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Organizing the back of a rack


SMHarman

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1 minute ago, SMHarman said:

So time to tidy up and spring clean the spaghetti.

Should I bundle.

Power

Speaker

Data

AV

Or just 3 bundles and put data and AV together.

Or something completely different?

How where would cat for relays etc go?

 

just keep power away from data...

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Keep power away for sure - after that it's going to start to depend on how much you have, and how far you want to take it and of course how much is physically possible (depending on rack, how full it is and accessibility).

BEST (within the rack) practice would bundle and keep separate - with an additional split in internal and external wiring:

-Power

-audio connections

-video connections

-networking

-any POWERED networking (PoE/PoC)

-speaker cable

-IR and serial (mainly for easier tracing this one)

-Other (relay/sensor connection, low voltage power for cams and other)

On the feed out of the rack you'd keep bundles of power (low and high voltage) - audio (including speaker) & other - networking - video (especially for HDMI distribution).

 

Doing all the above is not always an option or reasonable however.

A good middle ground is:

-Power (high and low) + other 'powered' (relays for example)

-a/v excluding video distribution + other non-powered

-video distribution

-networking (including poe)

While not bundling internal with external is recommended - if only to keep it easier to trace and manage.

Outward bundle you'd keep network and video distribution separated from everything else.

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Thanks for all the advice.

Here is a photo of my finished Work.

8474579c93edabca0451dfd23bfeb43f.jpg

On the left. All netwotking and RCA / Digital Coax. Just to the right is all the HDMI. On the right is Power.

Speaker comes out of the middle. I need to put some support on the lower bundle of speaker from the Matrix amp and speaker point.

I think it looks tidier in real life. A lot rider that Sunday morning and all now connected into power management.

All Velcro no zip ties. 10 lacer bars and 2 wattbox replace the bracing piece at the back.

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On 5/16/2016 at 0:41 PM, Cyknight said:

Oooh thanks for the reminder - I'll be tearing down and redoing my whole setup in a few days (new location, custom racks) and I'm running a little low on Velcro, will need to pick some up.

I have to do a complete rewire in next couple of weeks. would you mind posting some inspirational pics? please :)

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Again, still a work in progress (very evident from the missing speaker wires :D)

So this a custom created rack (well 3 of them) with an additional wall mount behind it, plus another 21U mobile rack that holds all my servers that you can't really see behind it all.

Custom built supports with rack rails mounted in them, finished gun-stock visible wood that will get dry-wall butted up against it (and a finish strip to match) once I get to finish the complete basement. Rack rails are mounted with multiple screws THROUGH the finish food and into at least TWO studs for actual support.

Wiring is separated into types and power is run apart from everything else.

Pictures are a bit awkward as space to take them is a bit limited - plenty of room to work on things, not to take pictures - and I don't have time right this moment to spend on getting it (pictures that is) 'right'.

Images are too big to post and make any sense:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8l0wcz8kataug76/AAA8DG0H6wnzVtUZfYTkTupea?dl=0

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8 hours ago, Cyknight said:

Again, still a work in progress (very evident from the missing speaker wires :D)

So this a custom created rack (well 3 of them) with an additional wall mount behind it, plus another 21U mobile rack that holds all my servers that you can't really see behind it all.

Custom built supports with rack rails mounted in them, finished gun-stock visible wood that will get dry-wall butted up against it (and a finish strip to match) once I get to finish the complete basement. Rack rails are mounted with multiple screws THROUGH the finish food and into at least TWO studs for actual support.

Wiring is separated into types and power is run apart from everything else.

Pictures are a bit awkward as space to take them is a bit limited - plenty of room to work on things, not to take pictures - and I don't have time right this moment to spend on getting it (pictures that is) 'right'.

Images are too big to post and make any sense:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8l0wcz8kataug76/AAA8DG0H6wnzVtUZfYTkTupea?dl=0

looks really good.  cant wait to see it all when its dry-walled.

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16 hours ago, Cyknight said:

Again, still a work in progress (very evident from the missing speaker wires :D)

So this a custom created rack (well 3 of them) with an additional wall mount behind it, plus another 21U mobile rack that holds all my servers that you can't really see behind it all.

Custom built supports with rack rails mounted in them, finished gun-stock visible wood that will get dry-wall butted up against it (and a finish strip to match) once I get to finish the complete basement. Rack rails are mounted with multiple screws THROUGH the finish food and into at least TWO studs for actual support.

Wiring is separated into types and power is run apart from everything else.

Pictures are a bit awkward as space to take them is a bit limited - plenty of room to work on things, not to take pictures - and I don't have time right this moment to spend on getting it (pictures that is) 'right'.

Images are too big to post and make any sense:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8l0wcz8kataug76/AAA8DG0H6wnzVtUZfYTkTupea?dl=0

wow, looks great so far. Thanks for the pics, you have inspired me to straighten up my spaghetti mess ;) Hope you can post more pics once you have the finished product. looks like you are using the planet waves coax and connectors from snapav for your custom RCA line level runs? i really should take the time to replace my various brands of prefab rca cables with custom, looks much better your way all custom lengths and uniform style.

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