 Run cursor over image to activate See more photos of the Avtrak in our gallery Notice how the spilt rib tubing keeps the wires bundles yet flexible | Installation TipsIntroductionIn this section I will be showing a few tips on wire management, choosing the best place for cable cabinet access points and fixing the components so they don't move once you have them in place. Please keep in mind that I am not a professional AV installer. These are just suggestions and not the only way to do it. With a little care and attention any install can be neat and very functional. Who knows, you just may have a bit of fun in the process. Enclosure Access PointWhen preparing the enclosure before installing the rack it is important that the cabinet access point and any receptacles be mounted to the left or right at the top back of the enclosure. I also allow a wire loop of 1.5 times the height of the rack. So, if the rack is 6 feet tall I like to have 9 feet of wire to the point where it exits the cabinet.   Setting the ShelvesBefore actually setting the components in place I do a little math. First, measure the heights of all the components. Second, find our tech data sheets, available on each product page of this website, to find the Maximum Component Clearance (MCC) Subtract the total height of your components from the MCC of the rack. This will give you the total amount of extra air space you have. Remember, there is a half inch of air space already allowed for in the MCC. For example, if you have 8 inches of extra air space and you have 8 shelves you will have 1 1/2 inches of airspace per shelf. For this installation I don't have any extra space so I am using a couple of 1/2 inch spacers. Set the first component on the bottom shelf and place the required spacers on top of the component. Set the second shelf onto the spacers and lock the shelf in place with the wrench supplied. I like to lift the shelf up slightly so the spacers won't be stuck when I try and remove them. Continue the same process for each component and shelf.   |
Securing the Components
If you are as picky as I am you will not like to see your components move once you have them in place. This is especially true for CD/DVD players that require physical touch to play the disks. They seem to always get pushed back. Some manufacturers have come up with a metal clamping system that can get quite complicated. You could even use spacers, similar to the one's I used for setting the shelves in place, and pinch them between the component and the upper shelf. This will work but I think I have found something even easier. I use two sided tape, sometimes called carpet tape. I have found that I only need tape on the back feet. Once I have put the tape on the back feet and pealed off the paper I flip the component back to right side up. Now here's an important trick. Find a rubber furniture glide in our home's "drawer of everything" and use it as a spacer to keep the back feet off the shelf. I take time to place the component just where I want it. I then carefully remove the rubber spacer and drop the back of the component in place. Press down on the component a bit to make sure the tape has set.
Cabling Tips
This install uses a power conditioner. The advantage here is that all AC runs to one component in the rack and only one AC cable needs to exit the enclosure. The AC cables can be the largest cables used so I run these first. I take care to keep them as far away from any audio and video cables to prevent interference. I also try and have them run at right angles to any of the signal cables. If the AC is run parallel to any signal cable, noise could be transferred from the AC cable to the AV signal cables.
As you can see here taking time to direct each wire and tie them into place really pays off. I have rotated a few of the clips mounted on the back of the shelves to make tying the wires much easier. I also like to use our cable conduit to hold the wires to exit the enclosure. I tie the wires tight into bundles to keep them in place but I do not tie the wires together inside the conduit. This will allow the wires to stay flexible and make it easier for the unit to rotate once you have finished the wiring.
