50" Plasma lift in my fireplace

[davivers]

Finally finished a six month long project, getting a 50" plasma to slide in and out of my fireplace opening using a garage door opener as the lifting mechanism.

The plasma rides in a steel carrage and comes up from the fireplace nook in the basement.

I took pictures of the whole project but the system only lets me post three photos so here is just the finished product.

Didn't really know if I should post this in the construction section or the plasma section of the forum.

[bo150000]

Awesome!!!

Shoot some video for us!!

[adb]

Well congratulations! That is really a great accomplishment and very innovative. One of the neatest setups I have seen.

[mastercaster]

that is SWEET! really nice... will you adopt me?! i could just lay around and make certain that no static images are displayed for prolonged periods and so forth. i'll be your personal anti-burn in defense.

[RandyWalters]

Best-Plasma-Install-EVER :D

[Joe_R]

That's slick! Nice job

[Norde]

Absolutely great.

I, and it seems several others, would like to see all your photos. Can someone more knowledgable than I, explain how you can post them so that we can see them all.

Did you use counterweights or is the motor powerful enough to lift the plasma by itself?

[Bushman4]

GREAT JOB! Really a work of art.

[RandyWalters]

I just had to come back and say . . . . Wow !

[jtntsfr]

Holy cow! Thats friggin awesome. :eek:

[aclark1978]

You can get a free account at flickr, I can't post the URL because I'm a new user but googling for it works and then you can upload 20MB of pictures a month. Then come back here and send us a link so we can see how you did this awesome project.

/me wishes I had a fireplace and basement to do this cool install. Alas, Texas is far too hot for fireplaces.

[DAB]

please show more pic- of the moving parts-

Hall of Fame -- here

[jstorerj]

oh, wow! umm, wow...!

very innovative install... clearly a hall of fame nominee! thanks for sharing.

[kbp]

That's about the coolest thing I've seen in a long time!

[precision80]

that is freakin awesome.

[markrubin]

nicest install I have seen on AVS

truly an original rembrandt :) :) :) :) :)

[uzombie]

Awesome job! Showed these picts to coworkers...boss is like, "that guy has wayyy too much time on his hands!". :)

Document the parts, make a schematic and sell the plans for $20 ;)

[treason]

thats narley

[thegurujim]

[QUOTE=davivers]Finally finished a six month long project, getting a 50" plasma to slide in and out of my fireplace opening using a garage door opener as the lifting mechanism.

The plasma rides in a steel carrage and comes up from the fireplace nook in the basement.

I took pictures of the whole project but the system only lets me post three photos so here is just the finished product.

Didn't really know if I should post this in the construction section or the plasma section of the forum.[/QUOTE]

Is it noisy?

Looks like a big boys erector set there lol

nice job. I wonder if counter weights and a light duty electric motor would have been easier/quieter?

[Njmurvin]

OK. SOMEBODY has to ask . . .

What if you want a fire while you're watching a movie . . .? Sorry, couldn't help myself. :p

It is very slick I explored building a cabinet lift for a smaller LCD tv some time ago using a trash compactor (scissors jack) mechanism. This is way cooler. Congrats.

[nico6]

Absolutely magnificent! Is it a real fireplace , or do you just play a 'fireplace loop' to keep warm? Your next project - It should roll out a rug and cushions and pour two glasses of champagne too! lol

[tony17]

WOW!!! That is truely awesome!!! What kind of plasma is that?

[SUPRMIL]

most impressive

[cos54]

You've really raised the bar to a new level!

[davivers]

[QUOTE=Norde]Absolutely great.
Did you use counterweights or is the motor powerful enough to lift the plasma by itself?[/QUOTE]

I am using counter weights with some pulleys to give me a 2 to 1 mechanical advantage. The steel carriage and plasma weigh about 215 lbs and I have 100 lbs of weight so with the leverage provided by the pulley system the garage door opener has to lift only about 15 lbs. Reasonable balance is required to make it run very quietly. It makes a very slight hum when it comes up, but is very quiet going down.

