Wiring my house for Network! Yet another thread!

[Dean Roddey]

My trick is to live in a microscopic apartment with no A/C. My power bill was $35 this month. And that's with a large development machine on 2/3rds of the day, seven days a week, and an always on little media system computer running CQC.

In the coldest part of the winter it'll range up a bit over $100. My body heat and the few appliances almost keeps it warm enough. I could probably just buy a ferret and take it over the top. A cow and I could start selling energy back to PG&E, not to mention methane.

 

[wuench]

Just to be sure before I go ahead and place the order, if I buy the Channel Vision 50" ...would be able to use Channel Vision , Leviton or Elk modules inside. I dont have to stick to the same brand ! Right ?

Yes. They all use the same hole layout. The only caveat is the Elk cabinets have some additional holes to mount the main control, those of us with non-Elk cabinets either drill or use a generic mounting plate to mount the main control. It is easy to line up the holes as the control board comes out of the plastic case, so you can mark the holes where you want them.

 

[tmbrown97]

:hesaid:

I have a handful of different modules from different manufacturers; the Elk stuff works fine; the OnQ has different mounting holes so you can move the pins to different locations.

I tried many alternatives to drilling my cabinet (universal brackets of every brand/type) for the M1 before I lost patience and popped it out of the plastic shell and just drilled it. Haven't looked back since. In fact, I'm debating moving the Elk to the bottom of the 50" and saving the top for networking stuff - but that's a project that'll probably never end before this house is sold. Right now the doors to the wall mount cabinet and the purdy plexi door haven't closed in at least a year.

 

[activemind]

Okay, so not a virgin anymore :rockon:

Cut some drywall and got under the house for the first time.

So far so good. I am starting from my 'office' so I cut a hole in the drywall and crawled under to get to that point. It was all the way in the other corner of the house.
Scary! But not that bad! Some spaces were 'real' tight but managed somehow.

So this visit was just to scope out what and where and get myself in underneath for the first time.

Regarding the location of the homerun box, I am still not 100% sure, a part of me thinks I should just mount it underneath the stairs right next to the security panel and move on.

Also, I am not sure if I will still keep the security (Elk, in future) in a separate box and this one for all the other stuff. Don't know.

I forgot to take a camera with me when I was in the crawl space, maybe I will take one next time.

Planning to get a channel vision 50" without any cover for now. Later on depending upon the money, I can choose what cover I want :blink:

What do you guys use to cut the drywall ? I have a Dremel Trio and the good old drywall saw, for the first one I just used the saw!

Another question I had was about the gang boxes at each of the location:

Does this one look okay or should I be looking at something else ?

 

[wuench]

I just use a keyhole saw to cut drywall, or possibly a recip saw for big holes (cut shallow!). Dremel is probably hard to get a straight line, I would think... Whatever you use, wave an electrical wand around and make sure you have a good idea where the wires and any pipes are.

For LV use rings (the orange ones), not full boxes. It will be easier to work with, you won't have to bend cables as tightly for them to fit into the connectors on the back and you can maintain proper bend radius. I used boxes like you linked to and I wish I hadn't.

 

[activemind]

I just use a keyhole saw to cut drywall, or possibly a recip saw for big holes (cut shallow!). Dremel is probably hard to get a straight line, I would think... Whatever you use, wave an electrical wand around and make sure you have a good idea where the wires and any pipes are.

For LV use rings (the orange ones), not full boxes. It will be easier to work with, you won't have to bend cables as tightly for them to fit into the connectors on the back and you can maintain proper bend radius. I used boxes like you linked to and I wish I hadn't.

Slow down Wuench!

Please keep in mind that you are working with a rookie here, but willing to learn ! ray:

What is the orange LV ring you are talking about? Can I find them at HD or Lowes? Can you please post a link!

 

[activemind]

Is this what you meant ?

Arlington Low Profile Low Voltage Mounting Bracket

 

[tmbrown97]

For small holes like a gang box, I typically just use a drywall saw; if I'm doing something larger like a cutout for a big box, I found this cordless saw to be a handy go-to because the short blade tends to keep it out of harms way and it's easy to handle. For one area I had to remove the drywall behind the baseboard for a rather long length, so the person that helped me out brought a Dremel Multi-Max out and it did a great job for long straight lines (where you're not up against a stud).

And congrats on getting under the house finally!

