Table Hack Journey - Adding LED’s to an existing table (1 Viewer)

[Han Trinh]

Experimenting with $39.99 CDN LED light strips under my table’s railing.

It really makes a difference. I’m a believer now!

I used Home Depot paint stir sticks as spacers and shoved my lights beside them under the rail. Not sure how sturdy it will be long term or if heat will be become an issue?

Also found the lights are too bright without a diffuser. I find it’s a little distracting when looking across the table. What do you guys use for diffusers?

I tried white drinking straws for fun. Raw in the left and straw on the right. Seems to help.

Finally I’ve decided I need to go with a battery powered LED light strip. Any recommendations ?

 

[Ethan]

Looks great! can we see the two (with and without diffuser) from across the table?

 

[Han Trinh]

2 straws directly ahead acting like a diffuser.

Here’s a picture looking across the table in the dark with the 2 straws in place

And without the 2 straw diffusers

And with the overhead lights on with the 2 straw diffusers in place

And without

 

[Ethan]

I’d go for the diffused look. Don’t want to strain your eyes to count villain’s stack.

 

[Jeevansluck]

Sickest bang for buck upgrade I've ever seen for $40 bro! Nice work

Even if the longevity is short, for a low price, now you know what you'd want in a table if you ever decided on another one.

 

[Jeevansluck]

I used Home Depot paint stir sticks as spacers and shoved my lights beside them under the rail. Not sure how sturdy it will be long term or if heat will be become an issue?

Doubt the heat could be an issue when dealing with these small LED type lights. They consume such low amounts of power...they just don't generate enough heat to cause an issue in this application. IMHO

 

[1A25R]

I'll need to try the drinking straws cheat on my Barrington table !!!

 

[TonZaga]

I'll need to try the drinking straws cheat on my Barrington table !!!

You added an LED strip to your Barrington table?? This I gotta see!

 

[1A25R]

You added an LED strip to your Barrington table?? This I gotta see!

nope, the ESPN Barringtong table came already with a (too bright) strip led mounted under the rail

 

[boeller]

I aswell would go for the diffused look.

How good/bad is your overall lighting in the room?

 

[Han Trinh]

Overhead lighting 850 lumens is good but rest of the ambient lighting in the room is darker. The extra light from the LED strip is a nice touch when looking at cards. Especially 4 coloured decks

 

[Chaboudy]

This is interesting. Good idea

 

[Guma]

Yea I like the diffused look over the glaring bare LEDs.

 

[TonZaga]

I may have to experiment with a strip and my regular Barrington 10 man table

 

[Han Trinh]

I ended up getting some LEDs from Amazon and will be returning the Costco ones . The Amazon ones have more LEDs per meter but is white only.

For the diffuser the straws work but I’m going to check out Home Depot and look at the hoses they have. I think the ones they use for water hook ups might do the job. Will post pictures later

 

[Jake14mw]

I ended up getting some LEDs from Amazon and will be returning the Costco ones . The Amazon ones have more LEDs per meter but is white only.

For the diffuser the straws work but I’m going to check out Home Depot and look at the hoses they have. I think the ones they use for water hook ups might do the job. Will post pictures later

Intested in this. Which LEDs did you get from Amazon, and have you found diffusing material?

 

[Han Trinh]

Intested in this. Which LEDs did you get from Amazon, and have you found diffusing material?

I bought 2 of these ones from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00HSF66JO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_FtqADbNCN1MT2

Also bought these power cords for now until I figure out how to make or find a 12V battery adapter.
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00DKSI0S8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_GUqADbJVDVXN9

For my diffuser I ended up using the water tubes that can be found at Home Depot

I nailed them to the bottom of my railing to use them as the diffuser and as the spacer. I didn’t know how else to keep it on with out nailing them.

I turned it but it was still too bright on the eyes still. obviously can see the shadow of the nails.

So I went back to Home Depot for an add on roll of tubing. I ended up getting a larger diameter one

I then added it in front of the existing tubes by nailing it to the existing tubing. Which works but still shows the nails. (Can live with it for now, but may likely remove and try to use a hot gun instead)

This time the lumens Level and diffusion was about the right.

Here’s a shot of the illumination of the cards when playing.

Overall pretty happy, not a perfect solution or most elegant but it is functional.

Next I’ll prob experiment replacing the nails securing the outside visible tube to using hot glue instead. Also in hindsight I think trying to find a lower lumen or dimmable LED strip might have saved from me having to use so much tubing to diffuse the light.

Anyways for a quick cheap functional hack, It’s seems adequate enough for now.

 

[Jake14mw]

Looks good Han! I think I need about 18 feet for mine. I wonder why most of them seem to be that 16.4 foot length? I have a lighted rail on a second table I have, and would prefer to have a battery pack vs. having to plug it in via a cord.

 

[Han Trinh]

Thanks @Jake14mw. Definitely seems like 16.4 feet (5 meters) seems to be the standard. If you give it a go. Post some Pics afterwards.

 

[Al Azouri]

I bought 2 of these ones from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00HSF66JO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_FtqADbNCN1MT2

Also bought these power cords for now until I figure out how to make or find a 12V battery adapter.
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00DKSI0S8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_GUqADbJVDVXN9

For my diffuser I ended up using the water tubes that can be found at Home Depot
View attachment 331022

I nailed them to the bottom of my railing to use them as the diffuser and as the spacer. I didn’t know how else to keep it on with out nailing them.

View attachment 331023

I turned it but it was still too bright on the eyes still. obviously can see the shadow of the nails.

View attachment 331024

So I went back to Home Depot for an add on roll of tubing. I ended up getting a larger diameter one

View attachment 331025

I then added it in front of the existing tubes by nailing it to the existing tubing. Which works but still shows the nails. (Can live with it for now, but may likely remove and try to use a hot gun instead)

This time the lumens Level and diffusion was about the right.

