About 1-1/2 Inch Pipe Used with TV Mounts
1-1/2 inch Schedule 40 pipe is the backbone of our TV ceiling mounts. Here’s why we chose it — and how its threads work.
Why 1-1/2" Schedule 40 pipe?
- Easy to find locally — the same rigid pipe used for electrical conduit and home plumbing.
- Strong and rigid — a thick .145" wall gives excellent strength.
- Steel or aluminum — we now make most of our pipe from aluminum to cut shipping weight with minimal strength loss.
- Widely adaptable — the same pipe is used for scaffolding, lighting/stage truss, handrails and more, so parts are easy to source.
About the tapered (NPT) threads
A common question is why the pipes don’t thread all the way in. That’s by design: these are NPT (National Pipe Thread) tapered threads that get tighter the further they screw together. In plumbing the taper seals against leaks; for mounting TVs the benefit is thread-locking — the tighter they’re screwed, the harder they are to loosen. Pipes usually thread together 3–4 turns.
References: Nominal Pipe Size · National Pipe Thread (NPT) · NPT American Standard taper pipe threads, B1.20.1.