Another handy tool is a good set of fiberglass fish rods - Harbor Freight had a great deal on a set but I can't find them online now... you can also check Fry's. They have extensions you can keep screwing together and can use the hook to retrieve a bundle you pushed down a hole without having to crawl all the way to those tight corners. Also a good long drill bit from Home Depot to drill down through the bottom plate to get under the house.

Last tip - go around every inch of your house to make sure it's 100% rodent-proof; once you have wires under there, you don't want them to become food or nesting material.

 

[JimS]

You can get the low voltage rings at Lowes/HD. I think he was referring to something like this:

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100160916/h_d2/ProductDisplay?superSkuId=202891090

These work ok but some are not very solid. For the locations I did before drywall went up I used these and just screwed one side to a stud. Cheap and solid.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100582949/h_d2/ProductDisplay?

They come in different depths so get one that matches your drywall.

 

[wuench]

Hahaha, sorry didn't mean to go over you head, the links above are what I meant. You might just skip the reciprocating saw idea...

Low Voltage Box/Ring

Keyhole Saw

Electrical Wand/Sensor/Tester

 

[activemind]

Hahaha, sorry didn't mean to go over you head, the links above are what I meant. You might just skip the reciprocating saw idea...

Low Voltage Box/Ring

Keyhole Saw

Electrical Wand/Sensor/Tester

THANK YOU! The LV gang you pictured above is what I dug up from HD website. I will go with those.

I have the AC sensor as part of my stud sensor. Dont know how reliable that thing is !

Will have to look up this electric wand/sensor ... How accurate is this thing ? Better than the one I have on my stud detector ?

 

[activemind]

For small holes like a gang box, I typically just use a drywall saw; if I'm doing something larger like a cutout for a big box, I found this cordless saw to be a handy go-to because the short blade tends to keep it out of harms way and it's easy to handle. For one area I had to remove the drywall behind the baseboard for a rather long length, so the person that helped me out brought a Dremel Multi-Max out and it did a great job for long straight lines (where you're not up against a stud).

And congrats on getting under the house finally!

Another handy tool is a good set of fiberglass fish rods - Harbor Freight had a great deal on a set but I can't find them online now... you can also check Fry's. They have extensions you can keep screwing together and can use the hook to retrieve a bundle you pushed down a hole without having to crawl all the way to those tight corners. Also a good long drill bit from Home Depot to drill down through the bottom plate to get under the house.

Last tip - go around every inch of your house to make sure it's 100% rodent-proof; once you have wires under there, you don't want them to become food or nesting material.

Thank you W2P about bringing up the rodent topic. So I did find some droppings in some area of the crawl space. What should I do ? Should I panic :axe:

I did wear the whole space suit before I went underneath. The overall, breathing mask, shoes protector and a head LED light.

Should I even try to cleanup the droppings or just call somebody . Don't want to catch something if its even a little hazardous!

I DID think about getting the fiberglass fish rods, but didnt get them so far. I got a fish tape. Plus if I did want to go around every area of the cral space, I am guessing I would not need the fiber fishing rods ?

 

[tmbrown97]

The electrical sensor is good for knowing if a circuit is hot. I don't know how good it is for finding hot wired behind drywall, but it's definitely an important tool to have in the bag... Generally called a Non Contact Voltage Detector or similar.

 

[wuench]

They are probably the same as long as it is adjustable. I am kinda anal about using it, so every time I use it I always test it against a live wire first and try to adjust the sensitivity to a distance of what the wires in the wall would be. It's not always perfect, if you have ANY doubts cut an exploratory hole. Better than waking up on the floor, or worse or starting a fire..

Also, I always wear gloves when doing electrical work. That saved me once, big time when demoing a wall and being told the power was off when it wasn't all I got was a decent tingle, without the gloves who knows!

 

[tmbrown97]

That brings up another point about finding A/C wires... If you're trying to make a big hole for something like an in-wall can, it's honestly best to start with a hammer to make the initial hole - it won't tear through any wires if there are any. Once you get through with the hammer and have enough room to look around, then clean up the hole with the saw. Nowadays a cell-phone with the camera and light can actually be pretty handy for looking around inside walls.

As far as the rodents, just follow the entire perimeter of the home and ensure there are no holes big enough for a rodent to get through. Close them off with metal screening. If in doubt, you can call Clark and they'll do it for you for a fee. I wouldn't worry about anything dangerous with the rodents generally; they don't want to come near you. Around here, I'm far more concerned with spiders like the Black Widows and Brown Recluse, or with some of my clients, wasps.