View attachment 331026

Here’s a shot of the illumination of the cards when playing.

View attachment 331029

Overall pretty happy, not a perfect solution or most elegant but it is functional.

Next I’ll prob experiment replacing the nails securing the outside visible tube to using hot glue instead. Also in hindsight I think trying to find a lower lumen or dimmable LED strip might have saved from me having to use so much tubing to diffuse the light.

Anyways for a quick cheap functional hack, It’s seems adequate enough for now.

Let me know how it goes with the hot glue. I did this exact thing to mine a few months ago, but I only have the tubing secured with double stick tape in strategic locations. It bothers me that it's visible though.

As I'm writing this I had another thought. I wonder if you could drill small holes in the bottom of the poly so that you can push the nail all the way through with a nail set. Something like this:

( the hole doesn't have to be as big as shown here)

 

[Jake14mw]

Han,

I think I'm going to try this with one of my tables. I need 18-19 feet for mine. After searching around for a while for a battery powered option, I think the best thing I found was this - https://www.amazon.com/Cabinet-Ligh...fix=led+strip+light+batt,aps,138&sr=1-18&th=1

I was hoping to find something dimmable, and I don't like the idea that it's two separate pieces, but so many of them are 16.4 feet, just a little too short. If anyone finds anything better, please let me know. Also, in searching for tubing, I found some that looks a little more white than what you got, I wonder if that would diffuse the light more?

 

[Al Azouri]

Han,

I think I'm going to try this with one of my tables. I need 18-19 feet for mine. After searching around for a while for a battery powered option, I think the best thing I found was this - https://www.amazon.com/Cabinet-Lighting-Motion-Wardrobe-Waterproof/dp/B07P9FZDJY/ref=sr_1_18?crid=3CMYOLZYQLGBH&keywords=led+strip+light+battery+powered&qid=1567483425&refinements=p_n_feature_eighteen_browse-bin:5699954011&rnid=5699951011&s=lamps-light&sprefix=led+strip+light+batt,aps,138&sr=1-18&th=1

I was hoping to find something dimmable, and I don't like the idea that it's two separate pieces, but so many of them are 16.4 feet, just a little too short. If anyone finds anything better, please let me know. Also, in searching for tubing, I found some that looks a little more white than what you got, I wonder if that would diffuse the light more?

Are you dead set on battery powered? I’ve been running these for three years now:

Rxment Led Strip Lighting 10M... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WRDG9CQ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

I must have over 1000 hours on them by now. They are great. You can change the color to any color you want and they are dimmable.

I use one of these to bring power to the table:

Legrand - Wiremold CDI-5 Corduct Overfloor Cord Protector- Rubber Duct Floor Cord Cover, Ivory, 5 Feet (60 Inches) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BVXVTA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_kDMBDbKYFCXZ3


And once you have power there, it’s real easy to add usb charging at every seat.

 

[Jake14mw]

Are you dead set on battery powered? I’ve been running these for three years now:

Rxment Led Strip Lighting 10M... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WRDG9CQ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Thanks for pointing that out. For this table retrofit that I am doing, I did want to try and keep it to battery, but good to know options.

 

[Jake14mw]

Well, that the battery powered light I bought is pretty dim. I will have to do more testing. It seems bright enough if I only use one row of tubing, but then the individual LED spots are distinct, which I didn't want. I'll probably just go with it.

 

[Jake14mw]

OK. An update:
1) The LED lights I linked above actually turned out well. The brightness is actually pretty good. With AAA batteries, they don't last long at all though, maybe an hour or two. This is OK, because I can use a phone portable charging bank to power it, which will last the whole night.
2) I used 3/8" tubing and that was perfect. I tried both hot glue and the drilling method that Al suggested above. The hot glue didn't work at all. Just didn't hold. The drill and screw method worked very well, but the whole shows when the lights are turned on. Any imperfections in the tubing shows because of the light.
3) I suspect the sticky tape holding the LED strip to the wood riser in the rail won't long. I added some tape at intervals.
4) Everything was looking good. Made may adjustments. Then when I went to put it together for good last night, I bent the LED strip too much and broke it! Ugghh. I tried soldering it with a cheap soldering kit I had from Harbor Freight, but I don't really know how to solder, so I couldn't get it right. No lights tonight!

I will post more pictures later.

 

[DarthBubba615]

nope, the ESPN Barrington table came already with a (too bright) strip led mounted under the rail

I had that table (sold it to a buddy), and retrofitted it with some cheap chinese RGB LEDs I bought off of Amazon.

 

[MeechsGame]

Experimenting with $39.99 CDN LED light strips under my table’s railing.

View attachment 325271

It really makes a difference. I’m a believer now!

View attachment 325273

I used Home Depot paint stir sticks as spacers and shoved my lights beside them under the rail. Not sure how sturdy it will be long term or if heat will be become an issue?

View attachment 325272

Also found the lights are too bright without a diffuser. I find it’s a little distracting when looking across the table. What do you guys use for diffusers?

I tried white drinking straws for fun. Raw in the left and straw on the right. Seems to help.

View attachment 325274

Finally I’ve decided I need to go with a battery powered LED light strip. Any recommendations ?

Best 40$ ever spent, I will be doing this to mine as soon as I find a table!!

 

[JulieJules26]

Hi all! New to the forum and wanted some advice. I'm looking into buying the Rockwell poker table vs the Elite Alpha and I'm leaning more towards the Rockwell (in all black) because of the nail heads and cup holder placement. My question is, we really want the led lights, so is it possible to add them to this table using Phillips Hue, or something similar? If so, how big of a project will this be with installation? Any and all thoughts are welcomed, thanks!