In-wall multimedia cable trunking with tidy exit plate?

[The late XV105]

As the title.
Does such a thing exist rather than leaving a bare hole in the plaster?

In essence I would like substantially-sized trunking (say up to 8cm square section or rectangular but equivalent cross section*) that I can cut to length, fit a 90 degree elbow at each end, recess in a chased-out wall, re-plaster, and then fit a flanged faceplate for reasons purely of tidy finish. The faceplate either needs to be white plastic or suitable for painting.

Suggestions, please?

Normally I would make something, but don't have the time - and the family wants the job finished!


Thanks very much,
TLXV


*Yes, this chunky. Power cables for TV and 6900k backlight are run in their own conduit a couple of feet away from the one I am writing about, but I still have nine signal cables today and who knows what tomorrow. They therefore need to be loose, easily drawn without kinking, and with space for further cables to be added in future.

[Mike-Bracknell]

How about a standard modular CAT5e faceplate (fits most pattresses) like this: Cat5. 2G Wall Socket Face Plate | Screwfix.com (http://www.screwfix.com/p/cat5-2g-wall-socket-face-plate/19747)

and then a recessed pattress with an exit hole or two cut in it?

you can then add blanking plates if necessary?

/just a thought.

[A A Gruntpuddock]

Might I suggest a very careful survey of the route you are considering to identify load-bearing walls?

Chewing a chunk that size out of a wall is unlikely to improve its structural properties.

I have seen brick walls cracking when chased out for normal electrical conduits.

[Milo Minderbinder]

Suggestions???

yeah - go wireless

[mixture]

fit a 90 degree elbow at each end

Ouch... that won't do much good for your bend radius requirements ! :cool:


The faceplate either needs to be white plastic or suitable for painting.

There are niche companies that will make bespoke faceplates out there. Unfortunately I can't remember their names off the top of my head


Suggestions???
yeah - go wireless


I'd love to see you stream TV signals over wifi Milo !

It's hard enough to find a cost effective way to shift satellite/tv signals around over IP on structured cabling that actually works.

[Milo Minderbinder]

I assume you're relaying video from a receiver / decoder to a remote PC?
No problem at all, especially with 300MB/s N rated kit
Its possible to download HD video from the internet at ADSL bandwidth much lower than that.
I watch streaming video at HD from one PC to the next over a "G" link

If you want to relay an actual received TV signal there are plenty of "digisender" type products on the market

[The late XV105]

Thanks for all the comments.

Cat5e faceplate - Yup, that might be an idea, M-B. If I can find some conduit to tidily mate with it cross-section wise, this could be a solution!

90 degree bend - no problem at all if the conduit has such large cross section as to make the cables so loose they are rattling around. Falling off to sleep last night though I wondered about using a large section flexible hose like the one I have with my Aquavac - and which I am not about to cannibalise!

Load bearing walls - I avoided this detail since it was irrelevant to the conduit question, but here goes: The vast majority of the conduit run will be in free space behind plasterboard in the cavity left after removing a coal effect fire. Okay, not strictly free space as it will need to lightly squash the thick "loft" insulation that is now there, but the point remains the same; all but 3" (vertically) is not even brick, let alone load bearing, and the 3" I will need to chase out is not firebrick either (in case anyone wishes to resurrect the fire when I am dead and gone). The plasterboard is not fitted yet, so the job is easily done.

WiFi - No thank you, not even N. I borrowed such a router and found loading photos from my NAS was not as snap-snap-snappy as it is with my current Cat5e setup; Not slow like G, but still just slow enough to be irritating. In any case this doesn't solve the problem of having 8 other signal cables to hide and connect that are unrelated to home network connectivity.

Niche companies - Precisely. I just need to find some - hence the thread :)

Cheers,
TLXV

[ORAC]

You mean someone like this (http://www.av4home.co.uk/acatalog/Cable_Management.html?gclid=CISAwK_W_K0CFWIntAodEBk4sQ) or like this (http://www.avwallplates.co.uk/) or like this (http://www.nexxia.co.uk/products.asp?section=Audio%20Wall%20Plates)..... :8

[green granite]

You probably will get all you need from these people (http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/index.html), I use them quite a lot as even with P&P they're cheaper than DIY stores and carry a better stock.

[The late XV105]

You mean someone like this or like this or like this

Edited from my original "thanks but no thanks" to say "thanks". I just spotted the wall plates amongst all the socket plates. Time to go and dig. Thanks for the pointer. There may be no need for the DIY store trip mentioned below.

[The late XV105]

You probably will get all you need from these people

Nice try, thanks GG. Being my preferred supplier of Things Wiring they were actually the first place I tried, but on this occasion they didn't have what I wanted.