One problem with the 2 to 1 advantage is that the weights have to move twice the distance as the carrage so with an 8' basement ceiling height I can only throw the carriage 4'. Not enough if I want to bring the plasma all the way down so it can be watched in the basement as well as upstairs. If I ever finish that room in the basement I will add more cables and weights and do away with the leverage. Right now it is just easier to deal with the less weight.

[DixonJDixon]

That's one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

[davivers]

[QUOTE=Njmurvin]OK. SOMEBODY has to ask . . .

What if you want a fire while you're watching a movie . . .? Sorry, couldn't help myself. :p

[/QUOTE]

I have a video camera mounted in the back of the Plasma pointed at the fire place. Then I just PIP the movie and the fireplace so I can see both.

JUST KIDDING!!!!!!!

[jstorerj]

[QUOTE=tony17]WOW!!! That is truely awesome!!! What kind of plasma is that?[/QUOTE]

check out the weights.jpg photo and you'll have your answer... dude...

[GlenH]

That's a really innovative and impressive set up you have there.

But, I must ask - Am I the only one who feels the plasma is mounted way too low for comfortable viewing while sitting on a couch?

[davivers]

[QUOTE=GlenH]That's a really innovative and impressive set up you have there.

But, I must ask - Am I the only one who feels the plasma is mounted way too low for comfortable viewing while sitting on a couch?[/QUOTE]

Yes, I played around with that a lot. I have a dedicated home theater that I built about 4 years ago, (pictures on AVS photo section) so I was concerned about site lines etc. Right now, eye level is about 6" above the center of the screen for both the chairs and the couch in the room. Experiments showed me that about 4" higher would be perfect, but I found the present height quite comfortable with the added bonus of a nice reduction in reflections since the room is wainscoated and the lights, windows and light colored surfaces are 42" and higher.

The location was so prime, that is why I went to the effort. The way the room layed out , the fireplace was the focal point of the room. No good place to put a plasma, and even the bad places required orienting the furniture away from the fireplace. Truly a case of necessity being the mother of invention. Plus the opposite wall is totally open to a dining and kitchen area. I wanted a 50" unit so it could be easily watched from the kitchen bar and the dining area. The family room is recessed so the plasma if fully visable with good lines of site from all three areas.

[emachine]

No problem, just get another garage door opener that lowers the rest of the living room 6 inches :D

That's some real professional looking work, nicely done.

[bump909]

absolutely incredible. could you get a shot from a good seating location or better yet of the whole room? excellent work, i'm sure you're very satisfied.

[SUPRMIL]

It really is most impressive.

Now all you need is a HD vid camera, so you can get a few hours of a big roaring fire in YOUR fireplace. Then you could really screw with people in the middle of summer :)


Oh, and I'm sure some want to know... How much?

[DAB]

Does the fire place burn logs or gas??
;^)
db

[adb]

I sent these pictures to several people and just received an email from one who said " Sue has contacted a rental place and made arrangements for a jackhammer and is in the process now of renting a backhoe". Just kidding of course, but boy were they impressed. Sounds like something a good architect would do. :)

[RandyWalters]

[QUOTE=SUPRMIL]Now all you need is a HD vid camera, so you can get a few hours of a big roaring fire in YOUR fireplace. Then you could really screw with people in the middle of summer :)[/QUOTE]I think somebody actually makes a fireplace DVD. Another fun thing might be the "Plasmaquarium DVD" which was supposedly filmed with an HD camera and looks pretty real. You could see how long it takes company to notice it's not actually an aquarium ;)

[N8G]

That is very slick. One question for you, is the top of the plasma insulated with anything between the tiles and the top of the display? I know my fireplace hearth can become very warm with a large wood fire going. I would be worried about damage to the plasma without some good insulation.

[antknee]

WOW!! That is so friggin' cool!!

