aaaaa...my showcase cab cp base wobbles!!

[hulkster]

i moved my cp base into the carpeted area today and it wobbles.  its not uneven because it was sturdy on the garage floor.  i bought some of these leveling feet, that are about 1" in diameter (maybe a little more) and put 4 of them on the bottom of the cp base.  drilled holes, and all that.  well it wobbled more!  whats the deal?  how do i get the base to stay sturdy?  is there some carpenter trick that everybody uses for cabs on carpet?  right now its on berber carpet (not soft) but when i move into my apt. it will be on softer carpet and i know it will wobble then.  right now i just have it on big piece of wood underneath it...and that works to some degree, but im still not completely satisfied.  what can i do??  bigger levels?(wider)...i was told to get some cedar wedges(Shims)...kinda like those door stop things, but that will look retarded.  help!

[krick]

You need to adjust the leveling feet by screwing them in or out as necessary to level your cab.

[hulkster]

i thought about that, but will that make it rock solid even on carpet??

[Sylentwulf]

You're ALWAYS gonna have problems on carpet. If NOTHING else, the the way the individual fibers bend in haphazrd directions is going to make it SLIGHTLY uneven.

The ONLY REAL way, is to build a small (even 1") base and screw it through the carpet into the floor.

The other ways, as you mentioned, are the leveling feet (I wouldn't go self-leveling, they never work) or just moving it into various places all over the place until it's level.

Then there's my personal favorite, and that of carpeneters world wide. Yes. It's the end-all-be-all of levelling tricks.

The Shim. (I use cedar shingles since you can buy them by the bale for less than $20 instead of those LUDICROUS 4 shims for $3 packages)

EDIT - One other note. You DON'T want to level it permanently to where you're going to be if you E?VER plan on moving it. Some people will shave off the side that's too high, and then when they move, the OTHER side is too high, so they shave that off..... You see where this is going. Their end table turns into a coffee table.

[krick]

i thought about that, but will that make it rock solid even on carpet??

Is it wobbling because your floor and/or cabinet is crooked or is it because your carpet is really spongy?

If it's spongy carpet, you might be able to build a square platform that it can sit on to give it a more solid base and spread out the weight more evenly.

[hulkster]

yeah thats probably what im going to have to do....put it on a big piece of wood.  oh well.

[Lilwolf]

You REALLY need to shave your carpet.

Pick your spot... Get some toenail clippers... or maybe your weed wacker if you want to speed things along..

boom... your done!

(but increasing the size of your feet will probably do it... they aren't currently supporting your cab... you want the entire set of weight on the four small feet... so they squish down the carpet..  Kinda like why you have treads in the rain... or you have no control... something needs to hit sturdy ground.)

[NoOne=NBA=]

Adding weight at the bottom of the base inside will help too.
That will lower the center of gravity, and make the CP push harder on the leveling feet to squish the carpet down harder.

[bigmoe]

This is a tad "ghetto" as they say, but:

You can use shims, paint them a color that matches your carpet (shouldn't be too hard for a berber carpet) or cab, and shim from a side (like the back) where they're not likely to be seen.

I did this for some bookshelves in my basement rec room and it's...ok.  Not great, but it works, is cheap, non-permanent, and portable.  The worst part about mine, really, is that it gives spiders one more place to hide...

b

[AlanS17]

OH! It's wobbly? That's a bad sign. You better give it to me...

[hulkster]

OH! It's wobbly? That's a bad sign. You better give it to me...

nice try bub

[quarterstringer]

Maybe some metal spikes will help. Like the kind they put on the bottom of loudspeakers.

[jace055]

Try and see if it is the cabinet or the floor that is uneven.  

Screw the leveling feet all the way in and rock the cabinet back and forth and take note of which feet come off of the ground. Then, rotate the cabinet 90 degrees and rock again.  If it is the same amount of rocking on the same feet then it is the cabinet.  But if the rocking is more or less, or on different feet, then it is the floor.  

This will give you a better idea of how to solve the problem.

[hulkster]

well i dont think its the cab cuz it was rock solid on the concrete.  so im guessing its the leveling of the carpet.  ill try the levels, give more suggestions please if that doesnt work  

[Knoxximus]

Wish I could help....mines is on marble tile.

[Chris]

I'm going with there's not enough weight in the control panel pedestal.  Put a square or two of paving stone in the base.

--Chris

[fredster]

How about cutting a piece of plywood a little smaller than the cab base and just putting it on that?  Then you have a nice firm surface to level the feet out on.

You can do that or you can put feet coasters under the leveling feet to give them a nice solid base.

[jcoleman]

The first thing to keep in mind:  three points define a plane.  When you introduce a 4th point, you have created two intersecting planes.  Your wobbly control panel is rocking between the two planes.

