New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Conduit in wall?

post #1 of 13
7/11/12 at 2:52am
Thread Starter 
I have a problem caused by the wife.

Last year when we bought our home, I installed a TV above our fireplace. I cut into the wall, ran a power supply bridge, and all the hdmi cables. It looks great, but my wife has decided she wants all my components to move to a corner of the room (Which also means I have to run the hdmi a longer length of about 20 feet now)...

So I want to future proof the tv now... I was thinking of running conduit in the wall, so i can just fish cables to the tv, but wasn't sure what kind would be best? It seems plain old plumbing PVC would be easiest, given I've worked with it before, but the walls are rather thick leaving less room for the cables... Is there a better material to use?

The wall is an exterior wall, with no shortage of insulation. And, I already notched the studs to accommodate the existing hdmi cables.

So does anybody have any recommendations for me:

What type of material to use for my conduit?

What size to use?

And while I'm at it, does anybody have any ideas on how to shield my power wire from the source cables? (they have to be run fairly close together, for a rather long run)
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #2 of 13
7/11/12 at 11:47am
A couple notes - look up flex conduit, it comes in various diameters to suit your needs primarily for low voltage wiring such as Cat5/6, HDMI and speaker wire. - You should run the power line separately. Also, when buying in-wall rated cables, make sure they are shielded.

You should not be notching your studs, this will weaken the integrity of your wall strength. I believe it is recommended that you drill holes in the middle of the stud to maximize structure strength.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 13
7/11/12 at 2:18pm
Thread Starter 
I believe per code, studs of non-load bearing walls (this is an outside wall...), can be notched up to 7/8 of an inch.


I'll have to open the wall up again. I only notched a few, and I think I drilled the rest. I'm starting to wonder, though, if I should just run the damn cable without the conduit.


I know in the future HDMI will be obsolete, but maybe by then it'll be replaced with wireless????


The more I think of this stupid project, the more I hate it...
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 13
7/11/12 at 3:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gizzygone View Post

I believe per code, studs of non-load bearing walls (this is an outside wall...), can be notched up to 7/8 of an inch.
I'll have to open the wall up again. I only notched a few, and I think I drilled the rest. I'm starting to wonder, though, if I should just run the damn cable without the conduit.
I know in the future HDMI will be obsolete, but maybe by then it'll be replaced with wireless????
The more I think of this stupid project, the more I hate it...

(outside walls are usually load-bearing...)

Retrofiting conduit is tough. 2-3 (or more, we won't complain!) runs of Cat5e/cat6 would come in 2nd place on the "futureproof" scale behind conduit... I would do that in conjunction with your HDMI run and call it a day. If the HDMI run is over 25-30' or so, I'd think about skipping it altogether and use an HDBaseT extender...

Jeff
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 13
7/11/12 at 3:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jautor View Post

(outside walls are usually load-bearing...)
Retrofiting conduit is tough. 2-3 (or more, we won't complain!) runs of Cat5e/cat6 would come in 2nd place on the "futureproof" scale behind conduit... I would do that in conjunction with your HDMI run and call it a day. If the HDMI run is over 25-30' or so, I'd think about skipping it altogether and use an HDBaseT extender...
Jeff

I agree - running extra cat5 is never a bad idea, run a piece of fish twine too for future runs. very easy to run HDMI over cat5. For the conduit IMO the bigger the better haha.

why is the power being ran in that same area? I would get an electrician out to wire some boxes in the new location.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 13
7/13/12 at 8:14am
Are the exterior walls 2x6? You have to run relatively large conduit to ensure you can fit HDMI connectors. Studs can only have certain size holes in them:

Hole sizes for load bearing walls

A 6 inch load bearing stud can only have a hole of 2.4 inches in diameter. I seem to remember having bigger holes to run my conduit (which was the smallest conduit recommended to fit HDMI connectors), but I wasn't drilling through load bearing studs. A
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 13
7/13/12 at 8:23am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jautor View Post

(outside walls are usually load-bearing...)
Retrofiting conduit is tough. 2-3 (or more, we won't complain!) runs of Cat5e/cat6 would come in 2nd place on the "futureproof" scale behind conduit... I would do that in conjunction with your HDMI run and call it a day. If the HDMI run is over 25-30' or so, I'd think about skipping it altogether and use an HDBaseT extender...
Jeff

The run would be about 20' or so... Since it's above a fireplace, I plan on running about 3 feet laterally, and then about 8 feet down into the basement. I figured this way, I would be able to fish the cable easier in the future. Then I would run a second conduit to the receptacle where my components would go.

