Sweetwood 11.1 Theater destroy and rebuild - Page 28

The two circuits that run my rack are both dedicated 20amp circuits. I believe I have already tried to change to the other circuit but I will try again.

I have some of my components plugged into a battery backup that way if I lose power they do not have to cycle. Then everything else besides one of my amps is running on the other circuit. The other amp may be of the same circuit but I'll have to check

I really appreciate all of your help so far.

I have all the items ordered to make my DIY side masking system. I can't wait to see if this works as it will be an easy and cheap solution compared to even other DIY solutions I have seen. Definitely not as versatile but I am ok with that.

OK. Ground loop is gone. However it did end up being the projector. I unplugged the hdmi to it and it went away. I then used the ground elimination plug and plugged it back in. Then hooked up the HDMI and it is still gone. Now the real question is how do I keep it away without eliminating the ground? I dont feel leaving it like this is safe for the equipment. Essentially I have the ground elimination plug at the plug itself then a Furman wall mount power conditioner is plugged into that and the projector into the Furman. Any suggestions?

It would be really hard to run them off the same circuit unless I did it at the electrical box which I dont think I am very comfortable doing.

I still have yet to find a good easy solution to fix the projector causing the hum.

Also, I got an email that the items to do the DIY masking project are not available right now and they did not give me an ETA for them arriving. Let me go ahead and start from the beginning now. I think I have a solution but in order to simplify things I would like to be able to control a 12v trigger at the screen area with my control4 setup. I have triggers on the C4 equipment but getting the wiring there now is going to be very difficult. I could possible somehow use a Control4 electrical plug but electrical is not my strong area of expertise. I have an idea that runs off 12v and would have a switch that would open and then a separate switch to close it. I am thinking of a automatic window track from a vehicle would also work well but would need more modification but I dont think that would be as hard as the electrical to me.


Or this one


Any ideas in either area?

Is it possible to share the grounds in the fuse panel? Leave the positives of separate lines but share the grounds?+

One is a 15a and the other a 20a if that matters

Lebon thanks again for all this advice. It definitely helps to have a sounding board.

Does anyone know if it is safe to have the Furman power conditioner's ground eliminated? Am I defeating the point of the surge suppresion? If so I could use the ground eliminator on the plug of the projector to the Furman.

I think its time to think about some more drives on the server. What do you think?

OK. I'd really like to beef up my door and make them thicker. I want to GG and screw a section of wood to the door but am not sure how to approach it since I have pocketed doors. Can I leave that pocket of air or do I need to fill it in with something. I know I can leave if but am wondering if it will make a huge difference. Anyone have any ideas? If I were to fill it what would I use? Also, as I thicken this door what is the best way to extend the door handles?

I plan to get some things done this weekend and I will post some pics. Hopefully will get the dead vent redone with regular insulation rather than the OC703 I used and I am going to extend it hopefully this will greatly reduce the sound I can still hear. I also plan to get the lower covers built for the soffits and get some insulation in there for bass traps. I may finish up the painting however I may wait until I figure out the doors first.

This weekend current update. I need to take care of this area. It's the exit of my hush box into the theater. My problem is that I still hear the motor turning when it is running and it detracts from the movie. After I removed the cover and OC703 I realized that I had completely left the side of the soffit facing the ribs completly open and there is actually a little bit of a gap that is hidden by the wood lip. I need to seal that up as well as extend this lower cover board and then repalace the OC703 with regular insulation.


Here is the underside of my soffit. I left the majority exposed because I am going to put some faced insulation in there as a bass trap and the facing reflects the highs so it doesnt muddy the highs.


Now I gotta make it pretty. Lets start here. I was going to try to make it out of strips nailed together but since I planned for half in wood I am afraid they will be hard to stay together putting them up and taking them down so I am going to start with a 4x8 sheet of half inch MDF.

Here is two smaller section that I have done. I figured I should have a cross been for integrity

And here are two of the largest ones all cut out. The larger of the two has two cutouts for air supply in them.


Then here is the test fit for the larger one. Just a small amount of trimming needed

From this

To this



It just finishes it off so much better. I wish I wouldnt have waited so long. I got alot done today considering I had to watch my 4 year old son.

Also, had an injury. The staple gun slipped as I was stapling and one side of the staple went right through my finger. Could have been much worse and I should have taken a pic. Tomorrow I plan to get the rest of the pieces covered and mounted. As far as the sound goes I just didnt notice the improvement I was hoping for all the effort I took. I didnt take any pics but I ended up putting a board in the area that was left open. It is better but just not what I had hoped for. Maybe I'll come up with something later. I also got all the insulation up in the soffits too. I'll post some more pics tomorrow.

