Need Advice: Mounting Flat Screen to Arch

S

SweetSurrender

Member
May 19, 2007
60
Atlanta, GA
Boat Info
2003 360 Sundancer
Engines
8.1 Mercruiser's
Hello fellow boaters - Need a little advice. The admiral and I want to mount our flat screen TV to the arch. We normally use this 20" flat screen on the dock (football games and such); but since Santa brought a Wii for Christmas; we'd like to mount the TV on the boat.

I've decided to use this Omni Mount: (It's the 4N1-S; in case this link doesn't work)

http://www.omnimount.com/consumer/p...6b49-4ea0-be23-76b0f4425cee&CurrentId=2.1.3.2

This mount is more than strong enough - our TV only weighs 19lbs.

My thoughts regarding installation of the mount: The bracket itself has 2 mounting holes. I plan to use 2" bolts w/oversize washers & lock nuts. To properly distribute the weight; I thought I would add a block of wood between the backside of the arch and the washers/nuts.

Using the block of wood combined with the oversize washers; should help distribute the weight, correct? My intent is to keep all of the weight from resting on the 2 holes I have to drill into the arch.

Another point to make: This mount has 1 hex bolt that you can remove - this will allow you to lift the TV off the mounting bracket. (99% reason I chose this mount) SO: When underway - The TV will NOT be in the mount. So vibrations; "motions from the oceans"; etc. won't add stress to the bracket mounted within the arch.

PS: I offered the idea of a pole mount - behind the cockpit sink; but no go w/the admiral.

Thanks for any feedback; suggestions.
-Ryan
 
Sounds like you have a great plan. Post some pics when you're done.
 
Ryan, sounds like you are on the right track with the wood and over sized washers for reinforcement. Keep us updated on how this project goes, as I've been thinking of doing the same.
 
Thanks for the replies. I plan to do this project Thursday/Friday this week. (Yes, a long weekend!) I'll make sure to take pictures.

Thanks!
-Ryan
 
Will you leave the TV up all of the time?
 
Ryan, sounds like a workable install. I would add that the wood block be as large as possible and fastened with epoxy to the inside of the arch. Without fastening the wood it would only become a spacer and not distribute the weight from bearing directly on the bolt holes.

How will you run the power and signal cables to the unit – through the arch as well from the stern or do you have sat TV?
 
Instead of the wood, use the widest/largest piece of aluminum plate about 3/16" or 1/4" thick that you can fit back there drilled and tapped for your mounting screws. This will broaden the surface area and the weight will be distributed nicely.
 
Ryan,

The plan looks fine to me, but with couple of things to consider. I'm not sure what kind of wood you're planning to use, but I would look for something like preasure treated or anything water resistant. May be it's worth of using a peace of white pannel (I'm not sure the proper name for it, but it's used as a back board or shelving in boats. I think it comes in different thikness 1/4", 3/8", etc. So, it'll be plenty for what you need). You can get it in WM or BoatUS. I would use the board instead, unless more experiance boaters know the reason no to. It shouldn't change it's form and moisture doesn't effect it.

The other thing is the ease of taking the TV off and put it back on. I never had cockpit TV and don't know how others do it. If this is something that needs to be done frequently, how comfortable is that 1 hex bolt?

Alex.
 
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Sounds like a good idea. I have thought about this mod also but was going to suspend it from the top of the radar arch. Your idea for a backing plate is great. I can understand what Jrirvine1 is saying about epoxying the backing plate in place. I would imagine the theory here is if the bolts became loose and the whole mound and backing plate started to "slide" down transferrering the weight back to the holes in the fiberglass. My view is that if the mount is properly tightened epoxy really isn't necessary. The rough texture of the inside of the arch should "grab" the piece of wood and prevent it from settling or sliding down. I would check into using the Starboard? plastic panels. At least you wouldn't have to worry about anything rotting. But then again if there's water in there you have other problems! As far as the electrical connections how do you plan to store those when the TV is taken off its mount? It would be nice if there was an adapter that would convert everything (power and signal wires) into one neat plug. Then you would only have one cord hanging out instead of a few. Maybe even a piece like the older sea rays used to hold a phone cord that was hard wired into the boats? It was a round plastic bezel that the phone cord clipped onto the backside and the bezel was inserted into a hole drilled in the interior paneling. If you wanted to use the phone cord you removed the bezel, fed the cord up through a hole in the bezel, and plugged in your phone. Maybe an idea for "neatening" your install? Good luck!
 
Hey Ryan,
What made you, or the Admiral anyway, decide against a post-mounted solution? I am looking at doing a cockpit TV install and for reasons like weight distribution within the radar arch, I am leaning toward a post mount behind the galley sink.

Just wondering if you thought of something that I didn't...

Thanks,
Tim
 
MySR8u,
TV in the picture blocks the view of the mount. Do you have picture of the mount?
 
MySR8u said:
I like to use the Ram-mounts ( http://www.ram-mount.com/ ), they are great, and as you can see in the pictures on my other post....they easily hold a 26" w/dvd player.

http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12164
Click to expand...

Thank you for posting pictures! My confusion is this - it's not a function of what the mount itself will hold, i.e. I have a 60" plasma mounted to a wall in my house. I think it's more of a function of how much weight that the thin fiberglass in the radar arch can support.

Because of this question, and the occasional violence of the seas, I think I'm going to go with a pole mounted solution behind the cockpit sink. It will be tall enough to maintain line of site just as well as an arch-mounted solution but since it is mounted on a pole into the solid surface countertop, I figured it might be a more robust solution.

I'd appreciate any insitght into this theory because I am by no means an engineer!

-T
 
I don't know the specifics of your arch or sink module construction, but here's a couple of general prinicples I'd consider when deciding.
Generally, the top of an arch is reinforced for mounting electronics, the bottom obviously not... a backing plate would seem to be mandatory for a "bottom" of the arch installation, but how are you going to get one in there? I had an access panel built-in under the radar, but not where I needed to mount the sat dome. Garelick makes SS toggle bolts that are great for installations where you have no back-side access for through-bolts. You still need backing plates or enough solid glass to take the load. I've used them to install my outriggers as well...

When post mounting keep in mind that the taller the post, the greater the lateral forces that are going to be imposed on the base. As long as you're secured through a backing plate with either through-bolts or the toggles it should be fine. You want a backing plate large enough so that the fiberglass top won't flex- the thinner the glass you're bolting through, the larger the backing plate needs to be.
 
The fiberglass on the arch of your 330 is plenty thick to support the weight of any tv....and then some.

The Ram-Mounts use 3 or 4 bolts (I like to use 1/4-20 stainless hardware) when combined with large fender washers (1.5-2" diameter) This is VERY strong.....

I also put weather proof coax plugs, RCA audio inputs (for using the stereo to broadcast TV sound) and marinco 120v plugs behind the TV for a quick plug in.

Hope this helps.
 
I installed a flat screen this season in my 370DA.......got the bracket on e-Bay ( needed a little mod )....and used a standard 1" tube hindged clamp.

cockpitTV2001.jpg


cockpittv002.jpg



works great !!.....
 
Wow, that is a really cool installation - I have the same support bar on my 330 DA that supports the Bimini.

Is that support bar strong enough to support the TV while in weather, or do you simply remove the unit while underway?

Thanks,
Tim
 
Tim.......No problem with the support bar.....but I do remove it while underway.....matter of fact.....to make it easy to remove. I installed " studs " with wing nuts ( no tools required ) in place of the screws .... that hold the TV to the bracket.
I can take it down in less then 20 seconds.

cockpitTV2002.jpg
 
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