42 Inch Plasma - Wall Mount Installation - Update

Posted by Monk, Oct 11 2009, 03:25 PM

I thought I would take the time to document the fact that some work is finally getting done around here!

The TV:
Panasonic TC-P42U1
A 42 inch plasma, 1080p with "normal" features - 2 HDMI in, 2 component in, 1 HDMI out - an SD card reader. Nothing fancy. It has a great picture using the component video hookup to an HD Tivo. Adjustable "no use" shut off up to 3 hours - will power it off if no control has been used (channel change / volume adjust). It has a nice "dimming" ability that dims the picture down according to ambient light in the room. For a bedroom TV this is really nice - when viewed in a totally dark room it dims way down, making it super easy on the eyes, yet still has fantastic color. Other misc. small features that are probably normal for modern day TVs.


The wall mount:
Sanus VM-400 full motion wall mount.
This mount is advertised on the Sanus site for 26" to 42" televisions weighing up to 100 pounds. Note that this same mount is "mis-advertised" at some sites as being only for televisions up to 40 inches with people reviewing it stating its weight limit is 70 pounds. Obviously something is going on here - maybe they want you to spend more money on a larger-than-needed mount - ? - or perhaps trying to keep those who are "on the verge" of buying and "overloading" the mount from making a bad choice. NOTE that this mount uses a single stud - as opposed to larger "rail" type mounts that are wide enough to use 2 studs. This mount comes with 2 bolt on adapter plates for the larger VESA 400x300 patterns. I have them bolted on, as the Panasonic is the 400x300. This is a heavy, well constructed, well engineered mount.


The power / surge / LV passthru outlet:
Panamax PF Power MIW-SURGE In-Wall Surge Protection System.
This device is a combination single surge protected outlet / low voltage bay 2 gang sized system. A versatile product that supports LV wire pass through on its right side (molded rubber w/slot in center) -or - snap-in modules. It is designed to work with a variety of electrical boxes. My install used a Carlon 1 gang old-work box which "locks" nicely into the MIW. Pretty slick. In the configuration used for my install, the hole in the wall is not a full 2 gang old work size. It is not clear how the user is to know if the surge protector is operating properly - i.e. no indicator / "protected" lamp. On the plus side, this unit can easily be swapped out / upgraded.


The Cables:
"Amazon" - 1 of each.
25' RCA Component Video/Audio Cable
25' HDMI to HDMI Premium Gold Series HDMI Certified

Low mounted LV pass through:
Vanco Custom 2 Pc Bulk Cable Wall Plate


Mounting the TV:
Using a "single stud" mount meant that in order to center the TV as close as possible with the center of the king size bed (on the opposite wall), the closest possible stud choice needed to be made. This as opposed to larger 2 stud mounts have the ability to slide left or right. The Sans VM-400, when folded back flat, has the "center" of the TV at 4 inches left or right of its center. As it turned out I was able to use a stud that only left the TV 2 inches off of dead center - Really not noticeable and would be only if the TV is pushed all the way back against the wall.

The VM-400 mount is rated at 100 pounds, the Panasonic TV weighs in at 55 pounds. This gives me better courage regarding the choices made. Also - the original plan would have me doing this on an outside wall - which of course is insulated - glad that isn't the case. Holding the mount in hand, it is obviously sturdy enough - quite heavy. I have mounted a lot of things into a lot of studs over my 25 years of home ownership but nothing this heavy or expensive. The first piece of the mount, a heavy , foot long piece of steel gets bolted to the 2x4 with three good sized lag bolts. In other pictures you will note it looks like it has a bit of a crease along its centerline - This slight bit is really not that noticable and probably an engineering thing, I decided.

3 lag bolts mounted to a stud that is only 1.5 inches wide requires precision to keep to the center most, strongest part of the wood. In addition, the center hole of the mount is the only hole which is really "on center" - the outermost holes I will be using are off center, each in a different direction. It isn't good to be a half an inch off on what you "think" is the center of your stud. I have found my electronic stud finder to be off a bit - sometimes it can be a 3/8 of an inch or more, but still good for approximation. Here is a trick I like to use - After marking the stud where I think it should be, I use a piece of .047 piano wire to push through the drywall and actually "feel" the edge of the stud. With practice, it may only take 2 pokes on each side of the stud to find the "absolute" sides.


Now you can mark the edges with confidence! I use a self leveling Stanley brand laser tool that really helps out.



The height of the bottom of the TV to the floor was decided to be 58 inches. The TV will be viewed from bed 99% of the time from a distance of about 12 feet. We had it sitting on a tall dresser which helped determine it needed to be just a bit higher. Of course the position at which the mount actually held the TV had to be determined - with the help of the laser level, it wasn't that hard. A small pilot hole, centered best as possible helped out in centering the 3/16 bit which the Sanus mount reccomended for the lag bolts.

That Stanley laser tool is the best money I ever spent (almost).

With the "mounting plate" mounted, it wasn't too hard to bolt up the arm to the back of the TV. After which, it was a matter of lifting the TV, arm attached and hooking it over the wall mounted plate - then securing with provided screws.

Kind of scary at first but it held solid - not a hint of instability, the Sanus VM-400 swings with a nice, firm feel throughout its entire range of movement. I am now comfortable working underneath / around it.

Running the power:
The electrical box is necessary for the cleanest install - they have the type that simply provides a raceway of sorts from the upper wall to outlet level that serves as a pass through for LV and an extension for power. That was the first thought, but looking from the basement, it would be a relatively straightforward task to run 30' total 12-2 Romex. So - laser level to the rescue and a nice square hole is cut. While I am at it, the lower outlet level pass through is cut as well.

