Current State of the Art Pool Table Lighting?

Dawgneck

Dawgneck

Cognitive Elitist
Silver Member
Howdy, Everyone.

In November 2018, I reported how happy I was after I successfully converted my Diamond light from florescent to LED bulbs in this thread: https://forums.azbilliards.com/thre...-led-with-8-ft-led-tubes.483360/#post-6257719.

Since that post, there has been an explosion in new LED pool table light options, especially those square floating lights seen at nationally televised tournaments.

For those of us looking to upgrade to the newer LED light systems, what are some of the best we should consider at the moment?
 
I think they do the job of shedding light, Ive yet to seen any that are attractive as far as hving any style, but then again I like antiques..

Im thinking of constructing one with wood, mica , real brass and not fake brass , etc. One that effects the style of the antique atmosphere that a pool room deserves. Mine anyway.. It is personal.
I just sold a 3 lamp one for 50 bucks on the weekend it was all fake brass.. I thought it was ugly. It'll serve the purpose, the guy wanted it for a appartment building's poolrooom. he was going to move the lamps further apart.
on mine it is a 3 lamp but a 9 foot table ( 100 inches) the three lamp could be longer. it works ok but when people sit down it sort of hits them in the eye.. so its not perfect for me. some of us older guys might like a bit more light too, it could be stronger..

maybe some of the grow light setups would work if you want a lot of light, there are all kinds of new makers as the home grow ops have exploded in number now that prohibition ended for some areas, not all I know. they can mimic the changes of light through the day , for example in late summer you get a lot more red spectrum in the evening, that triggers plants to flower, as well as the number of hours. if you go looking at pot plants online you will see a lot now that are purple, mainly because their lights are shedding colored light. the growers of course aren't after the light for it's interior appeal, they serve a direct purpose.

I Put "sunlight" LED bulbs in mine, some might like the whiter light , like a drug store, I dont want that harsh light in my living room, it might suit a pool hall.. I found the off the shelf whiter bulbs annoying.

a friend just put up an LED strip light, people do like the light it sheds, its certainly not an attractive feature in a well thought out comfortable room. Some want to create more of an "english pub style" atmosphere and more appealing heritage styled lights might suit that better. Bars won't want bright white lights, it detracts from the comfortable warm atmosphere. they want people to be comfy and stay a while, not feel like they are inn an interrogation room.. fast food chains are the opposite, they create an uncomfortable place to get the customer out as soon as possible.

changing to LED bulbs is easy. Ive installed lots that are tubes and omit the ballast. I have two that have old ballasts, the new LED bulbs would not light.
many in box stores are made to replace fluorescent without removing the ballast.. If you look for them, careful because you can get both in T8. one needs the electronic ballast, the other you just wire 110 directly to the tombstones. I noted they seemed to drop the stock of the ones that you can wire without the ballast, I think the home centers didn't want homeowners doing wiring. electrical wholesalers can get them in for you and they deal more with proper electricians.
I spoke to an electrician yesterday he said our workplace won't buy the ones that dont need the ballast anymore, they were replacing them in great numbers before.. the concern is that having a mix was leading to confusion , someone can stick in the ones made for ballasts and then they see 110 rather than the high voltage, low amp power a ballast produces..

The public are not trained to recognize these differences but you don't need to be an electrician to change a light bulb so mistakes are more common now..
That situation became a bit of a safety issue.
 
Last edited:
I really love the Perimeter Light which I bought from a thread here a few years back. It's not classically attractive, but it looks good to me, in a modern, minimalist way. The light it provides is outstanding, and when I go to pool halls I often remember how spoiled I am at home with the bright, clear light. The price is reasonable and installation was easy. I'm kind of an old-fashioned guy, but in this case I value function more than aesthetics.

table2.jpg
 
I'm also in the market for a new light.

Did the early perimeter light have issues at the corners where the light would bleed out a slit? Their website shows a good picture of the corner assembly and it looks solid as can be now.

At my previous home I had a lite-systems Fin Miu with parabolic louvers over a 7 foot valley. The light looked good and worked very well, I had a tough time getting the aircraft cable hanging just right but was also doing it solo.

Really leaning towards a perimeter light over my Gold Crown IV but am a bit hesitant due to the aircraft cable suspension and my ceiling being drop tiles. I may be able to mount directly to the drop tile support frame white rails. Most pool tables are not directly under joists to allow for vertical cables, maybe that doesn't matter.

I'll post in the "show us your home rooms" thread once I get the light figured out...here's a teaser.
7af947a3ea742b215322e77a7ee919d2.jpg
 
Jedco said:
I really love the Perimeter Light which I bought from a thread here a few years back. It's not classically attractive, but it looks good to me, in a modern, minimalist way. The light it provides is outstanding, and when I go to pool halls I often remember how spoiled I am at home with the bright, clear light. The price is reasonable and installation was easy. I'm kind of an old-fashioned guy, but in this case I value function more than aesthetics.

View attachment 748777
Click to expand...
I was recently visiting a kid in Tallahassee and snuck over to Zingales for some one pocket. They had a light like the one above. Never played under one before- but I really liked it.
 
