My school recently purchased a few camera/domes that weigh just over a pound and a half each. Since I'm the only one employed in the district that is mechanically/technologically inclined, I got the job of installing them. I'm begging for a bit of advice as to whether/how they could be mounted in drop ceiling tile.....any help is GREATLY appreciated!!!

i like to use a 2x4 piece of wood or thinner to go from bar to bar and then screw the camera into the piece of wood thru the tile

Same concept for me. I buy a full sheet of 1/4" plywood and cut it into 4" strips so I have a number of 4" x 4' strips in my van at all the times. Never leave home without them :-) With lighter domes toggle bolts work well also but since it appears you have heavier ones I would go with a wooden board as closedcircuitcom mentioned.

[quote="3RDIGLBL"]Same concept for me. I buy a full sheet of 1/4" plywood and cut it into 4" strips so I have a number of 4" x 4' strips in my van at all the times. Never leave home without them :-) With lighter domes toggle bolts work well also but since it appears you have heavier ones I would go with a wooden board as closedcircuitcom mentioned.[/quote]

Thanks for the help!!! Do you lay the ply directly on top of the tile, or on the ceiling grid??

My practice is too keep the plywood on the grid. They are 4' long so they are the same width as all the ceiling tiles I dealt with. They basically would lay within the same track of the grid as the tile.

I have found that if the plywood is the same width you will be able to tighten the camera down better with screws than if laying it directly on top of the grid where if you tighten too much you may cause the tile to lift off it's track.

That's my practice anyhow. Not sure how anyone else is doing it.

Good luck :-)

This method makes a lot of sense to me. Do you use wood screws into the ply, or nuts and bolts with washers?

i use drywall screws

There shouldn't be any problem mounting a 1-1/2 pound dome directly to a ceiling tile. If you are concerned about the potential for it falling, you could always attach a safety chain to the camera and attach the other end to the hard ceiling above.

THANKS again for all the suggestions. I think I'm going to go with strips of 1/4" ply and drywall screws to anchor the mounting plate......shouldn't be too bad.

That's how most of the guys I talk to that order our heavy domes do it!
Just get the plywood and run it from metal bar to bar, not just on the topside of the drop tile.

That should take care of the problem with it dropping on someones head.
Goodluck,
John

Use a 18mm MDF panel cut to the size of the tile (no greater than 600mm x 600mm in size). Then spread the weight of the tile by bracing it on all four corners with wire and anchor hooks on to the walls surrounding the ceiling.

If you want a diagram let me know!

Come on, we are only talking about 1-1/2 pounds here. A standard ceiling tile can hold far more weight than that. We regularly install full PTZ cameras weighing 8 pounds or more in ceiling tiles with just a small safety chain. We've never had one fall, even during an earthquake!

In fact, for that light a camera, your power and video cables, properly hung, would be enough to support the camera if the tile got wet or otherwise damaged.

caddy fasteners makes a ceiling grid bar that clips onto the grid and you can hang the camera from that.

Yep, we use the caddy stuff all the time. I think the plywood works just fine, but my local AHJ frowns on creativity. Besides, all our equipment has to be self supporting. So we set our own ceiling wires or jack chain.



http://www.erico.com/products/CADDYcfcTGrid.asp

And I agree the cable alone would support 1.5 lbs. I've seen wire nuts hold up a paddle fan...