"Look, Mom- No Batteries!"

[Jim Cassedy]

I have a battery operated LED 'light bulb' which runs on 3 AAA batteries, and which makes a nifty
night light. - - But the batteries wear out pretty quickly. I was thinking of building a cable/voltage
dropper, so that I could run it off of a 5V USB power supply, but when sourcing parts, I discovered
that I could actually BUY a device from China (naturally!) for a lot less in time and money than it
would cost for me to build one myself. (and I'm too busy lately to take on even simple construction
projects.) Check this thing out:

The USB Plug Contains The Voltage Dropping CIrcuitry
It's Connected To The Yellow "Battery" Which Has The Usual + & - Contacts
The Green "Batteries" Are Dummies WIth + & - Terminals Connected Together
NoBattery_1.jpg

The Green Dummies, SImply Provide Continuity In The Battery Compartment
( An Ohm Meter Confirms Top & Bottom Terminals Are Just Connected Together)
NoBattery_2.jpg

"Let There Be Light" This Thing Cost About $7.00(us) And The Same Company
Makes Similar Trick Batteries Like This For Replacing Up To 4 AA or AAA Cells
NoBattery_3.jpg

Yea, I know I probably could have done this with just a couple of dropping resistors, but
between my often overly busy work schedule compounded by wasting a lot of time
wading through layers of corporate claptrap 'company policy' meetings, I just wanted
something quick & easy. I've been wanting to convert this battery lamp a long time,
so the extra two weeks it took for it to ship from China was worth the wait.

[Ryan Gallagher]

Hmmm, if all my remotes were wired/tethered. I’d never lose them!

[Leo Enticknap]

About a year ago, I got so fed up with USB wall warts hanging precariously from pretty much every outlet in the house, charging my wife's and son's large collection of mobile devices, that I decided it was time to take action, and began replacing the regular outlets with these:

image.png

A typical household nowadays likely needs as many if not more USB charging outlets as NEMA 5-15s, so replacing 2 x 5-15 outlets with these things makes sense. The only bummer is that the USB-C jack maxes out at 9v/2a. If only they'd make one that gives me the full 60w possible from USB-C, then I wouldn't need a wall wart to charge my laptop, either!

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Fast charge phones like my Motorola won't charge in fast mode using those. It will however charge them faster than a standard charger will. My H-P Z3 workstation, has three high current outlets... Two standard ports and one C type outlet. The best part is those ports stay alive even when the computer goes to sleep, and the Motorola charges to full in about 80 minutes. I also have a couple fast chargers for when I travel, or should the HP go down. There is enough current in the charge cable that it feels warm after 30 min. But as it reaches 70 percent charge, the current tapers off so the battery itself doesn't over heat. I still think those outlets are a good idea, and perhaps there is a higher current version avsilable, or on the horizon...

[Harold Hallikainen]

For cellphones, I really like wireless chargers. I find USB connectors get full of crud and then fail. I have a wireless charger on the table beside the bed. I set the phone on it every night, and it doubles as a clock.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Not all phones are capable of charging from them... Otherwise I agree 100%...

[Frank Cox]

I have an Otterbox Defender case for my phone. It has a little flap that covers the usb port so it doesn't fill up with crud.

It's really a dandy case. I've put an Otterbox Defender case on every one of my cell phones ever since the guy who used to be the local dealer told me about them. I think I've gone through two or three phone changes since then.

[Lyle Romer]

I have an Otterbox Defender case for my phone. It has a little flap that covers the usb port so it doesn't fill up with crud.

It's really a dandy case. I've put an Otterbox Defender case on every one of my cell phones ever since the guy who used to be the local dealer told me about them. I think I've gone through two or three phone changes since then.

Back in the late 90's/early 2000s many phones had a rubber flap integrated in the phone to cover the charging port. They also didn't require a case to protect them from drops. I guess there are a few phones designed to be their own case but they can't make the phone as sleek and make it able to survive drops without a case.

Wireless charging is great but I don't think any phone can do more than 15W wireless. Also, it does add more heat to the charging process which isn't ideal for battery longevity. My wife's car has a wireless charger. It's slow charging but convenient to get some charge in there without having to deal with a wire dangling and having to keep plugging and unplugging if you are making a few stops.

[Leo Enticknap]

Agreed with the enthusiasm for both wireless charging and Otterbox Defenders. My cellphone gets quite a lot of abuse, being in my pocket (and occasionally falling out of it) while I'm climbing ladders into projector pods, crawling around on the floor, etc., and these cases have always kept it in near new condition.

As for USB jacks wearing out, this is why I always supply a USB B male to female extender with all new DCP server installs, and advise customers always to connect non-CRU shipping drives to it, rather than plug them directly into the IMS3000, Alchemy, or whatever. If the jack on the extender becomes NFG, $10 for a replacement extender fixes it. But if the jack on the server itself is damaged, that's a much bigger problem (even if it is still in warranty).

[Harold Hallikainen]

There is also a question of quality of the USB connector on the cable. Years ago, we got back a bunch of CCR-100 closed caption receivers with mangled USB connectors. We ran a test with a cheap USB cable and found significant wear of the insulating tab after a hundred insertion cycles. This wear allowed the plug contacts to peel up the receptacle contacts. These cables had no rating on insertion cycles. We ended up supplying a cable from Tyco/AMP that had connectors rated for 5,000 cycles. Cheap cables can result in expensive repairs.