Since I don't know where else to turn I am asking here.....

What is the primary bolt size for a Panasonic TH-42PD50u Plasma tv. I am
referring to the bolts used to mount the Plasma to the wall.

I am on hold with Panasonic (about 40 min.) and have sent two e-mails,
and am trying to help a friend hang his Plasma.

If anybody knows a better forum please direct me there.

Steve

I assume you mean the bolt that fits the threaded insert on the tv?

I believe its a 7mm -.8 if memory serves correct.

If it came with a stand, take a bolt you removed to the local hardware store and match it up.

If not, eyeball the size, assume they are metric, and get a few of each size/pitch that look close. At 15 cents apiece you won't be out much.

pilgram,

Thanks for the advice. The Panasonic folks finally called back
and sait it is an 8mm with a 1.25 thread pitch.......but those don't seem to
fit so I'm still stumped.

Also, here they are .85 each so I'm trying not to buy hand-fuls.

Thanks again,
Steve

You could just use liquid nails and have your wife/girlfriend or whoever, hold it still till it dries.

I still contend that the best punt is a jousting pole. Nothing beats this kinda installer statement.

On a lighter note, Call me dumb but if you're mounting the plasma to the wall conventionally, haven't you purchased a universal mounting bracket (ie Sanus, Lucasey, Omnimount, Peerless) that has you covered with their bag of bolts? They come with them for the most part..

Every plasma mount I've seen came with a screw assortment that includes the appropriate screw for the plasma/ bracket combination, and there's always been a set of screws that fit the plasma..

If not, DO NOT go to your local big box hardware store! After several tries, I finally found a little Ace Hardware store that has the multiple drawers/boxes of specialty hardware, and they had what I needed. In my case it was a 4 mm screw.

I hate to carp on stuff like this, but please write your questions as though you were NOT still on the phone with the guy, because he is not right there to help you refine your question. For instance, if a bolt "doesn't seem to fit," you would say that and he would ask you questions. Try to figure out what those questions are, and make their answers part of what you ask here. For instance

IF they don't seem to fit because they go right in but they bind after about three turns, well, congratulations, you are putting a metric screw into an English insert or an English screw into a metric insert!

IF they don't seem to fit because they are way way too small, well maybe the guy was not looking at the right bolt on his diagram and it was that set of 12 mm bolts over there...at any rate, if they are too small, that tells us MUCH more than "don't seem to fit."

I would strike a deal with the hardware store that some idiot manufacturer put you in an awkward position, and can you please buy one of each of several sizes, then return what you don't want; or tell them the customer bought the mount and lost the screws.

In a pinch, call Chief and ask them what size screw is supposed to be used to hold the mount to the plasma. Don't do what you did in your original post and say


because those would be lag bolts, or togglers, or brick anchors, or redheads. We have all assumed that you mean the bolts used to mount the plasma TO THE MOUNT, and you have not told us we were wrong...

Ernie, you used to be an english/interpersonal communications professor in a previous life didn't you?...

Always loved to talk, absorbed language like a sponge; when I couldn't cut the math that goes with physics, changed to linguistics. It is amusing to include in the occasional letter "and, yes, before you ask, I DO have a degree in linguistics."

Doesn't mean I can express myself clearly to my wife. Sigh.

What man can??? Women....can't live with 'em,...

WOW.....didn't mean to cause any distress. The Panasonic
rep said the proper bolt was 8mm with a 1.25 pitch, as
I stated earlier. Three went in fine but there was a problem with one. We should have gotten a tap and
die set and 'chased' the threads but my friend decided
not to. His plasma, his choice.

The comment about a mounting bracket coming with
a bolt collection is a valid point....if we were using a
commercial mounting bracket. The cheapest one we
found around here was around 200 dollars and my friend
did not want to spend that much money. I agree that
would have been the best solution but my friend is in poor
health and bought the plasma with proceeds from
selling the motorcylce he could no longer safely ride.

All that being said, we used angle brackets to secure the
plasma to plywood which slides in and out of an
opening above my friends fake fireplace. Sounds
crude but it works. The important thing is that my
friend is happy with it.

Thanks again.
klaatu51

I bought a reputable univeral wall mount and it did not come with the right bolts to connect my Pany TH-42PD50u to the wall mount side bars. Got it from ebay and it was suppose to fit most Panasonic LCD/Plasma. In any case, I take it from the last post the correct bolt size for the Pany TH-42PD50u wall mount insert holes on the back of this TV is 8mm with a 1.25 pitch (Ernie Bornn-Gilman please don't flame me for this run-on sentence). Based on information from other univeral wall mount kit information, I think the correct dimensions are 8 mm with 1.25 pitch and 25mm long also know as M8 X 25mm machine screws. Did only 3 out 4 bolts go in fine because the 4th hole was defective or was the bolt size requirements different for that last hole?

This thread has been a God send. I waited 2 hours with Panasonic service folks and still just elevator music. Can't believe those weenies at Panasonic would not have any specifications on this feature in their TV manual or provide an online manual for their brand of wall mount so we can cheat and look it up there. Just so they can sell their brand of wall mount and require me to use their expensive installation service. If the TV was not so good, I'd buy something else.

This message was edited by Pedro Le on 08/23/05 01:24 ET.

I have also gotten some reputable professional mounts recently that had a massive kit of the wrong size bolts.

The case I cited above was for an LCD, where a 4mm was needed, longer than the ones that came with the mount.

That mount had a neat trick, though, which we should all remember: it had a little plastic tube like a coffee stirrer, and they told you to insert it into the plasma's threaded insert and mark how far it went before touching something. Get a bolt that long or slightly shorter.

That is much better than buying several lengths and seeing which ones crunch upon tightening.

Gosh I hope he doesn't have children who may walk under that. I cannot imagine being able to spend thousands on a plasma and not having a couple hundred to spend on a proper mount. Well, it's his house and his choice. I just hope he doesn't suffer bad consequences - the least of which would simply be crash-bang.

And the worst would be.....? Somebody trying to light a real fire in the fake fireplace?