Replace your AC outlets with this dual USB charger

boing
42
43

Needs firewire and built in wired ethernet. Because that will always be the standard.

2 Likes
44

Does it cost more to design them intelligently?

45

7 Likes
46

13 Likes
47

In the “everything old is new again”. My folks house had a central antenna on the roof.
Antenna plugs were in the most of the electrical outlets along side the normal power plugs.

Those were never used when cable TV came around.
Now with wifi and OTA HDTV…they’re back in fashion.

4 Likes
48

Now, that’s what I call power over Ethernet.

4 Likes
49

BE CAREFUL BUYING ONE OF THESE

Every single time I install one at a customers house, and even in my own house, the space around it gets freaking colonized.

I thought “oh, hey, I’ll pick one up at home depot and put it next to the fireplace, so I can charge my phone”

A week later there was a bookcase filled with all my roommates’ electronics…

I had to buy another one :frowning:

Seriously, buy 2+ or none.

Also, you don’t often find only three wires behind a plug.

PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT INSTALL ONE OF THESE ON YOUR KITCHEN COUNTER UNLESS YOU HAVE A GFI BREAKER OR FEED IT PROPERLY FROM ANOTHER GFI OUTLET.

8 Likes
50

So when I went to install one of these, I opened a box to discover that the jerk before me used 18 guage wires to extend 12 guage wires in the box, and then used more 18 to pigtail to the plug. Naturally, the 18 guage fell apart when I touched it. Any reccomendations on how to address this when, were I a typical renter, I might be lucky to have the right screwdriver?

Keep in mind, your suggestion has to be cheaper AND SAFER than just calling me to do it.

2 Likes
51

This may be a problem in the US. In the UK, dual sockets are rated to withstand 26A and the plugs are fused, so they have to be able to tolerate the heat from the fuses at full output. As a result, for modern loads of the order of 3A max, the thermal overhead is easily enough to tolerate a couple of USB chargers. Our system was overdesigned in a day when it was thought that cheap nuclear power would see all houses electrically heated.

52

I prefer this: http://www.bookofjoe.com/2016/04/turn-2-outlets-into-6-without-an-extension-cord.html

True, you have to bring your own USB charger but look at what else you can do with one of these 2-to-6 puppies.

And the price is quite nice as well.

53

RCBOs in the UK. If your consumer unit doesn’t have them, do yourself a favour and have it replaced.

Back in the day we had a campaign to make the current edition of the Wiring Regulations mandatory, on the basis that despite the cost of upgrading systems there would be a big gain in electrical safety and reduction in house fires. We were opposed by the government of the day (as we later realised a lot of them were landlords and didn’t like the idea of having to improve their rented properties - William Whitelaw was a really big slum landlord.)
Then the Labour government adopted a boondoggle which meant that an unqualified apprentice could wire your kitchen if he worked for an approved firm, but a professor of electrical engineering couldn’t. It was to keep the electrician’s union on board.

Combination mains/USB outlets are fine in houses wired to the current Wiring Regulations. I would be cautious in old houses. Having seen the state of the plumbing and wiring in some rented houses, I think a lot of landlords should be prosecuted for negligence.

1 Like
54

You could install a decoy outlet that fries their electronics. Isn’t learning fun!

55

1 Like
56

[quote=“Chad_Boudreau, post:50, topic:77222”]
So when I went to install one of these, I opened a box to discover that the jerk before me used 18 gauge wires to extend 12 gauge wires in the box, and then used more 18 to pigtail to the plug.[/quote]

If the breaker was derated, that would not be a problem, but since the NEC doesn’t allow anything under 14 (larger numbers mean smaller wires, as you know) there aren’t any 6 amp breakers that will fit a household load panel, so the breaker wasn’t replaced, so yeah, That Guy was a jerk.

No sweat. Literally - make sure you’re not sweating or bleeding, because nano-pure water is an insulator, but sweat and blood conduct purty good. Anyway, wear rubber-soled shoes, keep all parts of your body out of contact with wet or metallic objects (except as noted shortly) and follow these instructions.

  1. locate your breaker box master disconnect and the breaker for the outlet. If you can’t do this, just give up now; you will have to survive life through the kindness of strangers because you are ill fitted for a world of machines.

  2. turn off the switch and/or breaker that controls the outlet. Put a piece of tape over the levers.

  3. obtain a comfortable plastic handled standard screwdriver, a roll of black electrical tape, and some eyeglasses you can see through.

  4. obtain some nice 12 gauge solid (not stranded) copper wire and at least two good quality wire nuts rated for two 12 gauge conductors. If the box is plastic, you need three wire nuts, but check the ground conductor, it might be 14 gauge in which case a smaller wire nut for ground might be in order.

  5. rip that 18 gauge crap out. Literally, just grab hold of it by the insulated portion and twist the remaining wire nut off, then yank that crap outta there. Don’t pull so hard that you are in danger of damaging the insulation on the supply wire, that won’t be necessary.

