Thanks for all the tips.

The rack sits really close to the back of the cabinet, but there is room behind it that is accessible when we take off the TV. Thus we could rig up one of the methods that was suggested here, that will pull the cables up and in through the opening that was cut in the back of the cabinet.

We are also going to look at splitting up the bundle and threading through the top.

If it proves to be unique enough to be worthwhile for the group here, I'll take some pics and report back.

UPDATE: Ended up going with a bungee solution, pic attached. I wasn't onsite for this, and looking at the pic I think we might have been able to do something with the bundles on the side of the rack, and come in that way. Not sure if either method is inherently better... this one is working perfectly per reports.

I suppose the argument for coming up with something else is that this adds something that could potential fail, but I don't know if it matters in this case...

What do you guys think? Better practice to use another method?

Or you could have cut a piece of plywood and just covered it up, lol.

Having serviced more than one install where the bungees failed a few years later, I prefer a metal spring, or rope and pulley (or just a cat6 pull string, in some cases. It does look like there is room on the side sof the racks that might have been used to manage the bundle. 

what in the hell kind of bungee are you using that fail a few years later? ive got bungees that are 15 years old that haven't failed! i also would not want the wire bundle to be shown on sides.

This honestly looks like a disaster to me.

How is that upper area going to be serviced? Why didn't you use RSH? Are you going to trim to cover the sides of the racks? Where is the cooling? Your cables are already coming in from the top, can't you just attach the umbilical to the top of the rack and allow the slack to loop to the bottom when unit is pushed back? The bungees do not look like they're attached very securely. Sorry to be harsh, but if you're posting here asking for advice. I know you have a lot of cables and splitting between the two racks is not much fun either.

Not sure if you read earlier, but this was to manage the cables so that they pull back up in to the recess behind the TV when you slide the racks back in, as shown. There is a plywood false back on the upper two areas that hides the cables.

Fair points, but you are only seeing a very in-progress picture: (PS - thought there was a button to "quote" a selected block of text but can't find it)


Upper area contains no components other than the power protection that you see. There's a large enough hole for that in the false back that covers everything up.

"Why didn't you use RSH?"

I showed these to the client and he is considering whether he would like these are not. This was a take-over job, or more accurately he moved in to the house with much of the system and all of the wiring in place.

"Are you going to trim to cover the sides of the racks?"

Yes.

"Where is the cooling?"

Behind the racks. Plenty of cooling in place.

"Your cables are already coming in from the top, can't you just attach the umbilical to the top of the rack and allow the slack to loop to the bottom when unit is pushed back?"

There is no room behind the racks for the cable bundles. This would have been our first choice, and we tried it, but were unable to get the racks back far enough to secure.

"The bungees do not look like they're attached very securely."

Now that you bring that up, having the hooks on the bungees does look like they could possibly come off the eye bolts (which are securely in place). We should close off the hooks.

"Sorry to be harsh, but if you're posting here asking for advice. I know you have a lot of cables and splitting between the two racks is not much fun either."

Indeed, not fun. No offense taken.

Why did the racks need to be set so far apart? Why not move them toward the outside and bring the cables in from the side, using a removable storage unit to fill the gap? That way, someone could reach in to maneuver the loom when it needs to be slid back. I assume the face has doors to conceal everything, but that really doesn't matter. Also, I would split the cables by type and lay them so they're flat, across the back.

Why does it look like there's a lot of excess cable behind the rack on the right side of the photo (the dark-colored cable)

Yikes!

That's a good idea with the racks. We only installed the left one, so we just matched it to the right, not really thinking about it in those terms. Might be worth a move.

Will definitely look at splitting up the cable types.


Just an in-progress shot. They were still working on it, but took a pic to show the bungee thing.

And for the record, cable management has never been my forte, therefore I don't do it, but also can't necessarily teach it.