Adding diffuser to ESPN table LED lights, any ideas? (1 Viewer)

[Rome]

I just ordered one of those ESPN tables (Barrington clones) with the LED lights. I specifically bought it because it folds and has the lights, but have read a lot of comments that while cool, the lights are too bright and un-diffused for comfortable viewing for hours on end. I am trying to think of ways to diffuse the lights to get materials before the table arrives. Have any of you found a good way to diffuse the lights so they aren't so piercing?

Typical LED diffuser strips won't work since they require locking into a channel installed with the LED lights themselves. But its possible to try and affix a diffuser channel cover over the lights somehow. Hard to know without seeing the table in front of me yet in terms of dimensions though. Looking for some DIY alternatives. Some thing's ive seen online, that may or may not be good/terrible ideas...

1. Frosted Shower curtain cut into a strip and taped/glued over the led strip
2. Small bead of hot glue on each individual bulbhead (seems pretty cool in online pictures of hot glue "diffusers" on led bulbs, but this would be extremely tedious of course with preinstalled LEDs.
3. Wax paper strip over the LED ring.

I know the further away the diffusing materials is from the leds the better it will work, and these methods are directly over the lights, but they should be better than nothing from my image research online. I have no idea if any of these would actually work, cause issues, be outragously fugly in practice etc. Any thoughts from you table veterans?

 

[Nymor]

Do you know how much the rail overhangs the LEDs? or put another way how set back the LEDs are, if at all. If there is a measureable overhang the solution I'm using might work?

On my table the rail overhangs a couple of centimeters and while I have an aluminium profile and diffuser for my LEDs they still spot a bit - should have gone for a COB strip rather than 120/m as I have but anyway.... To further diffuse to eliminate this spotting I have added a thin (~15mm) strip of white high density closed cell foam in front of the LEDs/diffuser. I made this slightly taller than the gap so it fits really tightly without having to fix it in place.

With this in place the LED spotting has completely gone, the lights are ~20%+ dimmer (although I can also dim via the driver if I need to) and cards bounce off it if pitched too far so not potentially damaging them. Also looks good - a nice even glow.

While LEDs always look much brighter in photos than they actually are here's a couple of pics that show the extra dimming - 1st image is the lights with just the platic diffuser that is attached to the aluminium profile and the second with the extra foam in front. Also the foam strips themselves.

As mentioned you need an overhang to be able to wedge the foam into but if that exists on the ESPN tables it might work for you?

You'd also have to check it's safe if the foam touches the LEDs - mine rests against the profiles plastic diffuser not the LEDs themselves but even then I'm fairly sure you can get closed cell foam that is fire retardant or whatever it would need to be.

 

[Rome]

As mentioned you need an overhang to be able to wedge the foam into but if that exists on the ESPN tables it might work for you?

You'd also have to check it's safe if the foam touches the LEDs - mine rests against the profiles plastic diffuser not the LEDs themselves but even then I'm fairly sure you can get closed cell foam that is fire retardant or whatever it would need to be.

I know light is super hard to photograph, but even from the pics you can tell how much better it looks with your foam idea. Very cool. Can you fish up a link to the foam you used by chance? I have no clue what types of things to look for (density numbers, etc). You mention its "thin" at 15mm. is that the height of the foam piece you used or it's thickness?

I don't know if there's any overhang, I havent seen one of these in person before. I will have it in 3-4 days.

 

[Nymor]

Can you fish up a link to the foam you used by chance? I have no clue what types of things to look for (density numbers, etc)

The site I bought from only listed it as High Density Closed Cell Foam - I think this was the page https://www.efoam.co.uk/closed-cell-polyethylene-foam.php

Looks like this

(that's a 20x15mm cross section)

It's fairly rigid/firm but does bend well and compresses a bit

 

[tabletalker7]

Are you refelting this? If you are it may be best to just replace the lights. Amazon has tons of these on dimmer switches.

https://www.amazon.com/Lamomo-Dimma...601&sprefix=rope+lights+with+,aps,140&sr=8-17

 

[MrRossKeys]

Another thread listed this item as what they used to diffuse

I went to buy this same item from Home Depot for my table but found that the size I needed was much bigger (1" OD) than what was offered.

