[rbhargan]

Hi,


I am planning to get a Stewart Firehawk Electiscreen (100" Diag) to put in a new home theater, and was wondering how difficult it is to install. Has anyone installed one of these themselves, and if so, how difficult was it? Also any pointers, things to watch out for, etc. would be appreciated.


Second question is, I will be mounting the screen from the ceiling, maybe behind a fascia, and will eventually be putting bookshelves/cabinets behind it. How stable is the screen? How susceptable to airflow from ductwork is it? There will be no duct outlets in the immediate area of the screen, but I was curious how well the screen stays in place.


Have been to the Stewart website and downloaded pdf's of install information and diagrams. Very well designed site.


Thanks!

 

[Morbius]

Richard,


Installing the screen is not difficult. The case has a couple of "inverted keyhole" eyelets in the mounting plates

that you use to mount the screen.


How difficult and how stable it is - is up to you. You make the mounting to which the screen is attached.


Since my ceiling joists run front-back, I couldn't recess the screen in the ceiling. I made a decorative wooden box

that blends in with the built-in bookshelves behind. The "inverted keyhole" mounts are screwed to the rear of the box. A couple of 'L' shaped wooden blocks were then installed to prevent the screen from raising up and coming

off the keyhole mounts - this is CA - "earthquake country".


The box is attached to 4 ceiling joists via large lag bolts, nuts and washers.


I think it's stable - unless the earthquake brings down the ceiling joists - that screen is going to stay put. If the

quake brings down the joists - I'll have bigger things to worry about than the screen.


Dr. Gregory Greenman

Physicist

 

[rbhargan]

Thanks for the feedback Morbius! Glad to hear that the install is pretty straigforward.


My question regarding the stability of the screen had more to do with how it reacts to wind currents generated by someone walking by, or air coming from a ventilating duct. I have never seen an electiscreen before, so I have no idea how rigid they are when they are deployed.


Thanks again.

 

[HomeThtrLA]

They are not rigid, but that size Stewart should be a tab-tensioned, and it will have a pretty low resonance combined with a lot of air drag. If someone walks by it, it should sway a bit once or twice. If you blow heating/air conditioning on it, it will probably sway a bit, constantly, as well as show you in a year or so just how much dust really comes out of your ducts!

 

[Morbius]

Quote:

Originally posted by rbhargan My question regarding the stability of the screen had more to do with how it reacts to wind currents generated by someone walking by, or air coming from a ventilating duct. I have never seen an electiscreen before, so I have no idea how rigid they are when they are deployed.

rbhargan,


In my case, the screen itself is a tab tensioned microperf screen.


I've never noticed the screen swaying - even as I've moved around it. The tensioning system keeps the screen taught.

[ On either side of the screen, there are two cables that are attached to the bottom baton, and they unroll with the

screen. At regularly spaced intervals, the vertical edges of the screen have "tabs" that connect the screen to these

cables - so the screen always has horizontal tension. The weight of the bottom baton which the screen supports provides

the vertical tension. So the screen is always flat.]


It could swing forward and back - but I've never noticed it doing that.


Dr. Gregory Greenman

Physicist

 

[rbhargan]

Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[htomei22]

Only one thing to add to the comments so far.


If you plan to mount the screen directly to the ceiling, Stewart makes an optional mounting bracket (actually brackets, since there is one on each end of the 'case') which you can order at the time you order your screen in place of the "inverted keyhole" eyelit brackets Morbius mentioned. These 'flush ceiling mount' brackets make the installation a breeze (you simply hold the case up against the ceiling and run mounting screws up through the brackets into the ceiling joists) and, imo, make for a more stable mount.


htomei

 

[rbhargan]

Thanks for the info. That should make life much easier since I plan on mounting directly to the ceiling, then putting up a fascia of some sort in front of the mount.

 

[Jason Turk]

You should be able to install the screen itself in less than an hour. The hardest part is running the electrical to it. You may want to contact an electrician for that if you don't feel comfortable fishing wires and whatnot.


The screen has several options for mounting:

1. Wall mount-these are brackets that are towards the ends of the case. They have a keyhole in them that just slides over a screw.

2. Ceiling mount-these are wing brackets that extend past the ends of the case and are designed to be screwed up into some sort of ceiling support. Generally drywall is not suffcient in this case.

3. Eyebolts-designed to use s-hooks to literally hook the screen onto wall or ceiling supports. This is the least stable method, but often is a necessary mount for people with really high ceilings who need to get the screen lower.


Any of these methods can be used when putting the case into a box or ceiling. You have to figure out which is going to be easiest for your needs.


One note, you can also reverse roll the screen. This takes the material and has it face backwards so that you can turn the case around 180 degrees if you want to mount the case to the front side of a box. There is no added charge for this, but keep in mind that it also reverses the electrical wiring sides.


Thanks!

 

[rbhargan]

Thanks for the info Jason. I will be doing a ceiling mount, attaching to the ceiling joist. I have an electrical box mounted in the chase that contains the HVAC, which one end of the screen will be adjacent to. Talked to the folks at Stewart about what kind of wiring to use for the screen trigger - they suggested 22 or 24 gauge, but that cat 5 cable would work fine (I have lots of that).


I am now confident that I should be able to get the screen installed without any problems. All I have to do now is wait for the basement to be finished and get everything ordered.


Thanks again to everyone who contributed to this thread.

 

[Morbius]

Quote:

Originally posted by rbhargan Thanks for the info Jason. I will be doing a ceiling mount, attaching to the ceiling joist. I have an electrical box mounted in the chase that contains the HVAC, which one end of the screen will be adjacent to. Talked to the folks at Stewart about what kind of wiring to use for the screen trigger - they suggested 22 or 24 gauge, but that cat 5 cable would work fine (I have lots of that).

rbhargan,


The wiring I used is "lawn sprinkler" wiring available at practically any hardware store or home center. It has

more than enough conductors to do the job, and is of sufficient guage.


Dr. Gregory Greenman

Physicist