[motomoto]

takes plasma burn-in concerns to a new level :D ... but brilliant!!! genius!

[JohninTonawanda]

Really nice job! I would like to see more pictures.

[davivers]

Wow!!! thanks everybody for all the positive response!!!

here are three more photos.

The first one is a straight on shot in the basement right before I applied the wood trim.

The second photo is the 1/4" plate steel mounts I made to adapt to the feet that came with the plasma. The feet originally mated to a 1/8" decorative steel plate stand which I removed. The plasma is mounted via both the legs, and the backside wall mount holes using 1" square tube steel. I wanted to be doubley sure it was secure from any movement.

The third is a detail of one of four 2-axis rail guides made from three garage door pulley's bought at lowes, three bolts, and a lot of washers.

[davivers]

[QUOTE=SUPRMIL]It really is most impressive.

Oh, and I'm sure some want to know... How much?[/QUOTE]

I don't have a good tally but below is a rough guess from memory without going back to find receipts.

4 pkgs of 5 count 12' slotted steel angle iron bought from WW Grainger at about $115 per pkg so about $450

Genie garage door opener about $250

5 carbide rotozip marble cutting bits - about $50

Toasted drill bits and saw blades - about $100

Nuts, bolts, and washers - about $125

Steel cable, lots of pulleys - about $150

100 lbls of free weights - about $100

electrical - wire, outlets, switches, conduit, breaker, cooling fan- about $75

Oak, polyurethane, brushes, sandpaper... about $150

So I think it comes to about $1400 plus the plasma and 2 -20' hdmi cables

I already had attic stock of the marble so no cost there.


Opps almost forgot labor

1,000,000 hours at 10 cents an hour = ???

[motomoto]

you should patent this!

[SUPRMIL]

1400? Wow, thats less than i would have thought. I'd guess a 8 to 10K job if you were to pay someone to do it.


Again, very nice work. Looks fantastic. If you ever decide to, i'm sure you could make a nice little income on the side by designing and installing custom plasma set-ups. :)

[MisterNJ]

Nice job. Its art work, must have taken some serious convincing to get the wife to agree to that.

[Pacificamodern]

[QUOTE=RandyWalters]I think somebody actually makes a fireplace DVD. Another fun thing might be the "Plasmaquarium DVD" which was supposedly filmed with an HD camera and looks pretty real. You could see how long it takes company to notice it's not actually an aquarium ;)[/QUOTE]


My sister gave me the Plasmaquarium and Plasmaplace DVD's for Christmas, and I must admit that the PlasmaQuarium one is beautifully clear and HD like. They even come with cool soundtracks which you can choose to match your mood. :cool:

[bump909]

Davivers,

How did you handle cable management? Maybe I'm not seeing it in the pics, but do you have any shots of the wiring?

[Pacificamodern]

[QUOTE=davivers]
Opps almost forgot labor

1,000,000 hours at 10 cents an hour = ???[/QUOTE]


Hey your work is exceptional! And your labor rate is just right! I have a bunch of projects around my house that need to get done.

YOUR HIRED!

Seriously, that is beautiful work, stunning to say the least!

[davivers]

[QUOTE=bump909]Davivers,

How did you handle cable management? Maybe I'm not seeing it in the pics, but do you have any shots of the wiring?[/QUOTE]

All cables are in flexible plastic cable management sleeves draped in a half loop from the basement ceiling so there is plenty of slack to move up and down. Cables are 2 HDMI, 1 VGA, and 1 set of component with audio, power, and antenna coax.

You can see the mess of black tubing in the posted photo above of frontview.jpg. This was during testing and before I had them tied up nice and neat.

You can also see one tube in the photo below were I shot the plasma and frame in the up position without the woodwork on. The black tube in the center is the wire manager. Of course there are three of them now.

The wires travel about 5 feet in the floor joist then up into the cabinets to the left of the fireplace where the equipment is placed.

