Mains socket with USB built in

Zuken-Redac Cadstar Release 7 Schematics and PCB

OMG! Thats soo old (I take it you mean the DOS version) - I started out on that many years ago, I know it very well. I also have the files somewhere that mean you no longer need the dongle should your lpt port fail. ;)
I even have the original manual for that as it contains some useful info.
 
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OMG! Thats soo old (I take it you mean the DOS version)

Maturity , not old age.... Yes the DOS version. And yes the manuals printed on paper are so much better and easier to use than on screen manuals ( I may still have the RedBoard manuals )
 
Can you still get the valves? :p

I still have an old laptop on my desk to run a SCSI interface for a film scanner.
 
I still have an old laptop on my desk to run a SCSI interface for a film scanner.
Similarly, I maintain an old PC with a SCSI interface for an equally ancient ('backup') tape reader/writer. The same machine is one of the few (perhaps the only) machine I still have which has a working internal 5¼" floppy drive.

Kind Regards, John
 
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BG make USB sockets which fit a 25mm knockout box. They’re not even really a squeeze. They’re no MK or Hager but a ton better than a 99p shop adapter.

Alternatively the likes of Schneider make a 10/16mm spacer shelf so it spaces the socket off the wall, but also adds a lip at the top so you can put your device on the shelf to charge

Thanks, that's a potential easy solution. The reviews for the BG one seemed good.

I was thinking the existing 25mm back box might be okay with the MK socket, as the backbox is recessed a bit up against the masonary. By that I mean the edge of the backbox is not flush with the wall, there is the thickness of the plasterboard as well (so potentially 25mm backbox + 10mm plasterboard= 35mm space for wires and socket innards)

I will check when I get home...
 
There is no transformer in those sockets.

There is a transformer in them, it is a very small high frequency transformer driven by an high frequency electronic switching device. This transformer is essential to isolate the ELV ( 5 volt ) supply from the LV ( 230 volt ) supply.

Disclaimer ::-- devices have been found outside the UK ( extremely cheap devices ) with no isolation transformer, One side of the LV was connected directly to one side of the LV supply. If the polarity was reversed ( Live and Neutral swapped ) then the LV supply would be Live.
 
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I saw this linked on another forum, an example of what you might get buying from China via Ebay. If you can't be bothered to watch the summary is flakey USB charging performance, but most seriously it has two earth terminals, one for each socket and not interconnected.
 
The most common failure mode of the high frequency transformers in switched mode power supplies is demonstrated in this video.

It is the fault that puts Live mains onto the LV outputs.

 
It is around 35mm with the plasterboard added in, so might give the MK one a go. I did look at the MK datasheet which gave the gubbins at the back at 28mm, so would only leave 7mm for wire space however. The MK one is double-pole, so probably better to go with that then a cheaper single-pole one I guess.

IMG_20171023_161744.jpg
 
in the vid he's using a case-opening blade tool marked "regizmo"

I need one, can't find it under that name or any I can think of.

What do you call it?

edit
found one now

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/371503307355
 
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I saw this linked on another forum, an example of what you might get buying from China via Ebay.
Surely it is what people who buy it actually want, just as they actually want a regime which allows them to buy dangerous sh**e?
 
Of the two videos it seems the stand alone USB charger although dangerous was down to a fault isolation transformer and possibility a one off fault, however the socket with two independent earths one for each socket was clearly a design fault. Nearly all we buy now seems to come from China and to be fair some of it is good stuff, however there are clearly some suppliers who are making dangerous rubbish, all the consumer can do is buy from a British firm and hope their buyer know what they are doing.

As electricians it does show how we should always test, and always test both sockets in a double socket outlet, which reminds me, I need to buy one of those plug in testers for the caravan, so easy to plug into a faulty supply, last caravan had tester built into the consumer unit.
 

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