USB Wall Sockets - Can I Do it?

[kai]

It might be convenient to fit an MK or Crabtree USB socket alongside your bedside table if possible, handy for charging your's and the partner's phones every night, just plug them in every night, placed on the bedside table, and the MK or Crabtree charging regulator ensures the phones are properly charged overnight. ready for another day's use nest morning.

 

[stillp]

I just bought a Masterplug USB charger adapter for less that a tenner. Only problem is that the LEDs are too bright (like Kai I use it adjacent to the bedside table), easily fixed with an inch of black tape. Has two USB outlets, and I can move it to another room if necessary.

 

[winston1]

If you value the items that the USB ports are going to be charging then avoid buying cheap items from dubious on-line sources. Some of these are so badly designed and built that the risk of them going wrong and damaging the equipment being charged is not insignificant.

Do you have proof of this, or know of any equipment damaged? Or is it just personal prejudice?

In technical circles it's pretty well established that some of the cheap USB power sources are of extremely dubious quality, to put it mildly. Some are downright dangerous.

I really don't see the point of having USB chargers integral with wall sockets anyway. Why not just plug a USB charger into a regular outlet? That way is far more flexible, unless you're going to fit the integrated units at every outlet around the house.

Once again I ask for proof, and examples of equipment damaged.

I do agree with no point of them however. They are always on consuming power, and anyway every phone comes with a USB charger which generally outlasts the phone.

 

[TargetDummy]

All the above points are valid. However, if the lady of the house wants one fitted...

 

[PBC_1966]

Once again I ask for proof, and examples of equipment damaged.

Not to be accepted as proof here, I'm sure, but from personal experience I can certainly attest to having seen USB chargers with extremely poorly regulated outputs and with huge amounts of ripple. And I have a couple of contacts who have reported seeing drastic failures in the worst of the "Made in China" junk which has left outputs live at 120/240V. Probably counterfeit items in the latter case, but unfortunately there's a lot of counterfeit stuff out there these days (counterfeit circuit breakers being one of most worrying things).

All the above points are valid. However, if the lady of the house wants one fitted...

It's your duty to educate her as to the drawbacks........ ?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Why not just plug a USB charger into a regular outlet? That way is far more flexible, unless you're going to fit the integrated units at every outlet around the house.

And you can unplug it when not in use, giving it a standby consumption of 0.0W. There was a discussion here recently about standby consumption - can't remember if it was found that some sockets do switch off the USB gubbins when nothing is plugged in. That said - I've got one in the living room plugged into the socket strip inside the TV bench, so that never gets unplugged.

Given how ubiquitous USB charging now is, unlike the bad old days where every charger was different, it's easy enough to keep one here, one there etc, ready for use.

 

[bernardgreen]

Once again I ask for proof, and examples of equipment damaged.

Talk to Trading Standards and google for counterfeit goods.

You ae unlikely to get any item specific definitive proof as damaged equipment and / or defective chargers are normally held as evidence pending court action. After the court action the information is likely to come into the public domain

Personnally I know of two mobile phones that stopped working while or immediately after being charged by chargers which on examination were found to have no isolation between mains and the USB port.

A friend who works in an independent testing house and has on occassions been called as an expert witness in counterfeit goods cases has told me about a quite a few items that were siezed as suspected counterfeits and they did indeed prove to be counterfeit. One or two were good copies and probably not hazardous but most were between hazardous to out right dangerous.

 

[plugwash]

Teardowns of cheap USB power supplies have revealed insulation between primary and secondary that doesn't meet requirements. Of course the regulations are designed with substantial safety margins so *most* of the time the substandard barrier holds. As such catastrophic failure due to dodgy USB power supplies is rare but it does happen (e.g. https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=70903&p=513391 ).

More subtule damage due to poor output quality is harder to pin on the power supply (when a device simply stops working it's often difficult to determine why it stopped working) but it is known that many cheap USB chargers have horrible output quality.