For any and all that care here are the pics of some updates from the weekend.

Here is the inside of the deadvent. You can see the backs of the soffit ribs all exposed

Then here is what I did to seal them up. Then I took some acoustical caulk around the edges. I dont really care if sound gets in here as it wont go anywhere but I want to keep the fan noise out of the theater.


Here is the lower panel backside after I have it covered in cloth and before I stapled and cutout the vent openings

Then here they are trimmed out. These dont have to be perfect as they are very hard to see or notice since there is no direct light on them and the room lights are not generally on fully unless I am working.

All this takes this

To this

Here I finally got around to getting OC703 in the backside of the fireplace treatment. I used faced so that if I need to take this off it's a bit cleaner. I have just used velcro to hold this up as I didnt want to screw into the wood.

I also got some odds and ends done like cleaning up, door seals(which I'll get to), etc...

I also figured it was due time to put the camera photos aside and update the forum with some new photos. Hope you all enjoy and maybe inspire some. My theater is by no means the best on here and cant even hold a candle to some but I really love it and have used it quite a bit. I post them as your coming in the theater. Then after this post I will throw up another post with my current questions from everyone on their expertise and opinions. I did take my pj hush box off because it is not finished and I think that is next on my task and I had to do some measuring.






It is probably hard to see but here is an upward shot of the finished panels underneath.

Here are a few lighting scenes as well



Up next questions for everyone.

How should I trim out the drywall to wood? you can see here. I didnt finish off the drywall and there is actually a recess that didnt turn out very even. I was going to wrap this entire soffit rather than paint the rear but I am just going to paint it now and need some sort of trim that is as low profile as possible since I am very tall and do not have an inch to spare. This goes across the entire back of the theater.


This is the top above my screen. I'm not sure exactly why I left a gap here but I did always plan to finish off the center in a somewhat of a fancy way but have not been able to figure out a good was that looks the best without being too difficult. Any suggestions?


Next is a couple of my doors. They do not sit flat to the frame. When closed as shown in the pic there is a gap at the top and bottom. What is the best way to fix this? I was going to try to remove the board that the gasket is on that stops the door and just move it but I'm thinking that they actually are in a groove in the jamb itself. Any opinions?


I would like to create some sort of trim on the columns that transition from the speaker cloth to the wood. I also want something on the bottom as well. Ideas are welcome. For the speaker cloth area I was thinking of a sideways hourglass type of trim. Say 3" where it touches the wall going to 1/2-1" in the center and then back again on the other side and then painting it red.

My last question I can think of right now. What should I do with this wall? It is what you see as soon as you open the door to go in so I want it to make a statement. I had played with the thought of wrapping some OC703 in fabric to achieve some sound deadening in the hallway because it is a bit too live. I figured that this might be able to be done to almost look something like a commercial theater but I just dont know and would love everyones opinions. I have more movie posters that are really nice including the 3D Avatar poster which is pretty hard to get now and worth some money. I was just thinking it would be nice to do something more than just more posters.

No help or opinions? I guess I left my thread idle for far too long and lost my regular followers

Photo update

I needed to route the air exhaust to the front since I changed projectors and the heat comes from the front so I routed the tubes to the front and installed a thermal fan so that when it gets hot it automatically starts up.

Here is the back where it used to exhaust. I also had it tied into my whole room exhaust so it would only work when I had my room circulating which is not all the time which was an issue.



And here is the makeshift setup. It doesnt need to be pretty because you dont see it unless you look up into the hush box


Then to finish the hush box. I bought glass to fully enclose it however it is just too small for my comfort so I am going to try to do it without the glass and see if there is any issue with heat or sound. I'm thinking not on either.

Here it is assembled and prepped for paint


Painted other than touchups and the insides. I wanted red on the sides because of the low clearance and it will match the ribs as you will see in the pics coming up. I am hoping the red will help so people dont hit their heads. I also routed the corners on the front so if they do its not an ultra sharp end.


Then I installed some OC703 to deaden the sound since I didnt fully enclose it. Hopefully this will help. I needed to leave the area that is open free from OC703 because of the 235 lens and slide. I also painted it so that it will reduce in reflections and also when you view in it from the room. I may use some cloth to finish it out nicer but I doubt it.



Then here it is mounted. I will still do some trim work as it doesnt sit perfectly flat to the ceiling although no one will even notice. I also will do the same at the front of the stage where the red meets the ceiling.


I did a quick sound test and it performed pretty well. There is room for more OC703 as I did not do it completely so I may add that if I can still here it. When seated the hush box blends right into the ceiling and you cant tell its there. It is very nice and long over due.

