I've started the "Upstairs Theater" - Page 12

Oh God, what have I done!








It's little hidey hole is snug, just a bit too snug that is. It has about 1/2 of clearance between the projector and the ceiling. Between the published dimensions of the projector being a little "optimistic" and me making the shelf a bit more "robust" I have lost the airgap for the hot air return I wanted. I have a backup plan though and I'll hope to have it all taken care of this evening.

Oh and my wife has already threatened to bury the projector in the back yard if she catches me watching stuff rather than working.....

Yea, I'm going to have to modify the soffit panel that covers the projector area to allow more airflow. I have a 4" duct plumbed into the HVAC return just over the projector that should remove most of the heat but if I don't allow it to get out of the projector to begin with it won't do much at all.

We watched the beginning of the 6th Harry Potter movie and when the flash bulbs went off I swear I was seeing spots for a minute or two. It's so bright that when I was seting it up I could get close to the screen and I could actually see through it a little.

I've got nothing to sit on yet.....

Time to fix the projector shelf.




Here is what I started with. The 4" duct in the ceiling is an HVAC return to draw the hot air out of the projector area. What I need is more height between the top of the projector and the ceiling.






Since there is a roof truss running over the projector shelf I can't just raise the ceiling. What I did was to make an extension ring out of 2x6 lumber and then notch it out for the roof truss. This ring will sit on top of the existing ceiling drywall and over the truss. I will then cover the top of it with drywall (the extension ring is sitting on it) and then attach the return duct to the drywall.





The finished product. The truss that crosses the opening is at least an inch above the projector and there is a two inch gap between the top of the truss member and the new ceiling in the extension. The 4" return pulls enough air to keep the heat from the projector from spilling out into the room. The next task is to rework the soffit trim panel to allow more air flow. More to come soon.

I really don't think there would be an issues if the HVAC fan was off since the front and the back of the shelf area will be open all the time. I'm going to assume that 99% of the time that the theater is going to be used I will have the HVAC fan set to "on" just to help keep the air moving in the room though. I may even make one of the trigger outputs from the projector turn the HVAC fan on anything the projector is on.

The flow from the return is not great enough to really pull lots of air from the room, just enough to help remove the heat. The projector itself it moving vastly more air around (and through) the projector. Think of it more as a chimney that a duct. If it really seems like it could be an issue I can always put filters on the openings around the projector shelf.

Another weekend down, time for the pics.





The soffit trim piece that I had made for the projector shelf was solid with hole for the lens. This was going to end up blocking the exhaust vents too much to I redesigned it.





This is the trim ring for the lens opening.





The panel covered and the trim ring mounted.





Here is the new panel mounted in the soffit.





Now I needed to work on the area that will be behind the curtain that will cover the entrance, You will see this area when you enter or exit the room so I needed to cover the OC703. I also did not want people to be able to look behind the column when entering and seeing a bunch of wiring from the Grafik eyes. This trim panel extends for the floor to the top of the OC703.






I covered the OC703 with black GoM FR701. Since the OC703 is not very strong I needed to make a jam extension to protect the edges of the OC703.





I made jam extensions that actually cover the existing casing and extend the jam 2" to box out the OC703 that is around the door. The extensions are made of MDF and are covered in the same black FR701.





Here is a close up of the mounted jam extension. I glued the extension to the casing with Powergrab and then wrapped the FR701 around to the groove for the seal to give it a seamless appearance.





Here is a shot from inside the room.







The frame for the acoustic panel that is mounted to the door also is being wrapped in FR701. We painted the edge of the door black and I wrapped the frame.





Here is were I stand now. I am one piece short to finish the OC703 on the door and I need to finish the FR701 wrapped cover.

They actually look quiet real. With the lights down it's hard to judge the ceiling height so they loo further away than they are.

I have just about all the door trim finished and I just ordered 25 yards of GoM for the curtains.