Mount your projection screen securely from the ceiling for easy access.
With a motorized projection screen, you can reveal or conceal your big screen on demand. However, a motorized screen can be heavy, requiring a strong mounting point to keep the device from falling once it's been set into place. If you have drop ceilings, neither the grid of the ceiling nor the ceiling panels are strong enough to support a motorized screen. You can still install the projector, but you'll need to extend the installation through the grid level and into the ceiling joists above.
Instructions
1. Take a piece of paper and place it over the side of the with the mounting holes. Trace over the screen edges and mark the hole locations to make a template of the mounting surface. Cut out the template with a pair of scissors.
2. Place the template onto the drop ceiling where you wish to mount the projection screen. Use a ladder to reach the ceiling height. Make certain the mounting holes are clear of the ceiling grid rails that hold the ceiling panels in place. Mark the location of the holes onto the ceiling panels with the pencil, then remove the panels from the grid by pressing upward on them at the corners to tilt them at an angle and slipping them down through the holes.
3. Measure the length of the open space in the ceiling created by the removal of the ceiling panels. Cut a sheet of 3/4-inch plywood a foot wide and the measured length of the panel space.
4. Run the plywood sheet through one of the grid holes in the ceiling grid. Place the sheet against the ceiling joists above the desired screen mount location. Drive two 5-inch long hex head lag screws through the plywood and into each of the ceiling joists an inch inside each edge of the footwide panel length.
5. Place the template onto the piece of plywood and mark the mounting holes onto the plywood sheet. Drill a hole through the sheet at each marked point large enough to pass your threaded rod through.
6. Measure the distance between the joist and the bottom of the ceiling grid and add 1 inch to the length. Push a threaded rod through the holes in the plywood and secure it in place with a nut over the top. You'll have enough room to reach over the side of the sheet of plywood to place the nut over the top of the rod. The rod should end just short of the tip of the grid line, allowing space for the ceiling placement.
7. Test the locations of the mounting holes by placing a nail through each hole point in the ceiling panels, then slipping the panel through its grid hole. Check that the tip of the nail aligns with the threaded rod above. If it doesn't, adjust the nail so it's centered on the rod.
8. Remove the panel again and drill a hole through it where you determined the final location of the mounting hole will be.
9. Remove a couple of ceiling panels adjacent to the ones you're mounting the screen through to provide you access to the top of the mounting panels once in place. Place a small threaded rod into the projection mounting hole, extending about 1-1/2 inches from the top of the projection screen housing. Return the ceiling panels, with the holes through them, back to the ceiling grid.
10. Run the rods from the screen through the ceiling panels and place a coupler onto the ends above the panel, and onto the ends of the threaded rods extending from the ceiling joist.
11. Tighten the couplers over the two rods to pull them together until the ceiling panel rests on the grid rails with the projection screen flush against the base of the ceiling panels. The weight of the mount will be dispersed across the length of the plywood sheet attached to the joists, and not on the ceiling panels, or the grid frame.
12. Cut a notch in the panel next to the mount with a utility knife, and run the cord for the mount control and power through the ceiling space above the panels to the edge of the wall. Lift the panels along the cord route to move the cord along and drop them back into place when needed. Cut a second notch in a panel near the wall edge and run the cord down to a nearby electrical outlet and plug the device.
13. Return all ceiling panels to the grid.
Tags: ceiling panels, projection screen, ceiling grid, mounting holes, ceiling joists, plywood sheet, through ceiling