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Screen Mounting Advice for Dropdown Screen

post #1 of 13
Thread Starter 
I just bought an Elite 84" dropdown (m84uwh) screen and need to mount it to the wall.

The instructions are a joke, it literally tells me nothing.

Here are the entire contents of the instructions for wall mounting:
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Mark the area from the screen mount end cap hole to the wall. Then mount the screen onto the wall (Fig 1).
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The only other instructions are for ceiling mounting. When I read this, I almost laughed.

Anyhow, it has some bigger bolt like screws which I obviously cannot use, but it also has 2 smaller screws with sheetrock anchors.

The screen weighs about 30 pounds. Do you think it is safe to use the sheetrock anchors without drilling into a stud? My only other option I can think of is to get a 2x4 and drill that in the studs and mount it to that. I live in an apartment, so I don't want to overdo it. I am not sure how much weight those sheetrock anchors can take, but 30 pounds sounds borderline. 10-15 pounds no problem.

Any advice?
post #2 of 13
Oh hell no don't mount it with anchors...........be sure to find a stud and use it
post #3 of 13
LOL I got my 101 this morning and came to this conclusion by just looking at it for a while. Don't know why they don't make the cases on 16" centers...would only make sense IMO.
post #4 of 13
Thread Starter 
Any ideas where I can find a pre-finished piece of oak that is already painted/finished in black and is in the size I need?

Home Depot? hmmm....
post #5 of 13
Thread Starter 
Actually, at Home depot they have specially made very large sheetrock anchors that are made for heavy paintings, they are rated over 50 pounds each. They can hold 100+ pounds if you run a thin metal wire between 3 and mount the projector screen on the 2 sides and then secure the middle.

The screen only weighs like 20-25 pounds. Still haven't mounted it yet, but this is what I'm going to do. Someone told me they hang paintings like that all the time, even paintings over 50-80 pounds. You just have to use multiple special anchors with some thin wire support for extra caution.
post #6 of 13
I don't think that this will work for you but I'll post this here for anyone that might do a future search on this subject.

I've got a large screen on order and when I was measuring and deciding how I was going to mount it I found out that I could mount it right at the top of the wall. It's an outside wall so it has a double top plate. That is two 2x4s on their side at the top (each 2x4 is 1.5" thick which = 3"). This means that there is solid wood across the full length of the wall that comes 2.5" (3" minus .5" of sheetrock) below the ceiling. This would be the same for any load bearing wall.
post #7 of 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by coderguy View Post

Actually, at Home depot they have specially made very large sheetrock anchors that are made for heavy paintings, they are rated over 50 pounds each. They can hold 100+ pounds if you run a thin metal wire between 3 and mount the projector screen on the 2 sides and then secure the middle.

The screen only weighs like 20-25 pounds. Still haven't mounted it yet, but this is what I'm going to do. Someone told me they hang paintings like that all the time, even paintings over 50-80 pounds. You just have to use multiple special anchors with some thin wire support for extra caution.


I just got my 92" screen and will be using these as well. I hung a very large piece of artwork on one of my walls (weighing about 30 pounds) and was given special wall anchors made for hanging pictures into sheetrock/blueboard. I have had no issues and the picture is very sturdy. I even used the leftover ones I had to mount a solid wood shelf on another wall that holds a bunch of antique things my wife has. That rack weighs at least 40 pounds with all the stuff on it.

By the way, my screen is a DA-Lite Model B in High Contrast White and the directions that came with it were no better. In fact, it didn't even come with hardware to hang it!
post #8 of 13
keep in mind that if you are using a manual pull-down screen that the force of pulling it down will make it (temporarily) heavier. So allow some wiggle room on the weight rating of your anchors. Additionally, if possible, try to use at least one stud in addition to your anchors. I live in earthquake country and wouldn't trust my screen to just anchors alone. (much less anyone sitting below the screen)

My $0.01
post #9 of 13
Thread Starter 
I think high rated anchors work fine for mounting a screen, but just be careful when you pull it down and let it back up, try to hold the top part of the screen in place so it doesn't move.

I guess overall I'd say it's fine to use picture anchors if you don't move the screen up and down a lot. I never wind my screen back up anyhow.
post #10 of 13
this may sound like a stupid question, but i figured i'd ask anyway.

Is there a solution for temporarily hanging a screen? I want to put one up for my superbowl party, but the location is not where a permanent screen would go nor would I want to leave any damage behind once I'm done (like seeing wall anchors).

I was thinking of some sort of adhesive hooks like those 3M kind, only for something 30-40pounds (those 3M hooks only hold less than 5 pounds)

Am I just SOL?
post #11 of 13
Thread Starter 
I know this thread is old, but just wanted to update it.
The screen mounted fine with (2) drywall corkscrew anchors, I show the anchors I used in my photo link at the bottom of this post. These things hold 50+ lbs each, there is no way a 25 pound screen is going to fall mounted to a spec of 100 pounds. Even pulling the screen down has no effect on the screws coming out, and I did not even attach the (2) screws together with a wire, they are purely in drywall without studs and they are not connected by a thin wire either. and this thing is super stable.

I had a very awkward shaped living room, but I pulled it off!

Here is the final setup:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/45387881@N03/
post #12 of 13
I'm just wondering why the manufacturers bother in including instruction manuals that doesn't even help at all? They're just wasting paper in that case. Anyway, I suggest you go and find a stud too. Better safe than sorry.
post #13 of 13
Thread Starter 
The cork screw inserts are specifically anti-stud inserts. They hold 50 pounds each, and professional decorators use them to hang 50 pound paintings, and up to 100 pound paintings with 4 of them. Hardly a risk since the screen weighs 20 pounds.
Now if I were to yank the screen down without holding it or lived in an earthquake prone area, I can see a possible issue, but I'd never do it.
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