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I'm not worried about the connection between the mount and the wall - I do know how to do that properly. I'm worried, in this case, about the connection between the TV and the mount - specifically, in this case, a 65" TCL 65R617 TV with a Sanus VLT6 mount.

The wall mount came with spacers to use in case the back of the TV isn't flat, which as you can see in the first attached picture were necessary. Specifically, I used 7mm worth of spacers. (The screw holes on the TV are quite shallow, and the margin between a too-short screw and a too-long one is only a few mm. None of the screws that came with the mount were the right size, but I found something at my local hardware store that works as long as I add a couple of extra washers.)

My concern is this: The full weight and pressure of the mount/tv connection is not against the sturdy metal inner frame of the TV, or distributed evenly across the back of the TV, but rather focused on a small amount of rather flimsy-looking plastic around the screw hole. You can see what I'm talking about in the pictures. It feels like if I tighten the screws too much, I'll crush the TV's plastic frame. And as soon as I hang the TV, its full weight will be on those four small weak points. Is this really secure, and is it how this TV is meant to be mounted?

The gap, requiring the use of 7mm spacers: 1

The plastic spacers against the plastic frame of the TV - a weak point? 2

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  • It isn't clear from the pictures why you can't eliminate the spacers and use shorter screws (or cut longer screws to the proper length). The top picture looks like the TV has a bump-out at the bottom, but that you could still mount through the slot with the TV lower so the bracket is flat against the back. Have you considered mounting a piece of plywood to the TV using the threaded holes and then fastening the plywood to the bracket?
    – fixer1234
    Jun 10, 2018 at 20:22
  • @fixer1234 This mount, like many others, has a slot for the bottom screw but discrete holes for the top screw. If I move the top screw to the next hole, then the slot no longer reaches the lower screw hole.
    – Josh
    Jun 10, 2018 at 20:56
  • Can you drill a new hole in the mount?
    – Bryce
    Jun 10, 2018 at 22:50
  • did you follow manufacturer directions?
    – jsotola
    Jun 10, 2018 at 23:19
  • back of the TV isn't flat, which as you can see in the first attached picture ... no, you cannot see that
    – jsotola
    Jun 10, 2018 at 23:21

2 Answers 2

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This is how it is meant to be mounted.

The plastic cabinet does not support any weight.

If you put a large washer, or cardboard over the plastic cabinet without using a spacer, then you run a chance of crushing the plastic of the cabinet when you tighten the bolts.

enter image description here

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  • Fantastic picture to get the proper point across.
    – Michael Karas ♦
    Jun 14, 2018 at 3:43
  • That's definitely how I'd like to mount it. Unfortunately, neither the TV nor the mount came with an appropriate spacer. My local hardware store doesn't have anything appropriate, either. It's absolutely bizarre to me that the TV manufacturer would require such a precisely shaped spacer, and then not include it with the TV. Any thoughts on how to best find such a spacer?
    – Josh
    Jul 2, 2018 at 21:22
  • Thank you for that great picture! You just answered a question I’ve been struggling with for over an hour.
    – Devon Peticolas
    Oct 31, 2020 at 19:56
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Well, I found a solution, of sorts: I made my own spacers out of cardboard. Definitely not the intended way to install a mount like this, but it's stable and secure, and distributes the pressure across a much larger area. And, most importantly, it's hidden behind the TV where nobody can see it :)

A solution

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    i think that you misunderstand where the pressure points and stress points are
    – jsotola
    Jun 12, 2018 at 6:25
  • 1
    Not sure what you think the cardboard will do, but this is a bad idea. The cardboard will just crush. You want the intended spacers at the screws. The TV mounts are designed to do the job when used as intended.
    – fixer1234
    Jun 12, 2018 at 7:10
  • The screw holes are shallower than the 12mm required by the VESA standard. They are not centered on the TV, but are offset only 4 inches from the bottom of the TV, making it hard to hide the mount; and there's a 6mm ridge an inch from the screw holes, preventing the use of most mounts without adding a spacer. In addition, the TV comes with screws that are too short for use with any mount, with or without a spacer. Nothing about this is well-engineered - mounting seems to have been an afterthought.
    – Josh
    Jun 13, 2018 at 4:15
  • @fixer1234, I pre-crushed the cardboard to get the appropriate thickness. It's ugly, but it should be safe. See my next comment for a proposed alternative solution.
    – Josh
    Jun 13, 2018 at 4:18
  • @jsotola and others - what do you suppose would happen if I used no spacers, but added a nut on the screw between the TV and the mount, tightened against the mount? That would enforce a gap between the mount and the TV without touching the pastic at all. So, just to be clear, you'd have: screw head > washer > mounting bracket > washer > nut > ...gap... > tv. That should work, without any metal-against-plastic to worry about at all - right?
    – Josh
    Jun 13, 2018 at 4:20

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