18 lbs on toggle/butterfly bolt from ceiling 1/2 drywall

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Posted this elsewhere but would like input from here as well.

I just weighed my powermodule, its 36.5 pounds.



One stud lines up perfect for me. Joists are 24" on center, perfect right? Nope, crown moulding comes off the wall 4" and burries my other anchor point. So now I'm wondering if it would be foolish to hang 18 lbs from the drywall ceiling. I'd probably cheat it a bit and have a wing hang over the drywall above the moulding.



Option #2

take a 1x3 piece of hardwood i have and paint it white and mount it across the studs. This was my original plan since I didn't expect any studs to line up. My issue there is the 24" on center. Anchor point 1 will be the stud that lines up, anchor point 2 will be 2' in from there. That will leave me with near 2' unsupported wood to strap to for my other anchor point. I"m worried it'll bow at that length with the 18 lbs.



Worst case scenario, put a toggle in the 1x3 closer to the end I guess to get more support. Really rather avoid the wood for a cleaner look. That part of the crawl space is completely unaccessible for me, by about 8' or Id go add a cross brace.
 
Get a piece of 2 x 4 or at least 2 x 3 and lag it to the stud then hang off of that

If you had a way to get up there and put a piece of wood or something to support the toggle I'd say go for the toggle but the chances of a blowout and finding your light in your tank and all of the fun that comes along with that scenario it's not worth it to me


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Not sure if your studs run parallel or perpendicular to your lights, but I'd be surprised if one or both lined up dead center to the hanging points on the light. I'd use a vertical beam laser level and mark exactly on the ceiling where you want the cables to center the light. Then I'd cut a hole similar to installing recess lighting but big enough to slide in 2x4 blocking. Trick is screwing the blocking into the studs. Personally I might lay a bead of gorilla glue along both ends and the bottom where it sits on the drywall. Gorilla glue expands and is tough as 5hit. Now that the blocking is in place you have a perfect place to screw the removed piece of drywall back with minimal amount of patch work.

For option 2 you would still want to add evenly spaced drywall screw anchors so the wood is attached to the drywall and not just the studs...and glue for good measure.
 
Last edited:
Thanks guys. I suck at patch work. I'll be doing the piece of wood across teh studs with added toggles for more support.

I hung it with the toggle today, but when raising it I could feel the weight on that one anchor point and agree with you both. 18 lbs feels like too much for drywall only
 
I've always hung my ATI fixtures using Toggler bolts on drywall. You can find them at Lowes. They're super strong. I've never had any issues
 
pa1ntbru5h said:
I've always hung my ATI fixtures using Toggler bolts on drywall. You can find them at Lowes. They're super strong. I've never had any issues
Click to expand...

How large of an ATI? This powermodule just seems like it's pretty heavy. The toggles is fine I'm sure I'm more worried about the drywall.
 
vertical load is safer like hanging a heavy picture frame on a wall. Horizontal is scary. You could be placing the anchor next to a previously patched/repaired area. There could be a crack in the drywall that you can't see because of the skim coat, texture, paint. Although not a huge risk, the humidity/moisture in the tank could soften the drywall. You'll likely bump the light fixture while you're doing tank maintenance creating extra load on the anchors. Small earthquake? Make sure it's tied to the studs.
 
That's the plan. For now I have some the fixture rest on some towels on the tank to take abotu 50% of the load off until I get the wood painted.

Thanks everyone.
 
I'm in the anything hanging over water needs a firm, solid anchor. Especially here in SoCal where the ground likes to move on it's own. I know they make a pass-through sleeve for hanging wire, that way it doesn't cut through the drywall in case you do bump it or it gets knocked around.
 
Thats pretty cool. Then Id just need to get a board across the top joists to anchor too. That would be pretty clean looking though.
 
You should be fine with the 3/16” toggle bolts from Lowe’s. Lowe’s is the only place that sells the double pack that I know of unless you want to stock up on those. 3/16 will be the exact size that will fit the hole on the hardware if you’re using the original ATI hanging kit and maybe most of the other hanging kit.
 
vuqchu said:
You should be fine with the 3/16" toggle bolts from Lowe's. Lowe's is the only place that sells the double pack that I know of unless you want to stock up on those. 3/16 will be the exact size that will fit the hole on the hardware if you're using the original ATI hanging kit and maybe most of the other hanging kit.
Click to expand...

Thanks vuqchu. The kit actually came with the 3/16 toggles. I've used those other togglers as well in the past. They are nice and I feel the toggle itself is secure but man, when I was lifting it up I coulda played harp on that line. I think my ceiling is 1/2 drywall, if it was 5/8 or more I wouldnt be tripping on it.

I'm gonna put the piece of wood up for peace of mind.
 
sweet, prob too late... but since you have a router i would've knocked down the edges to give it a decorative look...maybe even match the crown molding a bit. Agree, one less thing to lose sleep over.
 
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