Mounting HD Box inside Wall? - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

G20 · 2007-11-26, 10:49 AM

I am in the process of placing a 32" LCD in the bedroom.

I will have to open up a section of the drywall in order to feed the 110V and the Cable line up to the TV which I am going to be wall mounting.

There is no room for the Cable box to be placed on a rack or shelf as there is no room.

Has anyone placed the cable box inside the walls and used a IR extender on the TV?

I am wondering how well this works if so and if there is adequate ventilation. I will be using a 3250HD box from Rogers and will leave the section of drywall directly behind the televison open...

Looking for some thoughts, Am I missing anything?

P.S. The wife doesn't want to see a box at all, I also mentioned building a shelf near the ceiling to hold to Cable Box but that was promptly rejected...

Thanks in advance.

Terry Fraser · 2007-11-26, 11:41 AM

I coudn't even place my 3250 Hd box in my wall unit in my rec room. It would just get too hot and start freezing. I ended up taking it out of the wall unit and placing it on top of the TV (on a CRT RPTV). Now that I have my Home theater in my bedroom I have wall mounted my Plasma and bought 20 foot HDMI and component cables and have placed all my external devices in a stand on the other side of the room.

57 · 2007-11-26, 12:00 PM

There certainly are IR extenders - discussed in this forum quite a bit. Search for "extender*"?

Sample: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/show...ht=extender%2A

If you hide the unit, you need to give it ventillation. If it's enclosed completely you'll needs holes in the enclosure and a fan. If it's simply sitting on a shelf in another room and the unit is open above, then it should be OK.

otown47 · 2007-11-26, 12:04 PM

The HotLink Pro is a great extender. I tried cheaper devices with no luck. Your STB gives off too much heat to be enclosed (ie behind doors) w/o mechanical ventillation.

G20 · 2007-11-26, 01:26 PM

Well the bathroom sink / cabinets are on the other side of the wall. I may try to place the unit in there, and run a wired Scientific Atlantic IR Extender through the wall on the other side. I believe the cabinet under the sink should be large enough to prevent overheating. 3' wide x 3' deep x '3' tall

Thanks everyone for the input. Other option is to leave in the wall and then put a ventilated register at the top near the ceiling but turning that thing on and off all the time will quickly become an annoyance.

otown47 · 2007-11-26, 02:09 PM

I leave my ventilation fan on all the time....the STB pretty much produces the same amount of heat whether its on or off.

DocCasualty · 2007-11-29, 05:21 PM

Placing the STB inside the wall sounds like a very bad idea to me. These units typically run hot and this would represent a real fire hazard. I have no idea what the building codes are in Canada but I am sure this would be "way outside" of acceptable. Heck, here you technically should not run the TV power cord through the wall! I suppose you might be improving the safety factor with mechanical ventilation but I think there are probably better, safer options, running longer cables.

i hate tv · 2007-11-29, 06:16 PM

I haven't heard of Rogers STB's catching fire, but I have heard or expressvu 4100's catching fire, so I wouldn't put it in the wall

DocCasualty · 2007-11-29, 09:42 PM

G20,

I have thought about your situation a little more. I suppose if you are talking about making a recessed metal cabinet in the wall with good ventilation, this might be a workable solution. I am not an electrician but I would definitely run any plan like this by a qualified electrician to make sure it is safe.

I did stay in a condo once where the cable box was mounted to the back of the plasma panel itself. The plasma was mounted on a cantilevered swing-out mount, so it was not flush to the wall. It probably was a commercial PDP and whether you could actually mount this particular STB to your LCD panel is another question. You would lose the flush picture-like mount I envision you are planning with your flat panel but there may be some permutation of this plan that could work for you.

Good luck on your installation and be safe!

