Hey guys,

I need some advice. I am mounting my Optoma HD70 to the ceiling in the middle of my living room. The cables are going to go up the wall (~10') and then across the ceiling (~7'). I need to hide:
1 HDMI cable
1 VGA cable
1 power cable
2 3.5mm audio cables

I've attached a picture of the 5 cables. When compacted, they are less than 3/4" by less than 1/2".

Options:
I thought a 3/4" cable raceway would be perfect for this, but I'm not sure if it will hold on the ceiling. **I can't post a URL because it is my first post, but google "Belkin F4D492-WHT"**. So I was thinking use this raceway and something to nail into the ceiling to take the weight off the raceway.

Maybe I can find a white sleeve to put the cables in and then use some wide cable nail clips to keep the sleeve close to the ceiling.

I live in an apartment so unfortunately I can't go through the walls and roof. I want to limit the total damage I do to the walls too.

Does anyone have previous experience in a similar situation?

I appreciate your suggestions!

How about something like Wiremold Cablemate. It's usually for wall mounting, but it should work on the ceiling too. The baseplates are screwed into the wall.

http://www.wiremold.com/www/consumer/products/cablemate.asp

need to hide:
1 HDMI cable
1 VGA cable
1 power cable
2 3.5mm audio cables

Raceway or Wiremold would be fine, but the power cable should be separated from the rest in another length of raceway if possible.

Frank

I just want to add.... I used similar conduit to run cables... I just moved and let me tell you.... they are a PITA to get off the wall if you ever need to remove them. The adhesive STICKS to drywall. I ended up tearing some of the drywall paper off in the process. (I hate drywall repair.)

Just a thought to keep in mind. Mine worked and looked fine....

wrap it with christmas garland. If anybody asks, just tell them that you never got around to taking down all of the christmas decorations. :D

I agree with the weasel above. It is a good idea to have your power line separated from your other cables if possible.

thanks for your suggestions, guys - very informative

Wiremold's a bit pricey but would work perfectly, leaving just a few holes in the wall, and I will definitely try to keep the power cable separate from the other cords.

And Chris, what type of conduit did you use that tore up your drywall?

If that's the case with all raceways, I could stick the raceway to a large piece of plastic and then support them both with some screws into the ceiling

To be honest, I can't remember... it might have been Wiremate brand. I purchased it at a local hardware store. Bascially just a long plastic tube that snaps open and shut to hide cables with an adhesive back. If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't use the adhesive backing, but do what you suggested.

I've always used the type that screwed to the mounting surface...the raceway Wiremold makes works that way.

Frank

I usually leave the adhesive strip covered and screw right through it to the ceiling. I definitely don't want the mess that comes with trying to remove all that adhesive from drywall. Each projector I've owned has had a different mouting distance and I have to be able to move the wiring easily...

Does anyone know of a sturdy half-circle pipe?

A PVC pipe cut right down the middle would work perfectly in this situation and would be cheap, but how do I cut it into 2 half-circle pipes?

Home Depot will do that for you, maybe. How will you screw the PVC pipe to the ceiling though?

Home Depot will do that for you, maybe. How will you screw the PVC pipe to the ceiling though?

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=55231-1816-L20414&lpage=none

Something like that to hold it against the walls and nails at the ends to keep it in place

Ok so here is my final solution:

http://www.taylorvertex.com/Products/pdfs/wireTies.pdf (in white to match the walls and ceiling)

+

http://www.allelectronics.com/index.php?page=item&id=NCL-2&extra=a%3A2%3A%7Bi%3A0%3Bs%3A40%3A%2203823345592a403b2f4a37a 59384e7ab28f02be1%22%3Bi%3A1%3Bs%3A0%3A%22%22%3B%7D

What do yall think?

For me, this is an easy problem. Open up the walls, run the cabling, and patch the holes. I had to do a similar thing in my install for my rear surround speakers. I used monoprice 12G speaker wire in two separate runs. My LCD is wall mounted and and I have all the cables run through the wall for that as well. It wasn't that big of a deal because I had to install an extra stud because my walls have random spacing and the particular spot I chose had 22" centers. So I had to open a very large hole anyways.

Back to your problem: If you have an attic above, easy fix. If you have a room above, slightly more complicated. If you ceiling joists run parallel to your cable run, I would cut three holes: one at the projector, one at the top of the wall above the AV rack, and one at the base of the rack. This is why they make cable snakes: http://www.amazon.com/GB-EFT-22P-Cable-25-Foot-Comfort/dp/B000ET29U6.
they really work, and I could sell you mine at half price now that I am done with it.

If you joists run perpendicular, well, thats the only time I would consider an out of the wall solution. However, you could run it to a side wall and hide it behind some crown molding until you could run it in the wall down to the rack. Anyway, thats my ideas. The final professional look is well worth it.