Safe to mount LCD to one stud?

[rsquad911]

I have my 42" LCD on one stud with no issues. It's been over a year.

[rjskoko]

With a "flat" mount, the only real issue is how much of a moment (or twist) the mounting means can sustain.

In engineering terms, the larger the diameter between the mounting points, the larger the "moment" it can support.

Think about turning a valve wheel--grip the wheel with two hands...the larger the diameter of the wheel, the larger the rotational force (or "moment") you can exert on the shaft.

An LCD mount can spread it's load across two (or more) adjacent wall studs or it can spread it across one stud vertically. Either way, the key is the "diameter;" the distance between the two screws that are the farthest apart.

In most cases, the rotation in the plane of the wall is not a problem, as long as the screws are strong enough and far enough apart (like #8 screws about 12 inches apart--sorry for English units).

The largest area of concern is the "moment" in the other plane--the weight of the television in terms of its center of gravity relative to its distance from the wall. That has to be balanced by the force of the bracket "into" the wall at the bottom (relatively easy to achieve) versus the force pulling the upper screw "out" of the wall (harder to control).

So, what's important?

In my humble opinion, the TOP screw (or top two screws) and their washers (or other means to spread the forces on their heads across the mounting bracket) and their penetration and grip into the mounting surface (be it a single stud, several studs, plywood or masonry) is paramount.

The bottom fasteners must support the weight of the apparatus, but only "in shear", so the lateral strength of the fastener is more important than its penetration into the wall.

In fact, if the upper fasteners are strong enough, the lower fasteners are not even needed!

RJS