I would really like some help on the issues posted in the thread a few posts up so please take some time and help me out please. Thanks in advance. I hope everyones memorial day was fantastic. too

Projector overheated last night while watching a movie. Apparently the exhaust is making its way to the intake vents of the pj before it takes are from the soffits which I didnt even consider. So I ordered a higher speed exhaust fan along with 2 other fans that I plan to push the soffit air across the back of the intake vents. That should easily take care of it.

Still no help on the above questions

Thanks Dale. I've been kicking that around myself and just am having trouble envisioning what would look good.

Hush box advice needed.

As I mentioned my projector overheated when I installed the hush box. What was happening in my opinion is that the hot air from the front was getting to the back and just kept getting hotter and hotter. I think that the back is not getting fresh air and I think the hot air is not getting evacuated fast enough. I bought a faster fan to exhaust and I also bought 2 other 80mm fans. My question is where should I put them to keep it as cool as possible without being able to hear them. They are supposed to be quite fans but the hush box is right above the center between the two rows and my ceiling is low. Here is where I am at without the new fans installed and I could really use some advice as I am trying my best with a bad situation and not to create an even worse situation.



You can see that I have a fan at the front right as that is where the majority of the heat comes from the pj. I think I need to seal off the back from the front so that the heat at the front that does not get sucked out does not creep to the rear where it needs fresh air. That will not be that hard as I will use some OC703. Then I need to get fresh air to the back which is where I am stumped a bit. I dont want to open up the bottom of the hush box as it will let sound out right towards the main seating. Here are the options as I see it

1- I thought it would get fresh air from behind the soffit ribs but thinking more into it I put insulation on the sides where it exits for bass absorption. I could remove enough insulation so that it could get air through the speaker cloth on the underside of the soffits to the sides and have the fans pull air from behind there.

2-Then I also thought I could put air holes in the side of the hush box on the side not typically seen, mount a fan right behind the holes directing air to the back of the PJ. I am not sure how much air this will let in is my main concern and also because it is not direct line of pushing air so I would need two of the fans which is not a huge deal.

3-My last idea is to cut into the rear of the PJ area into the cavity that holds the HVAC ducts and piping and pull air from there. Ideally the best for air as it will be cool and will be able to get alot of air however I would be reducing the effects of double drywall.

I need to finish this weekend as well as I have some friends coming over next weekend and I'm not sure how much time I will have to work on it after this weekend. Thanks in advance

I have a 2" already ran and it would be virtually impossible to replace it. Meaning I am not willing to do so. I do plan to have a bigger fan put in which I already have.

I'm not worried about the OC as I plan to cover it once I have it working. Maybe OC isnt the best solution so I will think about it this weekend. It wouldnt be that hard to just make some wood partitions with a simple foam seal too instead. I am ok with it sucking the air from the room I just want to keep as much of the heat out of the room and away from the PJ intake. I may end up getting larger glass since the one I got was too small but I did notive loss in light and it changed the color a little. Add that on top of the A lens which does the same I just didnt want to multiply the effect if not necessary.

OK. Trying to finish up a few things for a screening this weekend with some friends that havent seen it since I started the remodel. I want to get the utility room sound away enough that it is not distracting and I want to get my hush box back up. Today I tackled the door to the utility room. I need to install bigger seals and also I will eventually add another layer to the door of MDF but I dont think I have time right now so I am going to just fill in the insets. Here is how I did it. I started with the door and sanded all the insets with 60 grit

Then I cut 1/4" mdf to fill it in and make it a bit easier.

Then the fun of how to fill all the recesses and adhere the mdf to it. I used vehicle bondo.

Spread it in all the crevices and level it out

Then put the mdf in and leveled it and smoothed any bondo coming above the edges.

Then do this to the rest of the panels. i found out after the first two that it is really easy to just pour the bondo into the recesses and then mix the hardener in right on the door.




Then I needed better door seal and the jambs of regular doors just dont cut it for enough room to add a decent seal so I need to replace the jamb stops with something better. How about this. The brown is the old and the white is the new.

Here it is up. You can see how much area it gives me for a seal. Once I have the door mounted back up I will put the seal on this molding and then install it so that it is perfect. I got a 1" bulb seal and am not positive if it is best to leave a decent air gap and not compress it all the way or to get it as tight as possible. Your help would be appreciated.


Then I am going to need to install a 4th hinge and am not sure if I need to remove the center one and evenly space the center two or if I can just add the 4th in between the center and the top or bottom.

Could really use your guidance as I want to finish up the door tonight. Any advice on the hinge question above?