Need help installing plasma -Any electricians out there?

[class clown]

Well, I'd probably have better luck if I posted this on a elictrical forum, but since I don't know of any and am most familiar with reeffrontiers, I'll just float this out there in case there are any electricians or other people with some knowledge of installing Plasma's or LCDs that could give me some advice.

Here's the scenario..
I recently purchased a small LCD to mount in our bedroom. I hung it on a wall at the foot of our bed. The wall, which you see in the photo below, shares it's back side with a walk in closet on the other side. As you can see, I have two ugly, ugly cords handing down from the TV now that are an eye sore. I'd like these to be hidden. I'm not interested in those cord sheath things you can run on the outside of a wall, and am thinking I want to do in-wall to hide the cords. I'm pretty confident I can figure out how to hide the cable cord , however, I can't figure out how to hide the electrical cord. There are no outlets on the closet side of the wall, only what you see in the photo towards the bottom of the TV. Ideally, I'd like it to be totally stealth, but don't know about how to do it.

Anyone out there that could walk me through how to install another outlet right behind the TV?

Any other suggestions on what I could do?

Thanks,
Ben

 

[mattseattle]

Seems pretty simple. You have electrical line already in the wall. Just cut a hole on the other side of the wall and connect into the outlet shown in the picture. You could do the same with the cable line. Actually I'd just move the cable line to the inside of the wall closet and patch that hole.

 

[class clown]

Yeah, so I was thinking along the same lines, but this guy at Lowes said that was a definate "no no" because he's been doing this for 25+ yrs, used to walk 3 miles to school in the snow and he knows better than to just add another plug in the circiut (yada yada - you catch the drift)..

Is it really just that easy? I figure it has to be, then again, I figure a lot of things and end up getting myself into trouble.

 

[mattseattle]

I think it's that easy but then again I'm not a qualified electrician. What was his reasoning for it being a 'NO NO'?

 

[class clown]

I think he felt it would overload the circuit. I don't see how.. It seems to me that it would depend more on what you have plugged in there vs. how many sockets you have wired in a series. And, as far as overloading it goes, I don't see how it's any different than plugging one of those 1 to 3 outlet splitter things in there.

 

[mattseattle]

I dont' see how either as it's really a replacement plug instead of an addition to the chain. Now if it were in my house I wouldn't add another plug to the chain but your house is modern and probably each room as it's own circuit. In our 1927 house one circuit could be 4 plugs in one room and 3 plugs in another. One day we'll rewire this house.

 

[brady816]

or you could be like me and get a stand and call it a day

 

[mattseattle]

that's too easy and also not as streamlined looking.

 

[class clown]

K- went back to Lowes to get a book. while I was there, I met another old guy that said the other old guy had lost his marbles and that it was super easy. He hooked me up with a bag full of stuff - new electrical box, two new outlets, 10ft of 12/2 wire and said I just make sure the socket is turned off, just tap into my old and put a new outlet in right behind the TV on the same wall.

So.. I bought the stuff, came home. started work at 6:45. got it all hooked up and somethings screwey.

The fuse keeps blowing. It'll stay on for a little bit, but as soon as I hit the light switch, it trips the fuse. Any ideas?

 

[class clown]

back on track - turned out the ground got too close to one of the other wires as I was screwing it in.. all is good and working..

I broke a couple things in the process and cut a little larger whole in the wall than expected, so I'm going to get a couple more parts.

will post pics when all done

Ben

 

[class clown]

That's what I'm talking bout! Woo hoo! All done, just in time to catch CSI ;-)

 

[mattseattle]

sweet....looks good!

 

[class clown]

Thanks Matt.. yeah, much better than those cords hanging down. :razz:

 

[shallowreef]

Well i have an idea but it involves a bit of work and can get a little messy. I don't know how good your craftsmanship skills are but what i would do is... Cut out the section of drywall that is above your outlets. Completely remove those outlet face plates and run them up to where the T.V. is at. Reinstall the outlets there and replace the area of drywall that was cut out. Its a bit of a job and is not that easy and requires skill in both drywall and electricity. But its just a suggestion. Did you get a quote to see how much a contractor would do it for? It may be cheaper than you think.

 

[class clown]

Thanks Shallowreef - I did something similar with the cable line - just replaced the outlet down below and ran it up the wall. For the electricity, I ended up just adding an extra outlet behind the TV, so it is hidden and out of sight. It really wasn't too much trouble. The existing outlet I had allowed 4 black wires in/out, 4 white wires in/out, and a ground. I was only using 3 on my existing, so I had space to add one more.

Thanks guys for your help!