KAP

2007-11-26, 10:49 AM	#1
G20 Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Mississauga, OTA Posts: 147	Mounting HD Box inside Wall? I am in the process of placing a 32" LCD in the bedroom. I will have to open up a section of the drywall in order to feed the 110V and the Cable line up to the TV which I am going to be wall mounting. There is no room for the Cable box to be placed on a rack or shelf as there is no room. Has anyone placed the cable box inside the walls and used a IR extender on the TV? I am wondering how well this works if so and if there is adequate ventilation. I will be using a 3250HD box from Rogers and will leave the section of drywall directly behind the televison open... Looking for some thoughts, Am I missing anything? P.S. The wife doesn't want to see a box at all, I also mentioned building a shelf near the ceiling to hold to Cable Box but that was promptly rejected... Thanks in advance. __________________ http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...3cf4cb0bc5c307

2007-11-26, 12:00 PM	#3
57 Moderator Join Date: May 2002 Location: Toronto, Rogers, 8300HD, eHDD, Panasonic TCP65S1, Denon AVR4310Ci; 8300HD, eHDD & Sony KDL40W3000 Posts: 50,340	There certainly are IR extenders - discussed in this forum quite a bit. Search for "extender*"? Sample: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/show...ht=extender%2A If you hide the unit, you need to give it ventillation. If it's enclosed completely you'll needs holes in the enclosure and a fan. If it's simply sitting on a shelf in another room and the unit is open above, then it should be OK. __________________ 57's Home Theatre (Latest equipment & photos) 57's Optimization Services (Home Theatre Optimization)

2007-11-26, 01:26 PM	#5
G20 Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Mississauga, OTA Posts: 147	Well the bathroom sink / cabinets are on the other side of the wall. I may try to place the unit in there, and run a wired Scientific Atlantic IR Extender through the wall on the other side. I believe the cabinet under the sink should be large enough to prevent overheating. 3' wide x 3' deep x '3' tall Thanks everyone for the input. Other option is to leave in the wall and then put a ventilated register at the top near the ceiling but turning that thing on and off all the time will quickly become an annoyance. __________________ http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...3cf4cb0bc5c307 Last edited by G20; 2007-11-26 at 01:27 PM. Reason: Corrected Spelling Mistakes

2007-11-29, 05:21 PM	#7
DocCasualty Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Harbor Springs, MI Posts: 20	Placing the STB inside the wall sounds like a very bad idea to me. These units typically run hot and this would represent a real fire hazard. I have no idea what the building codes are in Canada but I am sure this would be "way outside" of acceptable. Heck, here you technically should not run the TV power cord through the wall! I suppose you might be improving the safety factor with mechanical ventilation but I think there are probably better, safer options, running longer cables. Last edited by DocCasualty; 2007-11-29 at 05:30 PM. Reason: clarification

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2007-11-26, 11:41 AM	#2
Terry Fraser Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 370	I coudn't even place my 3250 Hd box in my wall unit in my rec room. It would just get too hot and start freezing. I ended up taking it out of the wall unit and placing it on top of the TV (on a CRT RPTV). Now that I have my Home theater in my bedroom I have wall mounted my Plasma and bought 20 foot HDMI and component cables and have placed all my external devices in a stand on the other side of the room.

2007-11-26, 12:04 PM	#4
otown47 Veteran Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ottawa, Rogers Posts: 3,903	The HotLink Pro is a great extender. I tried cheaper devices with no luck. Your STB gives off too much heat to be enclosed (ie behind doors) w/o mechanical ventillation.

2007-11-26, 02:09 PM	#6
otown47 Veteran Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ottawa, Rogers Posts: 3,903	I leave my ventilation fan on all the time....the STB pretty much produces the same amount of heat whether its on or off.

2007-11-29, 06:16 PM	#8
i hate tv Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 2,317	I haven't heard of Rogers STB's catching fire, but I have heard or expressvu 4100's catching fire, so I wouldn't put it in the wall

2007-11-29, 09:42 PM	#9
DocCasualty Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Harbor Springs, MI Posts: 20	G20, I have thought about your situation a little more. I suppose if you are talking about making a recessed metal cabinet in the wall with good ventilation, this might be a workable solution. I am not an electrician but I would definitely run any plan like this by a qualified electrician to make sure it is safe. I did stay in a condo once where the cable box was mounted to the back of the plasma panel itself. The plasma was mounted on a cantilevered swing-out mount, so it was not flush to the wall. It probably was a commercial PDP and whether you could actually mount this particular STB to your LCD panel is another question. You would lose the flush picture-like mount I envision you are planning with your flat panel but there may be some permutation of this plan that could work for you. Good luck on your installation and be safe! KAP