View Full Version : Ever try to hang a 60" plasma on the wall?


CoogarXR
10-25-2014, 08:31 PM
Well, I earned my stripes this week.

I saw a Pioneer PDP-607CMX on craigslist for a super cheap price. So, naturally being the Pioneer plasma fan I am, I ran over to get it.

I thought I could just take down my Pioneer 43" in my man cave and swap the bracket on the 60" and be good to go. Nope. The 60" has the bolt holes too far apart. The bracket wasn't even close to fitting, height or width. Same with another bracket I had in storage.

Well, the guy I was selling my 43" to happens to be a master welder. So I knocked some money off the price of the 43" in trade for a custom bracket.

It is mounted kinda high in my man cave. So it took 3 of us burly dudes to lift it up there and get it situated. Wow, what a workout, lol, but it's done.

No real problems to report, I just wanted to commiserate with anyone who has ever hung such a large, awkward TV...

Eric H
10-25-2014, 08:46 PM
Specs say that set weighs 136 lbs! I've hung a 55" Panasonic by myself, it only weighs about 85 lbs though and I used the mount where you hook it over a rail so it wasn't too hard.

I had a chance to buy a smaller Pioneer Plasma at the local thrift but it wasn't a Kuros model, and it didn't work, also the screen had a funny uneven look, like maybe it was aired out, or the anti glare had been washed off.

vts1134
10-26-2014, 11:32 AM
Those 60" Pioneers were no walk in the park, but they were positivity feather light compared to the 85" Panasonic plasmas. Those took a few years of life out of your back for sure.

CoogarXR
10-26-2014, 04:17 PM
Yeah, it wasn't so much the weight (although it seemed more like 200lbs), just that it was so tall and wide, especially when mounting it over your head. If my mount would have been lower, I would have run a chain through the TVs handles and lifted it using my engine hoist, heh...

I had me and another guy on each side, and a "spotter" in the center. We had to lift it up to waist high, then have the spotter hold it up (balanced against the wall) while we switched our grip under it for the high lift. Then we lifted it up to the bracket, and the spotter (up on a ladder now) guided the top into the bracket.

The custom brackets my friend made are pretty cool. I should have taken a picture before I hung the TV. They are made out of 1/8" steel welded into a J-channel, and a mating channel on the TV back. One across the top and one across the bottom. It took some exact measuring to make sure the bracket lined up with the top and bottom at once. These brackets are nice and wide. They span 3 studs, and I put those metal anchors halfway between too. The walls in the mancave are plywood, so that helps too. It's not going anywhere. I pity the fool who would break in and try to steal it. I would find him dead under it in the morning, LOL!

Nice thing is, the remote code is the same as my 43", so I don't have to reprogram my remote!

vts1134
10-27-2014, 08:20 AM
I went searching through the photos on my phone and found a picture of one of the installs we did. This one was in a recessed opening built for the 85. Luckily there were sheet metal workers on site that had a lift or we would have had to heave that sucker up and into that recess on our own.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3937/15445349958_8be75831ab.jpg

CoogarXR
10-27-2014, 08:42 AM
Nice! That's about the same height as mine.

ISawItOnTV
02-20-2015, 07:33 PM
My wife and I hung our 65" Panny ST-60 plasma. Those are kinda hefty. I installed a swing-out wall bracket. We kept the base on the TV in case we had to set it back down. Once we had it hooked to the wall bracket, I removed the base.

NoPegs
02-21-2015, 04:20 AM
I fully believe that some of the final (Largest, probably longest panel life.) generation of plasma screens should come with some little flat-pack Ikea style jin-pole type rigging hoist system. One of the wall-bracket makers should have gotten in on that. The only reason it takes more than one normal guy to hang an 80+ inch LCD panel is that its just too damned big to effectively control as you're dropping it into position.


BRAINSTORM!
:scratch2:

Going to go lash together something that looks like the offspring of a Hi-Lift jack and a semi-trailer cargo-bar (load stabilizer). Build them as cheap and nasty as possible and sell them in pairs so you can lean them against the wall, then manhandle the panel onto the lift points at a few inches above floor level, and then you jack the panel up the wall smoothly and safely. I'm pretty sure a pair can be made out of spot-welded stamped steel sheets (Think AK47 parts/mags) for less than $30, and sold for $89.99 or more. Possibly make a more durable system that can be rented like a carpet cleaner or paint sprayer on a materials budget around $150.

:beatnik:

KentTeffeteller
02-22-2015, 07:25 PM
85" Plasma= Hernia DeLuxe. I think ya need a DIY Forklift to move that big mutha of a telly!

vts1134
02-23-2015, 07:12 AM
85" Plasma= Hernia DeLuxe. I think ya need a DIY Forklift to move that big mutha of a telly!

It was pretty ridiculous! It was also right before manufacturers started doing larger screen LED sets, and doing them for "reasonable" prices. The Panasonic cost $40,000.00 at the time and didn't have a really great picture, but the client wanted to go really big and balked at the cost of a 103".

wkand
02-23-2015, 03:21 PM
Commiseration achieved!! :D

My wife and I hung a 50" LG plasma in 2009, but the hook style brackets were part of the mount we purchased, which made it much easler. We were both gasping when we were done, though. We needed to mount it high due to my wife's daycare and needing to keep it away from small fingers.

ChrisW6ATV
02-24-2015, 01:48 PM
I have installed a couple of 65-inch plasma sets and a 65-inch Sony LCD at my neighbor's house. Not bad with two people.

N2IXK
02-24-2015, 02:30 PM
Would a drywall lift work for lifting these huge sets into place? Made for lifting big heavy sheets of drywall into place on walls and ceilings. Holds the sheet in place while you screw it into the studs. Available at most tool rental shops.

Yes, you would need to rig up some padding to protect the set where the lift arms hold it, but it seems like it might work.

ChrisW6ATV
02-24-2015, 03:42 PM
I have a drywall lift here. No, I would not consider using it for a flat-panel TV set. I doubt that the lift arms could hold the TV set safely, and the whole device is just too imprecise to do things like line up the mounting holes from the TV to the wall mount.

Think of it this way: You would be using a device made for $15 wall panels, with a $1000-2000 TV set. :)

dewdude
02-25-2015, 09:57 AM
The 70" Sharp LCD we put on our wall was, according to the box, 122.5lbs. My dad and I were able to get it up and on the mount with no issues by ourselves.

NoPegs
02-25-2015, 07:52 PM
The 70" Sharp LCD we put on our wall was, according to the box, 122.5lbs. My dad and I were able to get it up and on the mount with no issues by ourselves.

To be fair, if it came with a pedestal/base probably 30lb of that listed weight weight is ballast. If it came from the factory intended to be hung(baseless), then that's a fairly heavy 70" :D