KUKABUKA said:
I'm also in the market for a new light.

Did the early perimeter light have issues at the corners where the light would bleed out a slit? Their website shows a good picture of the corner assembly and it looks solid as can be now.

At my previous home I had a lite-systems Fin Miu with parabolic louvers over a 7 foot valley. The light looked good and worked very well, I had a tough time getting the aircraft cable hanging just right but was also doing it solo.

Really leaning towards a perimeter light over my Gold Crown IV but am a bit hesitant due to the aircraft cable suspension and my ceiling being drop tiles. I may be able to mount directly to the drop tile support frame white rails. Most pool tables are not directly under joists to allow for vertical cables, maybe that doesn't matter.

I'll post in the "show us your home rooms" thread once I get the light figured out...here's a teaser.
7af947a3ea742b215322e77a7ee919d2.jpg
Click to expand...
I have an early-ish perimeter light and I solved for the light bleed issue by just putting some black electrical tape on the corners. Solved the issue and you don’t even notice the tape.

Hanging it was kind of a pain in the butt (you have to mount like 8 individual pucks on the ceiling where the cables connect to the light) but other than that I don’t have any complaints. Especially when it was less than half the cost of the predator light.
 
When I bought my diamond I was going to also buy the diamond light but this old miller lite has been with me for over 30 years . My future father in law at the time (first wife) won it and it went over my first terrible sears honey comb table and every table I’ve had since then but it needed upgraded from the old single bulb. So a few weeks a go I took it over to my brother in laws. The guy has what feels like a lowes at his house. Lol anything you possibly need he has and has it in every size necessary lol he has led panels he likes so we gutted it and ran the led’s. I wouldn’t say it’s brighter but it’s a cleaner light if that makes sense. It’s definitely an upgrade . We considered putting 2 of those panels in but I’m glad we didn’t because it would have been to much.

On a side note I see why these lights would disapear. They didn’t make them to replace anything. First off to drop the center metal panel you had to drill out the rivets they used instead of simple screws. Then the I hooks that were on top we thought you could just turn out and reuse. Nope! They were hooked to nuts on the inside so you couldn’t get the inside center panel out with out taking off the i bolts but you couldn’t take out the i bolts without removing the center panel 😂 so they had to be cut off. If you lost a transformer in this thing it would have went straight in the trash lol that would have been to much work to bother . In the end we ditched everything but the metal center piece to hide the wiring and power pack. Again I know I could do better but at 51 years of age there are things I own llike this that have survived now 5 houses and 5 pool tables so I don’t want to let it go.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0472.jpeg
    IMG_0472.jpeg
    150.1 KB · Views: 128
  • IMG_0473.jpeg
    IMG_0473.jpeg
    144.2 KB · Views: 130
  • IMG_0470.jpeg
    IMG_0470.jpeg
    78.7 KB · Views: 139
  • IMG_0471.jpeg
    IMG_0471.jpeg
    149.2 KB · Views: 127
Hung a 9' perimeter light. Had to loosen and re-tighten some of the corner brackets to eliminate some gaps; but it was far from a hard install. Zero light bleed anywhere. Very glad I went for the dimmable model - this thing is BRIGHT. I usually play at half brightness.
 
KUKABUKA said:
Hung a 9' perimeter light. Had to loosen and re-tighten some of the corner brackets to eliminate some gaps; but it was far from a hard install. Zero light bleed anywhere. Very glad I went for the dimmable model - this thing is BRIGHT. I usually play at half brightness.
Click to expand...
What brand did you get?
 
Good old fluorescents here. (8) 5000K T8's each putting out 2,600 Lumens with a Color Rendering Index (CRI) of 90. Total output is 20,800 Lumens which is plenty of brightness for pool. When one of the ballasts quit, I'll rewire for LED tubes. In the limited research I've done, I've not found any LED tubes with a CRI of 90 or above. Temp and Lumens, no problem. IMO, a high CRI is important in pool so all the colors are accurately displayed. I built the light with form and function in mind. I wanted it to match the table and provide good lighting for play.

49726405502_fa89ab3ab8_h.jpg


49726405907_5924fe6a1e_h.jpg


53491122024_7b4934082f_h.jpg


52269876034_f0f94f42c0_h.jpg
 
if it has electronic ballasts, you can just swap the tubes out for LED ones. just get the type that are made to be swappable..

If it has old ballasts you can remove them and there are LED tubes that you can hook 110 to , one wire to each tombstone..

I converted most of my basement ones, for some I just chucked the ballasts, some I replaced with the swap-able tubes and no ballast change. some with old ballasts wouldn't run the LED tubes, I'll need to omit the ballasts.

the LEDs save power if you aren't in the heating season, if it's is the heating season any wasted power isn't wasted, its BTU's

BTU's in summer fight the AC if you use AC.
BTU's in winter mean you burn less fuel since you are heating anyway..

the LED's vary in color, you might like the warmer or cooler bulbs. If you dont want hard cold light, like a drug store, I'd use the warmer ones.. I find I want the hard light in a workshop but the sunlight type in living areas..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top