The new DFP is designed to fit over either a single box (if no mains connections used) or a dual-box, whereas the MFP mounts on a double box. As I discussed in my DFP post, the DFP mounting back plate is not compatible with a double box. So my DFP has remained deskbound for quite some time.
I had various thoughts on possible mounting brackets to get round the problem, one suggestion was to screw into the adjacent wall. However, this breaks my desired ability to easily remove all automation if necessary for sale and just sort of jars. In any case, in some places it would be impossible due to adjacent cable runs.
My favoured design was to create a flat plate with requisite mounting holes and a cutout for the Idranet and relay connectors. Perhaps the cutout could be a fold to create a shield for about a third of the back box, maybe just enough to cram the relay box into. It all entailed quite a bit of metal bashing, and meanwhile, time marches on.
In the end good old bodging came to the rescue. I used a piece of aluminium right angle bracket, the idea being to get some stiffness so that the central mounting holes of the DFP back plate could be used to tension the plate into contact with the wall surface. I drilled and tapped two holes to allow the central mounting screws to fix into the bracket and through holes to mount the bracket to the backbox. The speaker aperture in the backplate is quite handy for access to the righthand screw. The lefthand screw fixes normally (I did not attempt to centre the DFP over the box horizontally).
The box is quite deep relative to the plaster surface and this played in my favour to create some clearance for parts of the DFP, like the speaker moulding which protrudes behind the mounting plate. I also had to cut an aperture for the Idranet connector. Finally, the angle of the aluminium bracket did make it quite tight to fit the relay unit in. Fortunately the relay unit is only connecting to the doorbell ringer circuit so no issues with main segregation.
It's a little tight as you can see, mainly because half the back box is taken up with through routed cabling. In another MFP scenario it would be easier to fit the relay box into the righthand side and notch the bracket a little to retain a shield. It takes a little care to mount the DFP on and get the Idranet cables to feed back through the aperture.
There we go. JD.
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