Is this the best install you have seen?

[Paul_L]

Can you beat this?

[Friez]

Can you beat this?

 

I think the only way to improve that is to use insane amounts of gaffer tape to attach the projector to the roof rather than bolting it on!

[chrbb]

My cat came home late this week clutching a projector warrenty and wire cutters - now I know where he was!

 

Is this a late April fools?

[Paul_L]

 

Is this a late April fools?

 

Sorry to say, but defiantly not

 

I can take you and show you the classroom it's in!

[elsiegee40]

Is it just hanging from the cables? There's enough wire there to support the projector without a ceiling mount!

 

I do think the installer needs more practice before getting GCSE macrame!

[Oops_my_bad]

Oh gosh, i thought a few of ours were bad, but THAT IS SOMMMIN ELSE!

[flashsnaps]

He must of done it for free surely? Shocking!

 

Whats all the extra cabling about?

[MK-2]

we had two projectors held in the ceiling (similar setup to that pic) by screws that barely made a hole.

we had a a comms cabinet that was so badly installed it was hanging off the wall ready to drop. and we have two IWB installations on the p!ss and so low that the teachers desk is in the way.

so we could probably rival you overall

[davyboi]

hes abviously used a cable thats waaaaaaay too big probably not realsing untill he arrived that it is a solid ceiling and not suspended, and had no where to hide the spare cable.

[sharkster]

what was the company who installed that?

jus so i know not to use em

[russdev]

hes abviously used a cable thats waaaaaaay too big probably not realsing untill he arrived that it is a solid ceiling and not suspended, and had no where to hide the spare cable.

 

and fact he didnt know how to rewrite it so that cuts some of excess cable off...

 

wow that is a bad install..

 

Russell

[mrtechsystems]

Bloody hell how do you he get away with that wants shooting - Bang

[DSapseid]

we had a a comms cabinet that was so badly installed it was hanging off the wall ready to drop.

 

i did have one of these fall down it was held in plasterboard by normall screws! It was above my desk and i was putting a cable and fell down in my hand. I shouted to a few coleagues and they ran and got a long bit of wood that we propped it back up with whilst i dismantled the cab and put the switches on a shelf next to it. I then tied the switches round a pipe with network cable to stop them from falling off! Hang on its still like it nearlly two years later!!!

[webman]

Power cables can get very hot when coiled like that, very dangerous.

[OutLawTorn]

Well i'd show you the best install i've seen, but its no longer there... the mount came un-bolted from the ceiling, ripped the cabling out of the ducting and landed projector-first on the floor (we suspect it hit a desk on the way down).

 

Fortunately it was during school hols, so it didn't land on anyone... the company who installed it have arranged for it to be repaired (only the casing was broken, turned out the projector still worked) and then they will "try again"...

 

(of course this is the same company who, while drilling through a concrete slab between levels, managed to hit a hot-water pipe and flood the PDHPE staffroom)

[speckled]

I think i can match that, we had an island installed with a power bar and instead of the power and data being below desk the decided to go up over....the power sockets go right to the ceiling!...thats about 8ft, so you can imagine what it looked like when all the sockets where plugged in.

[PEO]

got my electrician head on now.

 

Thats not funny, its blooming dangerous. the heat generated will eventually cause a serious fire. If health and saftey see that, god knows what would be said.

[Joedetic]

I thought it was the resistance that caused the heat?

[localzuk]

That is pretty bad!

 

We have a projector in one of our ICT suites that has a 10ft drop from the ceiling to the projector (tall rooms). When I turned it off a while back, I noticed it wobbled back and forth. It turned out that whoever had installed it had used bolts straight through the plasterboard ceiling! We had it fixed by having supports added within the ceiling which the mount was than attached to.

 

We were so lucky it didn't fall on someone's head!! It would've killed them, easily.

[torledo]

Can you beat this?

 

One of our projector installs would look exactly like that if we didn't have a suspended ceiling to hide an insane amount of excess wire. How difficult is to estimate the length of preterminated cable you need ?.....but more to the point most of the school projector installers are of the crash bang wallop variety, they'd rather not mess around with the delicate art of soldering vga pins. That's why they go for the lindy 10m+ lengths.

 

It's a shame because a proper install requires the installer to have that ability....run the correct length snip off a either end and then solder on. Even if they had gone for a more realistic length they would still have had some excess and they're no way to hide any excess in that picture.

 

But soldering vga pins is a dark art. Requiring a pair of pliers with an elastic band on the end and preferably a magnifying glass for the oldies willing to give it a go. Plus alot of patience and a massive amount of practice.

 

on a side note has anyone tried using those screw terminal three pin ends for when you're shortening power cables of electrical appliances (IEC-320 or kettle leads as some people mistakenly say). They are blooming terrible absolutely the worst design i hve ever come across. It's just ridiculously easy for all three cores to come out at any time. The number of times i've blown a fuse after doing one and then trying to test it out. Whoever designed them shot be shot.....trouble is i can't find any other design.

Edited April 4, 2008 by torledo

[torledo]

I think i can match that, we had an island installed with a power bar and instead of the power and data being below desk the decided to go up over....the power sockets go right to the ceiling!...thats about 8ft, so you can imagine what it looked like when all the sockets where plugged in.

 

that's not a trip hazard that's a garroting hazard. blimey!!!

[PEO]

I thought it was the resistance that caused the heat?

 

when cable is coiled, it inefect acts like a heating element, as the heat increases so does resistance. the cable over time will deteriate and can cause an electrical fire.

[tech_guy]

when cable is coiled, it inefect acts like a heating element, as the heat increases so does resistance. the cable over time will deteriate and can cause an electrical fire.

 

What if you do loose 'figure of eights' with the cables? Is that still a hazard?

[SYNACK]

What if you do loose 'figure of eights' with the cables? Is that still a hazard?

 

Any setup where the cable retraces its own path in the same direction multiple times will cause issues. This is because by coiling the wire then running a current through it it effectively turns into an inductor (electro-magnet).

 

There are several issues with this, the first is that it acts as a resister while it is setting up the magnetic field, when the the field is established it has effectively a capacitance (energy stored in the magnetic field) which will discharge very quickly and at a high voltage when the power is disconnected (the power cables don't get to bad as its AC but the constant opposition of the current as it changes polarity by the existing field causes the heat issue). This puts you gear at risk of power surges and exposes it to extra EMI.

 

If the figure eights were to constantly reverse direction ie one clockwise one counter clockwise some how it should be ok. The magnetic fields that cause the issue should cancel each other out.

[Sylv3r]

Is this a professional install or something you have knocked up as a short term fix? I would have refused to sign the job off if anybody left anything like that here.