That thread

 

[Rome]

Are you refelting this? If you are it may be best to just replace the lights. Amazon has tons of these on dimmer switches.

https://www.amazon.com/Lamomo-Dimmable-Waterproof-Flexible-Decoration/dp/B087CY5WDB/ref=mp_s_a_1_17?crid=5501AHIRJMFE&keywords=rope+lights+with+dimmer&qid=1677995601&sprefix=rope+lights+with+,aps,140&sr=8-17

I want to feel it in person first, which will be tomorrow by current tracking. I've heard its a bit... uh... felty, and therefore isn't that good. So it's possible in the future it will get re-felted, although I struggle to find project time with my current commitments, and would likely check out appropriately sized toppers to flop on top of the felt. Someday it would be fun to really dress it up, but for now it was a cheap way (got it new for 199) to upgrade my game experience. I have a fairly dim room where the table gets set up, so having the lights was a big selling feature.

 

[Rome]

Another thread listed this item as what they used to diffuse

I went to buy this same item from Home Depot for my table but found that the size I needed was much bigger (1" OD) than what was offered.

That thread

This could def be worth a try. It's in stock in various sizes at my local store. Thanks for the idea.

Sidenote - I found these on a reddit thread and apparently they fit the 12v plug perfectly for the ESPN table to get rid of needing a wall plug. I already had rechargable AA batteries so giving this a shot too: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09131Y9L8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[tabletalker7]

Sidenote - I found these on a reddit thread and apparently they fit the 12v plug perfectly for the ESPN table to get rid of needing a wall plug. I already had rechargable AA batteries so giving this a shot too: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09131Y9L8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

(This might sound dumb but most people don't think of things like this until it is too late) Order 2 of these. Much easier to "hotswap" the plug when the batteries die then it is to replace the individual batteries.

 

[Rome]

(This might sound dumb but most people don't think of things like this until it is too late) Order 2 of these. Much easier to "hotswap" the plug when the batteries die then it is to replace the individual batteries.

Yep, that link is a 2 pack, and its basically the price of 1 from other sellers. I fugure they are cheap electronics, I got a 2 pack because i assume one will come broken and 1 working lol

 

[Riddler409]

Are you refelting this? If you are it may be best to just replace the lights. Amazon has tons of these on dimmer switches.

https://www.amazon.com/Lamomo-Dimmable-Waterproof-Flexible-Decoration/dp/B087CY5WDB/ref=mp_s_a_1_17?crid=5501AHIRJMFE&keywords=rope+lights+with+dimmer&qid=1677995601&sprefix=rope+lights+with+,aps,140&sr=8-17

do these flex in the correct direction? Im not sure if that came across correctly...but I cant find any photos of the lights bending toward itself how it would be installed under the padded rail.

 

[Nymor]

do these flex in the correct direction?

That's a good point.

The "Neon" ropes are good if you want a neon sign effect but you need COB LEDs if you want a continuous light strip that bends the other way.

Neon rope

COB strip

 

[Riddler409]

That's a good point.

The "Neon" ropes are good if you want a neon sign effect but you need COB LEDs if you want a continuous light strip that bends the other way.

Neon rope

COB strip

nice! thats exactly what ill need. Do they make these in RGB?

edit: found one...but expensive... https://www.amazon.com/PAUTIX-Addre...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

 

[Nymor]

nice! thats exactly what ill need. Do they make these in RGB?

edit: found one...but expensive... https://www.amazon.com/PAUTIX-Addressable-Multicolor-Decoration-Controller/dp/B0BN5N3R82/ref=sr_1_13_sspa?keywords=cob+led+strip+light&qid=1678058992&sprefix=cob+led+,aps,375&sr=8-13-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzUEM3TjRaMDkwWTIzJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDI1OTc5TlBOTzdMWUpTNzdSJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA5MDUxMjkyME1IUUIwRVM5U0JSJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfbXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

It exists - search for rgb or rgbw cod led strips. Personally I think rail lighting needs to be white only - warm white is what I've gone for but white nonetheless.

 

[ectocooler]

nice! thats exactly what ill need. Do they make these in RGB?

edit: found one...but expensive... https://www.amazon.com/PAUTIX-Addressable-Multicolor-Decoration-Controller/dp/B0BN5N3R82/ref=sr_1_13_sspa?keywords=cob+led+strip+light&qid=1678058992&sprefix=cob+led+,aps,375&sr=8-13-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzUEM3TjRaMDkwWTIzJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDI1OTc5TlBOTzdMWUpTNzdSJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA5MDUxMjkyME1IUUIwRVM5U0JSJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfbXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

I just got these in a few days ago. I also bought the 6k white version to see what they looked like. I’m sending the rbgic strip back. They look amazing and I’ll probably miss the colors one day but they do not compare to how good the white ones look. I like them a lot better and I didn’t think I would.

 

[merkong]

Diffusers rule