Note, if your wire’s live, and it accidentally hits the other wire or a grounded metal box or whatever, there will be a bright flash and some heat. Yawn yawn, you’ll survive. If the flash continues more than a millisecond or two, That Guy put a penny in the fusebox, and what you’ve got now is a welding arc. Run to your master disconnect (preferably, screaming, it’s rare you get a legitimate reason to run screaming through a building, so you should always do it) and pull it. All of this is incredibly unlikely - you’re talking about multiple systemic failures, you’re far more likely to be struck by a car on the way to the hardware store. But fortune favors the prepared.

  1. figure out how long to make your pigtail wires. You are supposed to have six inches of wire sticking out of the wall when everything is stretched out to the max, but that is actually impossible in a small box, despite what the code says. You need the right length of wire to be easily folded into the box after the wire nuts are in place and the outlet’s attached, and no more than that. Longer is not better, because you don’t want to have to cut and strip wires that are connected to a wire nut.

OPTIONAL: at this point in the United States I usually touch the wires just to check if they are live. I DO NOT DO THAT IN THE UK. 125 volts is nothing, as long as you don’t bridge it across your brain or heart, but UK mains are kinda hurty. I just take two fingers of the same dry hand, and brush them lightly over the two exposed conductors. Do not use two hands (that would bridge your heart, well, assuming you had two bleeding cuts and you forcibly jammed the wires into them like some kind of maniac). If I feel a tingle, it’s live; if not, I try a couple more times, and if I still don’t feel anything I check both conductors against ground (this will detect a backwards wired switched circuit, which aren’t terribly uncommon in my house).

Since I have no strong objection to wiring an outlet or switch hot, the rest of this assumes your wires are hot. It is actually much easier and smarter to wire them cold, so I do that when it’s possible, but it isn’t always.

  1. strip both ends of all your pigtail wires. There should be a strip gauge on the back of the outlet and also on the bag the wire nuts came in. If not, 3/8" ought to do it. Use a razor blade if you don’t have a stripper.

  2. if your outlet does not accommodate straight wire ends, bend appropriate size hooks in one end of each pigtail wire. Take your time. Make sure that when you run the screws in, the hooks will be drawn tighter, and not unhooked (try it and see if you don’t understand what I mean, it becomes immediately obvious).

  3. keeping your pinky finger touching ground, use your hand to arrange the wires with their ends in contact. If you are completing a circuit by doing this, which should not be possible unless something’s obscurely broken, you might get a flash and a pop. If that happens return the outlet away and get a new one, this one’s dead shorted inside. (Again very incredibly unlikely.)

  4. with the wires touching each other at their ends (not one end touching the middle of the other, the ends need to be together) push the wire nut on and begin twisting. If you haven’t used the cheapest possible wire nuts or let one end slip past the other, the wires will be drawn in and twisted together firmly and securely. Make sure to go black to black and white to white (and bare/green to bare/green, if you’ve got a plastic box)

  5. if the outlet box is metal, connect the ground wire to the box, not the outlet. This gives you a nice RF shield on the contents of the box, which makes the wifi gods happy.

  6. if your outlet accepts straight wire ends, then you didn’t attached them earlier, so do that now, just like it says on the cardboard box the outlet came in. If you have a crappy ought-to-be illegal plastic outlet box you will need to connect the ground as well as the hot (black) and neutral (white).

  7. wrap tape around the outlet so that the screws on the sides are entirely covered. This step is not necessary if you are not wiring it hot.

  8. carefully fold the wires back so that they will nestle into the back of the box as you seat the outlet.

  9. screw everything back together except the face plate. Make sure the screws on the sides of the outlet aren’t touching the box (even if you taped them).

  10. flip the breaker and/or switch on. Do not grasp the breaker firmly, just flip it over, in case it flips back immediately.

  11. test the outlet with a lamp. If it doesn’t work, you failed to follow the instructions properly. Go back to the beginning and start over.

The key takeaway is that 125 volts is not really very dangerous, compared to things like gasoline or bug killer for example. A modicum of foresight and care is all you need.

Hey, @codinghorror, do I get the WALL O’ TEXT and UNNECESSARILY PEDANTIC ANSWER TO A RHETORICAL QUESTION badges now? Huh? Huh?

6 Likes
57

people raise their own blowfish? i am intrigued. :smiling_imp:

1 Like
58

You don’t own a voltage tester?

59

Several! I own a car, too, but I don’t bother with it when I’m just walking from the porch to the mailbox. :slight_smile:

The instructions were for someone with only a screwdriver, as requested.

But I’d never install one of Mark’s outlets without an off switch, personally. I try to think to scale; I’m a categorical imperative type guy.

1 Like
60

errrrrrrrrrr :fearful:

2 Likes
61

Did you know you can taste RS232?

Watch out for toxic compounds on the pins, though. And never taste a phone line, in case somebody rings it.

Edit: I just realized how great your avatar was for that post!

9 Likes