So this weekend I experienced something I never would have imagined. So perplexing that I had to register an account and share this with the community.
Saturday I was mounting my 50" Samsung to the wall, something I have done 3 times prior with the same TV and mount. After getting everything squared off, measured and drilled, I successfully mounted it only to realize it was a bit too high for comfortable viewing.
I proceeded to pull the TV back off the wall mount and re-adjust the brackets which are mounted directly to the 4 bolts on the back of the TV.
Upon doing so however, I encountered something I never would have expected... that being the actual female thread casings, secured inside the frame of the TV, managed to pull directly out of the backside of the TV. So to put things into better perspective, the 4 bolts used to secured the wall mount brackets to the backside of the TV, literally were extracted from the 2 support rails. At this point I was shocked-had no idea how I would ever be able to hang this again.
I decided to take the back cover off the TV. I found the 2 support rails each which 2 holes and a metal case set within. To my surprise there was absolutely nothing securing these inside the holes aside from the friction and what I can assume is a slightly smaller hole in the rail than actual diameter of the metal casing. With very little effort I was actually able to remove the remaining 3 female thread casings. Now I'm faced with nothing to secure the bracket/bolts to on the TV.
Considering I don't even have a base, I was forced to get crafty. I ended up going to the hardware store trying to think of a solution. I couldn't just use a nut since it would have nothing to hold it in place being the back cover had to go back on in order to mount the rack. I couldn't use a toggle bolt since the space behind the hole was not deep enough nor was the opening big enough.
After working out the situation with the owner of the hardware store, the only thing we could come up with is to use metal adhesive to physically glue the nut on the underside of the frame rail so it would be secure while the bolt was screwed in through the mount rack and the back cover of the TV. So I did just that...
In order to create a larger surface area I decided to glue washers to the nuts, making a hat of sorts, and then gluing the washer on the bottom side of the rail. This now is a much more practical method of screwing the TV to the mount. The way Samsung manufactured it was to have the casing placed through the top of the rail, now the bolt will go through the back mount rack hole, through the back cover of the TV, through the support rail, and into the nut.
I put the bolts and washers into the freezer after making a mess to expedite the drying process. It worked and then I glued the washers to the frame rail, clamping them in place to dry. I immediately realized in order for the bolt to glide in easy, and not to torque or twist the nut (it has to remain still otherwise the nut will spin thus preventing the bolt to thread in) I had to make sure there was no glue residue left in the inner threads. This was very difficult and the only solution I could come up with was the burn out the residue. Being it was highly flammable, it burned out quickly.
Next was the test. I put the back case on, aligned the mount rack and started to thread in the bolts. I realized there would be a point when tightening when the bolts would break the glue free on the underside of the nut and cause it to keep spinning. My only hope was that it would thread in long enough for the bolt to grab enough threads.
So it worked-- I'm now faced with fact that I'll never get the brackets back off the backside of the TV. Anytime you go to unscrew the bolts the nuts spin with it. I'd literally need to cut the bolt heads off to allow for the back cover to be removed.
Why Samsung would not have the frame rails tapped and died with treads is beyond me. In theory this is how seats are mounted inside the cabin of a car. I'm frustrated I experienced this. Frustrated that a billion dollar company would engineer something to these specs.
Sorry for the rant, but it was just unimaginable.
Back cover for ref
Saturday I was mounting my 50" Samsung to the wall, something I have done 3 times prior with the same TV and mount. After getting everything squared off, measured and drilled, I successfully mounted it only to realize it was a bit too high for comfortable viewing.
I proceeded to pull the TV back off the wall mount and re-adjust the brackets which are mounted directly to the 4 bolts on the back of the TV.
Upon doing so however, I encountered something I never would have expected... that being the actual female thread casings, secured inside the frame of the TV, managed to pull directly out of the backside of the TV. So to put things into better perspective, the 4 bolts used to secured the wall mount brackets to the backside of the TV, literally were extracted from the 2 support rails. At this point I was shocked-had no idea how I would ever be able to hang this again.
I decided to take the back cover off the TV. I found the 2 support rails each which 2 holes and a metal case set within. To my surprise there was absolutely nothing securing these inside the holes aside from the friction and what I can assume is a slightly smaller hole in the rail than actual diameter of the metal casing. With very little effort I was actually able to remove the remaining 3 female thread casings. Now I'm faced with nothing to secure the bracket/bolts to on the TV.
Considering I don't even have a base, I was forced to get crafty. I ended up going to the hardware store trying to think of a solution. I couldn't just use a nut since it would have nothing to hold it in place being the back cover had to go back on in order to mount the rack. I couldn't use a toggle bolt since the space behind the hole was not deep enough nor was the opening big enough.
After working out the situation with the owner of the hardware store, the only thing we could come up with is to use metal adhesive to physically glue the nut on the underside of the frame rail so it would be secure while the bolt was screwed in through the mount rack and the back cover of the TV. So I did just that...
In order to create a larger surface area I decided to glue washers to the nuts, making a hat of sorts, and then gluing the washer on the bottom side of the rail. This now is a much more practical method of screwing the TV to the mount. The way Samsung manufactured it was to have the casing placed through the top of the rail, now the bolt will go through the back mount rack hole, through the back cover of the TV, through the support rail, and into the nut.
I put the bolts and washers into the freezer after making a mess to expedite the drying process. It worked and then I glued the washers to the frame rail, clamping them in place to dry. I immediately realized in order for the bolt to glide in easy, and not to torque or twist the nut (it has to remain still otherwise the nut will spin thus preventing the bolt to thread in) I had to make sure there was no glue residue left in the inner threads. This was very difficult and the only solution I could come up with was the burn out the residue. Being it was highly flammable, it burned out quickly.
Next was the test. I put the back case on, aligned the mount rack and started to thread in the bolts. I realized there would be a point when tightening when the bolts would break the glue free on the underside of the nut and cause it to keep spinning. My only hope was that it would thread in long enough for the bolt to grab enough threads.
So it worked-- I'm now faced with fact that I'll never get the brackets back off the backside of the TV. Anytime you go to unscrew the bolts the nuts spin with it. I'd literally need to cut the bolt heads off to allow for the back cover to be removed.
Why Samsung would not have the frame rails tapped and died with treads is beyond me. In theory this is how seats are mounted inside the cabin of a car. I'm frustrated I experienced this. Frustrated that a billion dollar company would engineer something to these specs.
Sorry for the rant, but it was just unimaginable.
Back cover for ref