 

[plugwash]

I really don't see the point of having USB chargers integral with wall sockets anyway. Why not just plug a USB charger into a regular outlet? That way is far more flexible, unless you're going to fit the integrated units at every outlet around the house.

USB sockets are small, they can fit two USB sockets *and* two 13A UK sockets on a standard UK "double" faceplate (that is the same size faceplate a standard UK 13A double socket has).

So you effectively get extra outlets for your phones/tablets etc with minimal work (at least if your existing backboxes are deep enough) and minimal visual impact.

That is the UK perspective, I dunno how things work out on your side of the pond.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

PBC seems to be a chap who used to be on the right side of the pond.

Over there you have a choice of either with two 120V sockets, or in place of one of them.

The middle one in the 2nd image has a neat feature - the sliding shutter is a switch, so no wasted "idle" power.

And (presumably) it means that IR tests can be done with the socket in circuit - which I've just remembered is a factor to consider over here, when thinking of installing them. If you can't find a UK one with switches, then be aware that you can't do a 500V test.

 

[PBC_1966]

Yes, I'm British, now living in the U.S. I can't recall ever seeing U.K. sockets with integral USB chargers before I left England. I've seen a couple of the above American examples in the stores here, but haven't realy looked at them that closely as I have no interest in ever installing one.

Re insulation testing, I'm wondering if many of these units use switched-mode power supplies rather than a conventional 50/60Hz transformer. If so, and if any switch is single pole (which seems likely), then it might still not be possible without disconnection.

 

[plugwash]

And (presumably) it means that IR tests can be done with the socket in circuit - which I've just remembered is a factor to consider over here, when thinking of installing them. If you can't find a UK one with switches, then be aware that you can't do a 500V test.

Well you can't do a 500V P to N test. You should be fine doing a 500V P+N to E test.

 

[stillp]

USB sockets are small, they can fit two USB sockets *and* two 13A UK sockets on a standard UK "double" faceplate (that is the same size faceplate a standard UK 13A double socket has).

So you effectively get extra outlets for your phones/tablets etc with minimal work (at least if your existing backboxes are deep enough) and minimal visual impact.

You can use 2 of the adapters I mentioned earlier in a dual 13A socket-outlet, and then you'll have 4 USB outlets as well as your 2 x 13A outlets! If you're worried about power consumption when not in use, you can unplug them.

 

[Cinobite]

Thanks again for all of the replies - sorry, I stopped getting notifications for some reason.

I had an electrician round (family friend, full time, fully qualified). He said I could put it all in myself, but my plan is to fit the lights and run the cable, then he's going to come around just to make the connection. (I fried myself on the mains when I was a kid so overly cautious )

So the plan is, 4 recessed fixed spot lights. LED bulbs, mains powered coming from the main light in the bedroom. Chain the lights, run a cable to the switch.
Then 2 tilting recessed spot lights, LED bulbs, mains powered coming from the main light, chained and another cable run. Thus making the wall plate a triple switch instead of a single (as now).

One thing I'm not sure about is the power cabling I need to buy (I have to buy everything). In my experience, circuits have always been. Power - switch - device.
But looking at the main bedroom light there's 2live and 2neutral in the base/cover. Is electrical cabling different in some way as to the sequence?
As, on the face of it, it would go Lights, Power, Switch. So I'm thinking is there a junction box or does the electrical cable have 2 of each wire (to the switch an back)?

In essence, how is it wired? Lights - power/junction box - 1 cable (LNE) to switch or....?
Again, this is just so I know what to buy and where to feed it in the wall/loft. I won't be touching the electrics. I'm hoping to buy everything tomorrow.



On the USB topic, I'm using faceplates for a few reasons;
They free up sockets for appliances - particularly in the kitchen.
They will be running always on devices (tablet and speakers mostly)
They have a lower profile and less bulk
They don't required a charger to be moved around the house.

 

[weezak]

Might be of interest http://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/mediafile/100145109/web_usb-article-from-so32.pdf I decided against them after reading this a while back.

I don't like the fact you can't switch off the USB part either, seems mental.