Installing Wall Plate Tips

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Scinx

Mechanical Monkey
I purchased a couple wallplates with XLR and TRS jacks in them. I am planning to put them into an existing wall. What are some tips - or things I need to purchase - before doing this.
One wall is wood panel and the other is sheetrock. Do I need certain boxes, can I just screw into the wall, do I need mounts - in short - if I take a trip to Home Depot - what should I purchase for this job.

Thanks!
 
The easiest way of installing them permanently, is to purchase "zip boxes" from home depot. Those are the blue boxes, with two screws at opposite corners, that when spun with your screwgun, flip up two plastic blue tabs to hold the box in place.

Cutting out the holes is a little tricky, but easily done with a sheetrock saw for sheetrock, or a sabre saw for the wood.

The boxes are installed from the front of the wall, not the inside, which is why its tricky. When you trace the pattern of the box, its backwards :D

So trace it to a piece of paper, cut it out with a scissor, then trace the pattern backwards from the paper.

use cardboard if you want the template to last for more than just a few boxes. THe cardboard on the back of a writing pad is good enough.
 
Thanks a bunch Frederic. I am familiar with those zip boxes - but I dont quite understand the whole opposite idea. Why does it make a difference if a rectangle is opposite?
Thanks! I much appreciate your help
 
Scinx said:
Thanks a bunch Frederic. I am familiar with those zip boxes - but I dont quite understand the whole opposite idea. Why does it make a difference if a rectangle is opposite?
Thanks! I much appreciate your help
Click to expand...

When you buy one, you'll see what I mean :)

The box is rectangular, yes, however the rotating tabs are mounted on the outside of the box, not flush. Therefore, your actual cut needs to be a rectangle with two dogears, so you can push the box through.

But if you cut the dogears on the wrong edge of the rectangular hole, the box still won't fit and if you try to cut out the dogears correctly at this point, the hole is too big and the box will fall through dispite your best effort.

Thats when you buy a tube of structural adhesive, and use liberally :D
 
Makes perfect sense...thanks again...
Would it be very foolish to just screw the plates straight on into the walls? The plates are 3 gang and arent too heavy...
 
I would recommend mount one three gang metal box on the outside of the wall. Then land the wires to the box. There are some good drywall anchors I don't remeber the name but they are metal and scr3ew into the drywall. There is a hole in the center where You can screw into . They don't work like the normal Plastic drywall anchors but they are strong.

have you already fished the wire through the wall? If so what kind?

How far is your run? Is the wall subject to extreem decibels? If so flush mounting will allow penetration of sound to go through the wall and into the next room. Mounting galvanized boxes on the outside will help. It might not look pretty but it's convenient.
 
Scinx said:
Makes perfect sense...thanks again...
Would it be very foolish to just screw the plates straight on into the walls? The plates are 3 gang and arent too heavy...
Click to expand...


On the wood-backed wall you could, but with an ordinary sheet rock wall, a few connect/disconnects and the plate's going to come of...
 
Thanks to both of you for your help! FYI - I am running Canare snake of about 10 ft. The holes have not been cut and nothing has been soldered as of yet. The wire is going to be fed through the wall, into a closet area, and then into the Live Room so as to cut down on possible leakage. It should also make things easier should I ever need to resolder the connections. The shared wall will not be pierced.
Thanks again for your comments. You guys are great
 
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