Running cables down a solid wall

[anonymous-user]

Hi

looking at buyng a plasma and putting it on the wall of my kitchen which I am currently doing out. I have. A couple of questions I would be grateful for some help with.

1) i will be having the walls plastered anyway, so thought I would chisle out a path to run the coaxal and power to. Is it ok to then bond these into the gap. Or should I be doing something to protect them?

2). I know it will depend on the tv and the bracket but how far out will the screen be from the wall on average?

3). I use magic eyes to change the sky channel in there at present. But if I mount the tv on the wall, where can I put the magic eye? Or are there any other options?

TIA

P

Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 1st November 19:47

[miniman]

I would chase out the wall, then insert a large section of trunking, fit the cables and then put the cover on and skim over the rest. I would go for a much larger size that you need for the cables you currently have, and include a pull through wire (i.e. a cord that you can use to pull other wires through in the future).

I would fix the magic eye to the top or bottom of the panel, a-la Wii receiver.

[TheEnd]

The usual trick is to "chase" the wall (which is chisel, just a fancier name) and then a thin metal covering lid goes ontop to add a bit of protection.

I'm not sure of the proper name for the cover bit though

[rich0411]

TheEnd said:

The usual trick is to "chase" the wall (which is chisel, just a fancier name) and then a thin metal covering lid goes ontop to add a bit of protection.

I'm not sure of the proper name for the cover bit though

Metal Sheathing, can be bought in various widths and is only like 70p for a 2m length

[anonymous-user]

Do you know if homebase sell this? I am working all week and will struggle to get anyway during day. Would a specialist tv store stock this?

[Engineer1]

Put in a channel bigger than you need, you don't want to find that the TV going pop or deciding to upgrade requires you to recut the channel, also what about SCART cables will you be able to run those up? think expandability and future proofing if you are going hidden cabling.

[V12Les]

Normal electrical plastic trunking will be fine, can be bought from the likes of Homebase etc, builders merchants and electrical suppliers. Feed cables in prior to plastering.

[aberdeeneuan]

Being horrible boring - what will you do when you need to replace the plasma in terms of getting the power cable out and the new one in?

[MoonMonkey]

Should you still separate power and signal cables..?? Or am I old fashioned and you can bung 'em all in the same conduit.

[AyBee]

aberdeeneuan said:

Being horrible boring - what will you do when you need to replace the plasma in terms of getting the power cable out and the new one in?

Aren't all power cables just a 3 pin kettle lead? In which case you leave the current one in, unplug old telly, plug in new? Or am I missing something?

[Smiler.]

I always look to the need to replace or upgrade cabling, so a PVC-u conduit would suffice.

Only mains need be protected, PVC-u is not suitable.

I have attached the Magic Eye on the top side of the TV case with a bit of Blu-Tac.

[hairyben]

MoonMonkey said:

Should you still separate power and signal cables..?? Or am I old fashioned and you can bung 'em all in the same conduit.

Yes, if you're gonna make a chase you may as well go wider and separate them. Electrical installation regs (which only concern fixed wiring but are still relevant in principle) require 6" of separation between the 230v cable and signal cables, but anythings better than bunging them all down the same tube.

I'd go for at least a bit of YT4 (40x25mm) trunking to allow for future alterations, and not the sheathing as suggested above as that will stop you dragging new cables through. that said sheathing is slimmer and will easily go in the plaster depth. bigger is better though.

Edited by hairyben on Monday 2nd November 13:55

[aberdeeneuan]

AyBee said:

aberdeeneuan said:

Being horrible boring - what will you do when you need to replace the plasma in terms of getting the power cable out and the new one in?

Aren't all power cables just a 3 pin kettle lead? In which case you leave the current one in, unplug old telly, plug in new? Or am I missing something?

On the last TV I bought (Panny LCD) it was embedded into the TV, so the only way you'd get it out would be cut the plug off it. I guess you could cut the plug and rewire it?

[Tiggsy]

As above....power leads only going to be normal three core isnt it?

[headcase]

Nothing wrong with chopping the plug off if you have to, just dont cut the mains lead too short so that if it has to come off the wall for repair you have enough useable mains lead left. Panny LCD's have a fixed mains lead but most LCD's use a Fig8 connector and plasmas use an IEC there are very few that have a fixed lead.

[Plotloss]

Chase it out, lay cable, cover with capping, nail it in, bond and skim.

Most flat to wall brackets are around 45-50mm thick, so add that to your television, you're proud between 125 and 150mm on average from the finished wall level.

Magic eye siliconed to bottom of television.

Job.

[hairyben]

aberdeeneuan said:

AyBee said:

aberdeeneuan said:

Being horrible boring - what will you do when you need to replace the plasma in terms of getting the power cable out and the new one in?

Aren't all power cables just a 3 pin kettle lead? In which case you leave the current one in, unplug old telly, plug in new? Or am I missing something?

On the last TV I bought (Panny LCD) it was embedded into the TV, so the only way you'd get it out would be cut the plug off it. I guess you could cut the plug and rewire it?

Or install a socket outlet behind the telly, doesn't matter what your telly comes with then. Not strictly kosher to put the socket-outlet on a flex and a 3 pin plug, but not something anyone's gonna stress over.

[headcase]

You usually get clearance issues with a plug and socket behind the TV unless the bracked sits the TV off the wall by over about 7 cm

[anonymous-user]

Plotloss said:

Chase it out, lay cable, cover with capping, nail it in, bond and skim

Job.

capping?

Thanks to everyone for all their replies, most helpfull.

I had thought I would flush fit the socket to the wall and simply plug in. But you all seem to be taking about another option, how does this work? Excuse the dumb questions.

Thanks again

[V12Les]

Capping: http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/MTCAP38.html