I fancy a trip out after a day in the office, so might take a trip over the some DIY stores this evening just to see what I can modify to do the trick.

Cheers for now,
TLXV

[tony draper]

As someone with a lot of experience with trunking if you are planning to pull more cable through in future I would advise conduit tube rather than flat trunking,flat trunking is not designed for pulling through, specially if you have a few right angles on it and no access to the lids.
:)

[Cremeegg]

I'm sure Drapes would agree - leave a length of string in the conduit to help pull things through in the future.

Plenty of bespoke faceplates available - many with brush entries - usually black - like you get on letterboxes - some poeple think it makes things like tidier - I don't!.

Building Regs limit you to chasing 25% of the depth of the wall when chasing horizontally so the wall retains some structural integrity - although it wont apply to you others might find it useful.

[The late XV105]

Agree, TD. Exactly why I said conduit and stressed large cross section so the cables are very loose to rattle around inside. As mentioned before, this means that a 90 degree elbow becomes of little consequence; it almost becomes nothing at all if the aperture is large enough and the lower skin of the upper horizontal element (and upper skin of the lower horizontal element!) is only the thickness of conduit wall thicker than plasterboard depth.

The string I agree with too, thanks, Cremeegg. One of my wires will be a surplus cable (not connected to anything) for exactly this purpose. Looks like it is part of the system and therefore tidier than string.

To revert to where I came in, I like some of the faceplates I have now seen but I have yet to find a conduit and faceplate system that I like; because I prefer not to have brushes on the faceplate, I want the conduit to look swish rather than industrial, and seamlessly connected - of identical cross section - to the faceplate aperture. I know it is normally going to be hidden behind a telly and a AV electronics stack, but I can't be the only tediously nit-picking, aesthetically demanding, Ron Dennis of a DIYer on the planet! :)

[tony draper]

Lots of various pattress faceplates can be got,standard switch or 13 amp outlet size ,we used to blank ones and ennox cut a half inch round hole in the center then we discovered plates with holes aready cut or things like a telephone socket,just remove the gubbins on the back and you have a neat square hole for your cable exit.

[The late XV105]

After a saunter round B&Q looking for anything that vaguely resembled conduit I ended up buying two lengths of the 110mm x 54mm x 1000mm conduit shown below and four of the elbows.

http://www.discount-electrical.co.uk/shopimages/products/normal/ventilation/Manrose/MAN_40100.jpg
http://www.discount-electrical.co.uk/shopimages/products/normal/ventilation/Manrose/MAN_40600_1.jpg

Enabled by the fact that the majority of the length of each run is both in a fireplace void and behind a sheet of plasterboard that I can fit after fettling with holes and brackets, I should end up with the very discrete solution that I wanted; white to match the walls, no visible lugs or screws, and not even a faceplate if I am careful enough to get the exposed ends flush with the wall and plastered-in accurately.

I might even cut one end of each elbow back so that it protrudes by exactly the amount to make it neatly flush with the visible plasterboard face and devoid of cutting "whiskers"; this will reduce the effect of the elbow and make cable drawing even easier.

Thanks for all the help and ideas, and I certainly now have some pages bookmarked for other projects I am planning in the future. :ok:

For anyone else considering a project like my current one, the product I purchased is Manrose low profile extractor fan ducting.

Cheers for now,
TLXV

[tony draper]

You would have probably been better off seeking out a electrical wholesaler ie a supplier to the trade,generally such a establishment lurking somewhere in every town now.
We have a couple hereabouts one specializing in supplies to the Satellite dish burgler alarm industry who has more types of mini trunking and fitting for same than you can shake a stick at.
:)

[The late XV105]

Indeed, 'cept they were closed by the time I'd stumbled on what I did in B&Q - and despite a smartphone Google showing I was about to pay over the odds, I wanted to crack on. My choice.

Job done this morning. Very happy. Absolutely ideal. Looking forwards to when the plaster has dried out and I can get some paint on the wall.

[Frelon]

Here in France (and in Spain) all electric wiring is enclosed in flexible plastic tubing, called Gaines. This tubing runs from the fuse box to each outlet and the wires are drawn through the gaine. Needless to say there should be no kinks when laying out this tubing or the wires will be difficult to draw.

I have this gaine running from my attic down inside the walls to the TV outlet and have recently (because of having the need to have two satellite feeds to my TV) just pulled through another TV coax to the wall outlet. Oh so simple!

So at the moment I have a regular terrestrial coax and two satellite feeds running through this gaine, and room possibly for another cat 5 feed (latest TVs need an internet connection!!

This is the stuff here (http://www.bricodepot.fr/toulon/electricite/cables-fils-gaines/gaines). I shall certainly use it when I get back to the UK, not too sure I want to chase out the wall though!!