My suggestion is to remove the feet and replace them with three (not four!) sufficiently placed speaker spikes.  Post a picture of your cab and I can point out where to put them so you have maximum stability.

Coleman

[jcoleman]

Had a look at your cab.  Should have checked for that first.  

I'd put two spikes on the front and one in the center of the back.  Actually, if you can assume that the floor under the carpet is level (which is very likely IS), you can use four spikes, one under each corner.  This is of course assuming that your cabinet is perfectly square.  If not, stick with three.

Coleman

[Mugzilla]

+



=

No wobble

[hulkster]

+



=

No wobble

= pissed off mom

or once i move into my new apt.

= pissed off landlord

so no good on the cutting up the carpet.  i may try those level spikes or whatever.  ill go to home depot and ask them as well as to what to do.  thanks for the tips guys.

[Chris]

i may try those level spikes or whatever.  ill go to home depot and ask them as well as to what to do.  thanks for the tips guys.

Just to humor me, throw a few of those barbell weights in the base of the pedestal and see if that helps stabilize it.  I really think the problem is that the control pedestal is top-heavy.

[hulkster]

well i did do that actually.  but im not sure if it was enough.  i need like a 50 lb. weight to put in there.  right now, i think the most i had in there was like 30 lbs.  and it still wobbled some.  but i think you are right, its top heavy.  still, i should be able to make it stable.  on the concrete it was fine, so i guess the cp base is not uneven, i just to find something that will help it sit flat.  ill put all the weights i can find in the base and see what happens when i get home.  ill also try to get some leveling things to put in there as well.

[unclet]

Would it help if you installed 4 caster wheels on the bottom of the cabinet?  This way the full weight of the cabinet would not be distributed over the entire square base of the cabinet but instead only be distributed at the four points where the casters hit the floor/carpet.   This means an increased weight on your carpet to allow the carpet to be pressed down and not be as spongy.

Basically if you have the complete square bottom of your cabinet on the carpet, then the cabinet might not have enough weight to push all carpet beneath it down flat, but casters might help you get more weight in 4 specific spots only.

did that make sense .......?

[Witchboard]

That's why spikes have been suggested.  I really think this would be the way to go.  There are different kinds of spikes, but they all generally do the same thing.

[hulkster]

whoa, ive never seen those before!  looks like something you would find right before you go dueling with someone....choose your weapons...cept the screw would be that good of a...yeah...okay nevermind.  anyway, can i find this stuff at home depot?

[shmokes]

I think you need to lay off the alcohol.  Once you sober up a bit you'll find that the wobbling disappears  

[hulkster]

I think you need to lay off the alcohol.  Once you sober up a bit you'll find that the wobbling disappears  

ha, nice.

[Knoxximus]

Mine wobbbed a little bit, but once I screwed it back into the Monitor sectional, it's like the weight from the monitor stabilized it....unless the stabilizer elves came out while I was sleeping or something.....mmmmmmmmmm....elves....COOKIES.....yeah

[hulkster]

Mine wobbbed a little bit, but once I screwed it back into the Monitor sectional, it's like the weight from the monitor stabilized it....unless the stabilizer elves came out while I was sleeping or something.....mmmmmmmmmm....elves....COOKIES.....yeah

you got a picture?  i was thinking about screwing it into the monitor section but i wasnt sure how to do it.  so pretty please show a picture?!?!

[NoOne=NBA=]

Just screw it to the FLOOR, and be done with it.

Unless you have some really weird carpet, the lag holes will never show until someone goes to replace the carpet.

[hulkster]

well i dont have a house....sooooo....no bolting to the floor

[Witchboard]

whoa, ive never seen those before!  looks like something you would find right before you go dueling with someone....choose your weapons...cept the screw would be that good of a...yeah...okay nevermind.  anyway, can i find this stuff at home depot?

I would give your local audiophile store a shout.  I don't think that a home improvement store would carry them, but you never know.

[Lilwolf]

btw... did you increase the size of your legs?


The size of your feet will probably do it...

they probably aren't currently supporting your cab...

you want the entire set of weight on the four small feet...

so they squish down the carpet..  

Kinda like why you have treads on your tires for the rain.  Or you have no control.  Something needs to move through the non-sturdy stuff and hit sturdy ground.

[Lance]

I second the motion for carpet spikes.  I have a set on my Mirage sub, and we have really thick carpet, the sub is rock solid.  The spikes I have are go right through the carpet and sit on the subfloor.  They are thin enough where they don't leave a mark on the carpet either.

Check out http://www.audiopoints.com/shopping.html

You can probably find some cheaper at your local stereo shop as well.

[Lance]

Here are some cheaper ones as well:

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?webpage_id=3&SO=2&DID=7&CATID=29&ObjectGroup_ID=139