What's a louvre wall plate for


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Old 08-24-12, 11:23 PM
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What's a louvre wall plate for

Louvre wallplates are obviously for things in the wall that need ventilation, but specifically what are some things that they commonly cover? I'm mainly interested in the one and two gang plates, not something that may be a vent cover for room ventilation. I was thinking of mounting a dongle in a little box on the wall and a vented wallplate might make a good cover since dongles could get hot. I also want to mount a coaxial splitter in a box on the wall. I wasn't going to worry about ventilating it, but since they make louvre wallplates, maybe I should use one just in case.

 

Last edited by Borad; 08-24-12 at 11:48 PM.
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Old 08-24-12, 11:54 PM
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I've never seen or heard of them being used for ventilation purposes. They go over small light fixtures for illuminating stairs and hallways without having a lot of extraneous light. Think of the aisle lights in movie theaters.

That stated, I guess you could use one for ventilation.
 
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Old 08-25-12, 06:07 AM
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No need to worry about the coax splitter. It won't heat up at all.

What's the dongle for?
 
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Old 08-25-12, 06:30 AM
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Louvered wall plates in my experience are commonly used with buzzers, chimes and similar audible indicators.
Many have a fine mesh screen glued to keep insects out but would restrict air movement.

You don't say what the dongle is but if a wi-fi or blue-tooth dongle, being in an enclosure may restrict radio transmission.
Also, if you do put a device in a louvered box you might want to stick a thermometer into an opening while operating because some devices may throw a fair bit of heat, especially a radio transmitter.
 
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Old 08-25-12, 08:54 AM
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A bluetooth dongle. I may want to extend the range of the dongle without getting a more powerful one. I'd run an extension from the USB port to the living room, which would eliminate one of the two plaster and lath walls that the signal would have to travel through. I'm in no rush. I don't have the speakers, headphones, or TV that I'd need yet, and those aren't at the top of my list to get.

Maybe I'll look for a little USB powered fan to put in the box if/when I do it.
 
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Old 08-25-12, 10:54 AM
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Ok.
There is a limit on usb cable length and longer cables have more effect on higher current draw devices.
The fan could limit the maximum distance your dongle could be.

How long a cable were you thinking?
 
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Old 08-25-12, 03:46 PM
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Probably 20 feet, max. My preferred route might be through a 24" hollow section of a wall that I think has steam pipes and a pipe from an outdoor drain, and the boxed dongle would be mounted 5 feet above a radiator and 8" from curtains, in a corner of the ceiling. :/
 
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Old 08-25-12, 04:11 PM
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Ok.
I've tried to install usb webcams at that distance and have had mixed results.
In one case where I had about 25 feet of distance I was able to get it to work by plugging the 5 foot camera cable into a powered usb hub then connecting the 20 feet of usb extension cable to the hub.
The recommended max distance for usb is 5 meters or a little over 16 feet.

Before you fish any cabling you are going to have to test the set up to see if it will work.
And for sure you don't want to put the dongle behind a metal plate.

Let us know how it turns out.
 
 

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