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I bought a place that has a TV projector mounted to the ceiling. However, the mount is sort of a Y bracket that blocks the air filter from being removed and cleaned. I tried using a 3mm and a 4mm allen wrench on the screws in the Y but neither worked.

Assuming I get a 3.5 mm allen wrench and it fits, is this still the best way to do this?

It seems like I'm going to have to hold the projector the entire time or else I'm going to have the entire thing hanging by 1 screw.

The air filter looks like it needs about an inch of clearance. It comes straight up towards the ceiling, you can't pull it out horizontally at all.

air filter right in front, can see Y bracket blocking back corners

mount

above

above

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  • Are you sure there is no way to separate the mount, I.E. the top part that is on the ceiling and the lower arms assembly that are on the projector? Usually the two parts are mounted separately and then attached with fasteners for the final installation.
    – Alaska Man
    Apr 9, 2021 at 17:20
  • Are you quite sure the things that don't fit a 3 or 4 mm are metric? Might be time to pull out the inch wrenches, rather than a rather unusual 3.5mm
    – Ecnerwal
    Apr 9, 2021 at 17:22
  • @Ecnerwal you could be correct. I only have a metric set. I just went to the tool store and 3.5mm doesn't seem to be a standard size. Time to get an American set and try those. :)
    – Steve
    Apr 9, 2021 at 17:42
  • So 9/64 was too big and 1/8 was too small. It really might be 3.5mm. I'll have it in a couple days and keep you guys posted.
    – Steve
    Apr 9, 2021 at 20:00
  • Be sure to carefully examine the bracket. Usually they have some sort of quick connect so you can mount one part of the bracket to the ceiling, mount the other part to the projector and then easily mate it and lock it in place. Hard to tell from your pictures, but that slidey looking bit with set screws on the side and or a blocking nut in front may be an example. The arms blocking the dust cover look like they'd be easy to modify and the part blocking the cover is not crucial to they're function, although I'd look at how the other end is attached and preserve the u shaped tip if possible.
    – K H
    Apr 11, 2021 at 6:52

1 Answer 1

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A couple ideas:

  1. Reverse the mount. It looks like the arms differ from one side to the other.

  2. Install some plastic or metal bushings between the mounting arms and the projector to give clearance. This depends on available headroom, of course, but may only need to be 1/2" or a bit more.

  3. Trim the ends off the mount arms short of the filter cover using a rotary tool or hacksaw. Use a suitable spacer and bolt to re-secure the bars at the end of each arm through holes you'd drill. This is important to keep the bars from spreading and losing the mounting bolts.

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  • Anything that moves the height of the projector lens in relation to the center of the screen will mean adjusting the projector configuration to ensure the image is squared up on the screen, so Option #2 is doable, but involves extra work in the projector settings. Not an impossible task, by any means, but (having several years of setting up and adjusting a traveling projector) it can be quite a bit of a pain, and the sweet spot in terms of square & framing may not work with the projector moved to a new, fixed location.
    – FreeMan
    Apr 9, 2021 at 16:20

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