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Ideas on mounting large crts?
Edgecrusher:
I have a 32" SONY I just finished RGB modding to use for an arcade cabinet. I imagine this is not what most people use since the thing weighs around 170lbs, but the image quality is important and I'm planning to use it for a 4 player cab.
ATM I have it mounted in 1-1/2" angle iron frame I fabbed to keep it from getting damaged while it was being modded and with the thought I could put it in the cab this way. This tube is so hard to handle because of it's weight and tendency to want to flip onto the screen. The metal frame tilts it back a bit and balances it's center of gravity better.
I need the cabinet to be able to make it through a doorway. Also, I want it down on the first level of my house so it'll have to go down stairs. I was thinking of building the cab in stages to be easier to get to where it needs to be. So maybe plywood boxes, basically, that stack to form the center of the cabinet and then two sides to give it the side profile of an arcade cabinet. The control panel can be a separate box on the front.
The framed crt could set in the middle "box" section. Realistically, only the bottom would need to be a box and strong enough to support the CRT and everything above that doesn't matter so much. Just the marquee light and a speaker above the TV.
I think the conventional way of assembling a cab probably won't be enough to hold a 170lb CRT not to mention getting it in there without busting a nut in the process.
If anyone has any suggestions or experiences I'd be interested in them.
Zebidee:
Conventional method for mounting the CRT in a cab will work fine. I've done it with 27" Sony PVMs which must weigh at least as much as your 32" (because of all the extra electronics and shielding) and yes, the Trinitron tubes weigh more than normal tubes because they use an aperture grill instead of the (lighter) shadow mask.
To mount the CRT "conventionally", all you need are four pieces of decent offcuts from a strong wood like 3/4" plywood, which incidentally is what I prefer to make cabs out of, so there is always plenty lying around. The four wood offcuts only need to be maybe up to 3-4 inches wide and a bit longer than the side of your monitor
The first two wood pieces are just for blocking. They just need one straight edge and are screwed into the side of the monitor bay at the angle you want the screen to be.
The other two wood pieces will bracket the CRT, and the weight will rest on top of the blocking pieces. To let the brackets snuggle up to the CRT corner pegs, cut part of the wood straight at roughly 45 degrees (like shown below). This will give you some wiggle-room, as the angle will always come to the corner pegs optimally. You can then just slide the two pieces to the tube so that they always fit perfectly.
This design has another advantage - if you cut the 45 degree angle part long enough, say up to two inches, it is easy to swap out the tube for another one of similar size. You just slide the wood brackets up and down to find the right spots for the CRT pegs and drill a new hole
The CRT in pics above is resting very happily there, even though it is not bolted down!
Use T-nuts like these to secure the tube:
I have posted those same pics elsewhere, sorry to people that have seen it before :notworthy You'll all be glad to know that I am finally progressing that cab further.
You can use this same mounting method with commercial metal arcade monitor frames because they will have mounting flanges on the outer edge. I like that you did your own steel frame, you must have some welding skills :D However I'm not sure you can use the frame to mount your TV in the way shown above, without some modification.
EDIT: Is that TV *really* 170 pounds? I would have guessed it to be no more than about 120.
EDIT2: I just looked up the user manual and OMG you are right, thus massive beast is listed as weighing 79kg or 175lbs!! That really is a monster.
Edgecrusher:
Hello again Zeb!
I'd really prefer to do it your way, but honestly, I don't think I could maneuver the tube into place without breaking something. Granted making it in a metal frame makes it big and cumbersome, but I can grab ahold of the frame and stay away from the delicate neck.
My frame has a pivot and if I drill new holes in the side straps, which are made from 1/4" aluminum bus-bars from some recycled switch gear, I can angle it however much I need granted the neck doesn't hit the frame in the back. If I go much further than it is my PCB won't fit nicely under there and I'll have to get fancy.
I'm still up in the air as to how far I want to tilt the tube back. I'll probably make the base I was talking about and set it up there to get an idea of how it will look. If I was doing a vertical shooter I'd definitely have it more plumb, but I feel like a lot of horizontal fighters look better at an angle.??
Edgecrusher:
And yes, I weld. I love welding. I have done just about everything farbrication wise to some degree. I'm 47 and I just started getting into woodworking the last couple years.
Making arcades mixes just about every thing I love to do! Electrical, computers, metal fabrication, and wood working. I'm not even a gamer. lol I'm pretty much doing this for my family, but mainly because I'm a maker. In a year I'll be off doing something different, I'm sure.
Malenko:
I mounted a 36" vertically in a KI2 cab using the factory mounting hardware for the 25" CRT, the square thingies from Midway.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,97260.msg1025567.html
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