As long as I'm sharing wire tricks, here is another. Using the same piece of wire that was earlier used to locate the stud edges, I clip the end of it to a knarly looking point and drill it through to the basement.


Looking up from the basement (black circle area) you can now see the end of it sticking through. Measure in about an inch and a half and you can drill upward into the center of your wall. Also note here - a copper pipe below and a cold air return not far away. That piece of wire will drill through copper like butter - not to mention flexible air ducts, romex, - you get the idea. Be careful and don't use this trick "blind". Keep the wire length only as long as you need it - I will sometimes put a piece of tape on it as a "depth gauge".



As mentioned - The Panamax accessory was used in conjunction with a Carlon old work box. The wire was a snap to push up the wall from the basement - as luck would have it, I came upstairs after the first attempt and there lay 6 feet of Romex - out the bottom (wrong) hole. Second try went fine..


Here are the 2 pieces of the Panamax i'm using.



And then finally - the finished project.


Update to Blog post - removed $$ amounts, as they will become sort of meaningless for comparison as time goes on.

Here is the final "Super Clean" look I was going for...

Panasonic TC-P42U1

Posted by Monk, Sep 5 2009, 09:24 PM

Settled for a reasonably priced 42" unit for the bedroom. Got it mounted on the wall today and am running power for a high-mounted outlet. Pictures later.

Panasonic BL-C140A Outdoor Camera

Posted by Monk, Aug 13 2009, 08:29 PM

I have installed one of these cameras and will most probably get a couple more - the first one is currently being used as a front-door cam. They are pretty inexpensive as far as weather-rated TCP/IP cams go.

The built-in motion detect works very well. Note that you may see mention of POE - this camera uses its own proprietary "injector box" for power. It cannot be used with standard POE hubs or switches. Still - the ease of a single Cat 5 wire and 175.00 price tag makes it worth while.

Tivo Update - took the new HD Tivo out of the box finally and hooked it up to an existing analog tv. Still need to pick out a new flat screen.

Home automation update - I still have a ton of uninstalled hardware laying around.... the aux power supply is probably next.

Interop - Lesson Learned

Posted by Monk, Apr 17 2009, 09:48 AM

While I now have a better picture of what I intend to accomplish, I had previously not been very organized. My recent purchase of a VRC0P and the M1XSP for the purpose of Z-Wave feedback to the ELKM1 was an unneeded expense.
For reference, that setup (Z-Wave control) which is currently supported by ELK, does not support device change status if the device was changed at the switch (On-off and light dim levels) vs. having been changed at the ELK.
This was no surprise when using the ELK M1XZW controller because it is clearly stated in the documentation that it would not work.
IN ANY CASE - as it turns out, status change update is only supposed to update the ELK if you have both the VRC0P setup and Leviton brand switches. This does make sense, as the RXC0P is also made by Leviton.

The ELKM1 is a fine controller. However - it cannot be expected to do all of the granular HA function that you might require. I am going to need something else to go along with it. This will be a dedicated computer running Girder, CQC, or HomeSeer - perhaps even multiple packages depending on what I haven't learned yet.
It would appear that HomeSeer can be made to do everything you could ever want to do with minimum effort. (larger expense)

Panasonic Viera TH-46PZ85U

Posted by Monk, Apr 4 2009, 09:10 AM

Well the HD Tivo came - now it's time to pick a new bedroom TV. I am seriously looking at a Panasonic 46-inch plasma which is reasonably priced with seemingly good specs. This one will be a wall-mount and I plan to have no visible wires for a super clean look. That will be quite the project, as the Tivo has to connect to it, not to mention power, etc - made even more difficult because this is an insulated outside wall. I think I have the skills to pull it off - or chicken out.

New Tivo on the way

Posted by Monk, Mar 28 2009, 03:55 PM

Well, bit the bullet and bought yet another Tivo. (4th one) This one is an TiVo HD XL DVR which with lifetime service comes in just under 1K. I don't have a TV to connect it to yet (OF COURSE) but now since this thing is on order, I have some incentive to pick one out. This will be for our master bedroom and will replace an old 20 inch model. I'm thinking 46' Plasma, but might go as low as a 42. The more I look at the 50 inch in the living room, the more I think, "Hey that's not really THAT big". Whatever. I'm nuts...

Mo Money

Posted by Monk, Mar 25 2009, 03:41 PM

Bought an M1XSP and an VRC0P for the Elk. Not that it is a big deal yet, but the lights need to be able to tell the Elk whether they have been changed at a switch. Reckon I will be selling an M1XZW one of these days if I can bring myself to actually take some of this stuff out of the box!
+ got a couple of more switches installed since last post.

Zwave is fun....

Posted by Monk, Mar 4 2009, 10:00 AM

Just a thought -
Dear vendors, if you are going to do business via the Internet - as well as have a physical walk in location, and provide support via email, please check your email on a regular basis. If I could spell lackadaisical I would accuse at least one of you of being so.

Z-Wave is cool.
Got 6 Z-Wave switches in! I have my Elk controlling them just fine via the M1XZW. The best thing I have done so far is to have the F4 on bedroom keypad to turn all lights off - Saves from having to walk thru dark area and for my wife, to try to figure out the hand held remote. The F3 key sets my "morning" scene where certain lights come on @ 25 % dim level... Yep it's pretty dark when I wake up! Nice to have the soft lighting at first.