After I fainted from sticker shock at the pricing of the official Sanyo PLV-Z3 projector ceiling mount ($200), I found a much cheaper solution. For $36.95 I could buy a Metalcraft all metal adjustable ceiling mount off ebay.

Mounting a projector to my ceiling was easier than I thought. Here’s how I did it.

Tools you’ll need:

* Philips Hand Screw Driver

* Circular Level

* EZ Anchor Stud Solvers

* Tape Measure

* Step Ladder

Size up the mounting hardware: The Metalcraft mount’s ceiling plate is large measuring five by five inches square with six pre-drilled holes for ceiling screws. A post descends to the projector mount plate.

How I measured my room for optimum mount placement: Bisecting the width of the room, considering the airduct, and measuring eleven and a half feet from the front projector screen’s surface plus the half the length of the mounting plate, I placed the plate on the ceiling and marked each screw hole.

Anchored to ceiling: Wear safety goggles to avoid getting ceiling board dust in your eyes. I removed the plate and drove the metal EZ Anchor Stud Solver anchors until they were flush with the ceiling. The EZ Anchors are great because you never have to drill a pilot hole for the self-tapping anchors. I replaced the plate over the anchors and drove each #8 screw into its anchor. You may need an extra hand to hold the plate in place while you tighten the first two to four screws.

Attach the projector plate before attaching to ceiling plate: Since the mount assembly breaks into two parts, one attaching to the ceiling with a post that screws into the adjustment plate for the projector, you can screw and tighten the hex screws and plastic bushings to the projector body.

Secure the projector plate to the ceiling mount: The Metalcraft ceiling mount’s post accepts a adjustable knob screw. You will need someone to help you get the screw started while they lift up the projector. With the screw tight you can rotate the projector from left to right on the ceiling post.

Fine-tuning: The Metalcraft mount allows yaw, pitch and rotation. With the hand tightening of knobs on the projector mount plate you can canter your projector perfectly on your projection screen. With the aid of a circular bubble level you can level the projector from front to back and left to right using the corresponding thumb knobs. With projector level you can then adjust your lense up and down and to the side for a perfect screen fill with no keystone distortion correction.

Caveat: The Metalcraft mount is wobbly because of the thinness of the metal used on the metal band that holds the projector mount to the ceiling mount post. When you need to change interconnects or adjust manual focus and zoom the projector rocks slightly as the metal gives. This does not cause the projector to fall out of register, though. Hey—$36.95—what do you expect?

The Metalcraft Mounting System for the Sanyo PLV-Z3 LCD projector (and many other projector brands and models) is a great bargain and very reliable. Highly recommended.

Father, Husband and Geek. My geeky interests have not changed since I was a kid. I still love comic books, anime, role-playing games, console video games, indie rock, imported toys and mecha models, bad American and great British sitcoms, and all the tech that let’s me experience these hobbies to their fullest. Now that I’m married with children, I’ve had to strike a balance between supporting and pleasing my family and feeding my geekery hunger. Lucky for me, my wife is very accomodating and even geeks out with me on occasion (the ladies love Joss Whedon’s “Firefly”). My two year old likes anything that moves on the front projection screen and makes noise, so far she is easy to please. Geekwithfamily.com exists to enrich the lives of fellow geeks and the friends and family who put up with them.

I hope you’ve been enjoying my posts lately. I thought I might do something different today and rustle up a few bits of info from around the WWW. These are some of the news items and blog posts that have been popular over the last few weeks. Leave me your thoughts.

NEC Introduces Four New Data Projectors : Akihabara News .com

NEC just introduced four View Light Series data projectors, the NP215J (2500 Lumens), NP210J (2200 Lumens), NP115J (2500 Lumens) and NP110J (2200 Lumens). The NP215J and NP210J feature a 0.55 inch DLP panel with a XGA resolution …

Researchers See Better Optical Data Storage Through Shrimp Eyes …

… mantis shrimp have held the secret to optimizing optical data systems all along. By mimicking the natural design of the mantis shrimp eye, researchers think they can enhance the capacity of media like CDs, DVDs and data projectors. …

Essential Features To Keep In Mind While Buying Projectors

It is also essential to check the video and data inputs of the projector that you are considering buying. You might wish to project from DVD player, satellite box, cable box, and computer or want to connect all the sources and …

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