[davivers]

[QUOTE=DAB]Does the fire place burn logs or gas??
;^)
db[/QUOTE]

logs

[davivers]

[QUOTE=N8G]That is very slick. One question for you, is the top of the plasma insulated with anything between the tiles and the top of the display? I know my fireplace hearth can become very warm with a large wood fire going. I would be worried about damage to the plasma without some good insulation.[/QUOTE]

The hearth actually gets hotter from running the plasma than it does from burning the fireplace. There is about 3" of air between the plasma and the hearth cap so the plasma is not at risk so long as it stays down while the fireplace is burning.

Heat build up from the plasma is a real problem which forced me to installed a 3" case fan in the carriage. Right now it switches with a standard light switch mounted on the carriage actuated by a rubber finger as the carriage slides up and down. If anyone could give a me a source to a cheap thermostatic switch that would switch 120V ac at about 100 degrees, it would be greatly appreciated.

I googled and googled but could not find such an animal.

[74Capri]

Would an attic fan Thermostat work.

It also has a humidity control.

Maybe better yet.

Why not put in a nice looking louver vent, on both sides of the fireplace and
let the air circulate naturally, to prevent heat build up.

No more wires to run & no worries about fan replacement or shorting out.

[Pacificamodern]

[QUOTE=DAB]Does the fire place burn logs or gas??
;^)
db[/QUOTE]


Neither, it burns plasma!

[davivers]

[QUOTE=74Capri]Would an attic fan Thermostat work.
.....
[/QUOTE]

Sorry folks I've been away for a couple of weeks.

74Capri, excellent idea, I knew it had to be something simple that I was overlooking. I picked one up at lowes for about $11 combined with the Radio Shack 4" 120v case fan $29. It works great. It can be set to anywhere between about 80 and 110 degrees.

I think I will buy two more, one for the cabinet that holds my equipement, and one for a cabinet in my office that houses a computer that runs a little too hot. The computer case has seven case fans in it but the cabinet that it sets in can't vent it properly.

[CHI-HD]

I just have to say the coolest shi! i have ever seen. Congrats on that set up..

[davivers]

[QUOTE=bump909]absolutely incredible. could you get a shot from a good seating location or better yet of the whole room? excellent work, i'm sure you're very satisfied.[/QUOTE]

This photo is from the kitchen breakfast bar which is about 35' away. You can also see I have good views from the kitchen table. Beyond that you can see the back of the couch that sets directly in front of and centered on the plasma.

[RicheyPoor]

Excellent! That's as nice a piece of work as I've seen.

I have two questions:
1) Are you an engineer by profession?
2) Did you have an erector set as a kid?

Thanks for sharing this great setup. :)

[davivers]

[QUOTE=RicheyPoor]Excellent! That's as nice a piece of work as I've seen.

I have two questions:
1) Are you an engineer by profession?
2) Did you have an erector set as a kid?

Thanks for sharing this great setup. :)[/QUOTE]

Close, I am an architect, and yes I did have an erector set as a kid. I loved erector sets, and as you might expect, this was pretty much the same thing on a larger scale.

[bobsthebuilder]

Hi guys, if your really looking to see how it's done have a look at my website. Please double click to see video clip. COOL or what?

Bob

[bobsthebuilder]

site address

Bob

[bobsthebuilder]

site address

[bobsthebuilder]

site address folks,

Bob

[bobsthebuilder]

sorry but I'm having to make five postings before the site will accept my url. It's to do with spam

[bobsthebuilder]

hope its ok this time.

www.popuptvs.net

Bob

[bobsthebuilder]

Yes, Yes, at last

Bob

[bobsthebuilder]

let me know what you think guys.

bob

[davivers]

Bob that is very cool, except I don't like the dinky fireplace opening, but the plasma lift is great.

I wish I had known about some of this hardware before I decided to invent everything from scratch. I wonder how the pricing would compare with the way I did it. A couple of actuators would have saved me all the hassle of converting a garage door opener and building a counter weight system.

Maybe for my next project!!!