would make the idea more attractive to the manufacturers.

Seems like a lot of work just to prove a point/make a recommendation.
 
rexus31 said:
Why not prototype them to sit inside the fixture? I think it would make the idea more attractive to the manufacturers.

Seems like a lot of work just to prove a point/make a recommendation.
Click to expand...
I want to be the least disruptive as possible. The lights are staying up, and I just want to climb a chair when its not busy and snap this in place to test it.

I don't think the existing diffuser comes out without taking the segments apart. I might be wrong on that, but that's what it looked like to me climbed up on the chair.

Let me get a small segment up and just see what it does, then re-evaluate the plan.

My end goal if it works is to make a video and hopefully it goes pool-viral and the manufacturers change their design. I'd of course send the video directly to the manufacturers as well.
 
straightline said:
That's like high end audio! lol. The last room here had off the shelf perpendicular grids over fluorescents. Even that worked well.
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Yeah, I don't think parabola vs straight boxes matters too much. I know commercial egg crate diffusers have both designs. And I remember a member here tested both and didn't find much difference. Might have been rexus? I forget now. It was actually tricky to do the parabola in CAD, so it was a bit of a learning challenge also.
 
I had a 3" length printed to test the fit, and I went to the pool hall today. But I forgot to bring it:( Ended up losing 5 sets in a row instead;)

Ha ha. Well at least I have the pool bug again, I'm half thinking to go back tonight and play more. I'll put the diffuser in my case.
 
If this seems to work I'd be interested in some. If it's too much of a pain to print I hope you're willing to post the files. :)
 
tim913 said:
Why not just buy some diffusers and cut them to size?
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I don't want to deal with the hassle. Plus if they are acrylic, no way to cut them without cracking to hell. And no way to attach them to the light except wrapping masking tape around them and the light. The printing is easy, and I can make them fit perfectly with the light. Just push a button and go play pool. When I come back, they are all ready.
 
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First prototype. It was too small, so I put it on a diagonal so it won't fall off. I brought calipers with me tonight and now have a good measurement to correct the size. (This first printed one I took a post it note and creased it with my fingernail to get the width of the frame).

It definitely worked. It doesn't show well in this picture, but with the eye, it made a difference. This picture actually took me 4 or 5 tries to get something that was not entirely a white hot spot.

I will adjust the width, and print out a few 10" long sections and put them on tomorrow when I'll be back at the pool room.

The owner and another customer were both there with me and both impressed of the improvement it made. Until a large portion of the light is covered, we won't know the full picture, pun intended;)

One other note, the existing diffuser does not slide off without some frame disassembly (or perhaps loosening) of the individual segments. The existing diffuser is quite thick, maybe 2.5mm. At the miter corner, it is too thick to slide past the adjacent diffuser.
 
Yes I think it'll be hard to tell the difference with pictures. You would need a luxmeter to report to us the incident difference comparing before and after.

buy me
 
I imagine this will end up with the middle of the table being dark and balls having some fairly severe shadows.
 
If the light already has a diffuser, why are you doubling up? Given you are only diffusing about 2.5" - 2.75" of area, I think the cells need to be smaller than the .5" standard to be effective. Possibly by half. I'm still not sure what you are chasing as the fixture already has a diffuser.
 
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rexus31 said:
If the light already has a diffuser, why are you doubling up? Given you are only diffusing about 2.5" - 2.75" of area, I think the cells need to be smaller than the .5" standard to be effective. Possibly by half. I'm still not sure what you are chasing as the fixture already has a diffuser.
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He is trying to eliminate side glare
 
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