TV and “media ottoman” complete
March 14th, 2007 | by Dan |Here’s a look at a big project that Jennifer and I just completed.
Here’s our Sharp 37″ flat-screen TV, wall-mounted. The existing switch on that wall I converted to a plug, and I put in two rings to hold “media outlets” — one behind the TV and one down at the standard plug level.Then I threaded the three cables (HDMI, Wii, audio) through the wall. The TV is mounted with a very-low-profile VESA mount (less than 1″ clearance required) that I got through Amazon. The Wii sensor bar is barely noticeable on the top of the set.
Here’s the storage ottoman we made. It’s an 18 x 16 x 16 rectangle, covered in silk fabric. It has two 2-1/4″ desk grommets in the back–one for AC power cords and the other for the data cables. Four 2″ holes in the bottom and the four grommets provide air movement for passive cooling, allowing the Mini and Wii to stay in standby mode without the interior getting too warm.
Here’s a look inside at the ottoman. Mac Mini on the right, Wii on the left. The strange things on the left of the Wii are wireless connectors for my MadCatz wireless Gamecube controllers.There’s ample room for a storage basket containing seven or eight Gamecube and Wii games, the wiimotes and nunchucks. I could add another basket (it’s a stackable CD basket) to hold the Gamecube controllers, but my wife is still trying to decide if she thinks the height is OK or not.Pretty cool, eh?
By miked on Mar 16, 2007
so, it looks like you removed the Tank scooter portion of your site, did you ever fix or find a resolution to the stalling/stator problem? Yes/no/’get lost’ are ok answers.
take care, mike
By Dan on Mar 17, 2007
Sorry for that — after the scooter stalled twice in traffic, I decided that it was too dangerous to ride. Instead I bought a Honda motorcycle; improved reliability and more power.
I was never able to get to the bottom of the stalling problem. Aside from knowing that it only happened when decelerating, it was hard to diagnose. The stator was fine, the fuel tank was clean, and the plug was in good shape. A new belt didn’t help either.
At this point, I consider the Tank Urban Touring an expensive lesson in not buying Made in China stuff if I want it to last. I don’t mind getting bath toys for my daughter that were made there, but anything where reliability is important, I’ll either find something made in the US (or Japan) or skip the purchase.