Cocktail monitor mounting help

[yeertha]

Hi guys (and gals?),

I've been reading about building your own arcade for a while and I just started working on plans in Google Sketchup for my first build. It's going to be a cocktail table, but I'm having trouble figuring out the best way to mount the monitor. I recently purchased a 22" (20" viewable) Viewsonic CRT off Craigslist for $15 and want to use it. A couple pictures of it are below. Even though my drawings show the monitor as basically two rectangular prisms mounted on top of each other, it's not that simple. There are no flat surfaces to put some sort of mounting bars under. They're all curved.

The motherboard and power supply also have to go in the bottom of the cabinet, and there's about 7 inches or so of clearance for them (could make it more, but I don't think I'll need to). I'm scared to decase the thing, and I would prefer not to. Could some of you give your advice on this situation? If you need more info, I'll be happy to provide it. The dimension that looks like it says 1/2" is actually 1 1/2" by the way. It's on there, but the dimension line is covering it up.

Thank you for your help.

[gryhnd]

[javeryh]

I know you don't want to take the case off but take the case off.  It will be much easier to mount.

[gryhnd]

I know you don't want to take the case off but take the case off.  It will be much easier to mount.

Ah, missed the part about not wanting to decase.

It's not that bad actually. There's so much shielding on the inside that you'd be hard pressed to touch anything you shouldn't.

Here's what mine looked like after I removed the case:

[Stobe]

Another option I've seen done is to build a "stand" for it, and rest the back on it.  Then just use some cross braces to act as guides rather than mounts (to square up the monitor and center it, etc).  All the weight would be on the "floor" of your cab, instead of on the walls.  You could use that "stand" as a box to put you mobo and computer stuff underneath. 

[yeertha]

Thanks for your suggestions so far guys. I am thinking more and more about removing the case. I just want to do it as safely as possible. I can't really find a good guide on the best way to go about it though. What steps do you folks suggest I follow to make sure I don't get shocked? I assume touching the outer metal cage is safe, correct? If someone could provide me with detailed steps by the time I get home from work in 7 hours, I can try it then.

Thanks again.

[yeertha]

Ok. So I removed the rear casing and took a look inside. There are a few pictures below. You can see on there that there are mounts that could be mounted to the top piece of the table, but there is a lot of exposed wiring. What would be the best way to go about mounting this thing be? Should I just leave it inside the case and make some sort of shelf system like what has been suggested, or should I take the whole case off and mount it like that even though everything is exposed? What parts are not good to touch? Let me know if anyone needs more details.

Thanks again.

[ArtMAME]

I have done about 3 of these Midway cocktails this way:

http://arturosarcadelab.blogspot.com/2010/01/midway-cocktail-pc-monitor-mounting.html

Very easy and repeatable.

[bkenobi]

22" is going to be a MONSTER screen for a cocktail cabinet.  If I were to go with a 19" screen, I'd personally try to find an LCD just because heat and weight issues would essentially go away.  But, that should look pretty cool when finished!

[yeertha]

22" is going to be a MONSTER screen for a cocktail cabinet.  If I were to go with a 19" screen, I'd personally try to find an LCD just because heat and weight issues would essentially go away.  But, that should look pretty cool when finished!

Yeah I'm really hoping it will fit in a standard size Ms. Pacman cocktail. So far it looks like it will, but I'm going to make sure later tonight by actually removing it all and drawing up a mounting template. I'll put it in Sketchup to double check. I think there's only gonna be about 1/2 inch of clearance on the sides. Hopefully there's more. I'll see. 

[bkenobi]

The monitor might fit, but don't forget that a PC needs to go in there as well!

[yeertha]

The monitor might fit, but don't forget that a PC needs to go in there as well!

No worries there. It will easily fit. I'm going to remove the mobo and other parts to mount them.