Why so much Cat 5e/6?
Quote:
Originally Posted by akyramoto View Post

I agree - running extra cat5 is never a bad idea, run a piece of fish twine too for future runs. very easy to run HDMI over cat5. For the conduit IMO the bigger the better haha.
why is the power being ran in that same area? I would get an electrician out to wire some boxes in the new location.

Fish twine won't cut it, unless I do have conduit. Since there would be a 90* turn in the wall, I don't see it being easy to pull a larger cable through.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ctviggen View Post

Are the exterior walls 2x6? You have to run relatively large conduit to ensure you can fit HDMI connectors. Studs can only have certain size holes in them:
Hole sizes for load bearing walls
A 6 inch load bearing stud can only have a hole of 2.4 inches in diameter. I seem to remember having bigger holes to run my conduit (which was the smallest conduit recommended to fit HDMI connectors), but I wasn't drilling through load bearing studs. A

I believe they're just standard 2x4's.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 13
7/13/12 at 8:29am
Woops, I forgot 2x6 are really 1.5x5.5. So the maximum hole size is even smaller.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 13
7/13/12 at 8:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gizzygone View Post

Why so much Cat 5e/6?

2 or 3 runs? That's barely any at all! There are folks here that would recommend 7, and they're not totally insane, either!

The inexpensive HDMI-over-category products require two cables. Add one more for Ethernet connectivity and you get to three without even breaking a sweat.

Since category cable is so cheap and versatile for A/V, networking, and automation uses, you really want to have some extra running to these key locations.

Jeff
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 13
7/13/12 at 9:22am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jautor View Post

2 or 3 runs? That's barely any at all! There are folks here that would recommend 7, and they're not totally insane, either!
The inexpensive HDMI-over-category products require two cables. Add one more for Ethernet connectivity and you get to three without even breaking a sweat.
Since category cable is so cheap and versatile for A/V, networking, and automation uses, you really want to have some extra running to these key locations.
Jeff

Excuse my ignorance, but I'm still new at this...

Are you saying you can use the CAT5e/6 cables to provide you with HDMI signaling?
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 13
7/13/12 at 11:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gizzygone View Post

Excuse my ignorance, but I'm still new at this...
Are you saying you can use the CAT5e/6 cables to provide you with HDMI signaling?

Yes, and is probably the more reliable choice for >40'

Examples:

"inexpensive"

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=109&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011012&p_id=6532&seq=1&format=2

HDBaseT:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=109&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011012&p_id=8123&seq=1&format=2
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 13
7/14/12 at 3:33pm
Thread Starter 
This hdbaset is very very appealing... Making me wonder if I should go along with my original plans and make a media cabinet in the basement to keep the upstairs clean looking.

But it was introduced in 2010... You'd think brand new 2012 TVs would offer it already...
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 13
7/15/12 at 10:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gizzygone View Post

This hdbaset is very very appealing... Making me wonder if I should go along with my original plans and make a media cabinet in the basement to keep the upstairs clean looking. But it was introduced in 2010... You'd think brand new 2012 TVs would offer it already...

The chips were introduced then, we started seeing products last year, but still not a lot of them out. Once we start seeing more matrix switches and other products incorporate it, and at mass-market prices, we might see the TV makers include it. Right now it probably wouldn't be justified to add the cost to a TV for the few users that would use it. Somewhat chicken-and-egg...
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home

AVS Top Picks