I feel really stupid but I’ve drilled 5 holes into my wall now and I’m ready to give up. I’m not experienced with dry wall anchors and the installation instructions for the Pan V3 don’t have a visual showing the actual drywall anchor installation and I keep screwing up. I tried just having the screws in the wall by themselves but it doesn’t grip well. My wall looks awful. I didn’t think this was supposed to be difficult but it really has been and I’m very frustrated. Help?
When mounting the PanV3 mounting bracket onto drywall, it is best to use the bracket as the template. If you are mounting the cam up side down, you will want to leave several inches of clearance above the cam so that you can slide the bracket onto the screw posts after they are in the wall. If you are mounting it right side up, you need room for the cam, plus a couple inches above.
Place the bracket on the wall where you want it. Make sure it is level, and use a pencil or sharpie marker to put a dot at the very top of the screw hole slot, not in the middle where the slot is wider.
Those two dots are where the screws will go. You can either use the anchors that came with it or other anchors that require pre-drill or you can use self tapping drywall anchors.
For the drill type, make sure the bit is smaller than the diameter of the anchor. Perhaps 3\4 the diameter. You can gauge this by placing the drill bit in front of the anchor at eye level and looking at it from the side. You want to see a portion of the anchor on both sides of the bit. Be certain you aren’t drilling into the wall over a stud. Anchors won’t insert when they hit a stud. Drill the hole thru the drywall and place the anchor in the hole. It should not fit all the way in. If it does, your bit was too big and you now need a bigger anchokr. You should be able to tap the answer in the remainder of the way with the butt of a screwdriver, but don’t pound it in with a hammer. If it won’t go in, use the drill to ream out the hole very slightly.
If you are using self tapping anchors, they screw directly into the wall where the dots are. Again, avoid studs.
Insert the screws into the anchors and run them in about 3\4 of the way. Then slip the bracket without the cam over the screws and allow it to slide down until the screws are at the top of the slots. Tighten the screws until they are just snug. Then, back them out a half turn or so, just enough that the bracket can slide up and down with some pushing. Your screw depth has now been set.
Remove the bracket by sliding it up off the screws and mount the cam to it with the cord thru the hole. Once mounted, slide the bracket back over the screws and slide it down to seat it.
Plug the cam in and turn it on.
I use an appropriately sized Philips screwdriver and whack it with my hand. Works great unless there is a stud there.
Oh… Wow. I can’t say I would recommend that to anyone for a wide variety of reasons. Far too many people look at a wall and believe it is drywall, have no idea what the wall composition is or how thick it is, and the Philips Screwdriver is clearly not designed for that application. The possibility of disaster is far too high for my taste.
My home is all drywall. I have been using plastic wall anchors and a Philips screwdriver for over 30 years with no issues.
As a retired mechanic, I learned that a tool has many uses.