Charger box

I made my own charging center for all my electronic gadgets (phone, iPod, PDA, etc) it's a box from IKEA with a power strip inside and an illuminated switch from an old drip coffeemaker.

Step 1 Do it!

The IKEA box  is perfect because it's made of plastic and it has a hole in the top. I used a power strip that I had got at home and an illuminated switch from a scratch drip coffeemaker. I soldered all the connections and I isolate the connections with heat-shrink tubing.

Comments

[KNT]

A small modification would be good: for each of the chargers to have it's own on/off switch.

[ChandraW]

I like that idea. Recently discovered that a plugged-in charger is still pulling a (small) current from the socket, regardless of whether its charging a given device or not. Considering most chargers are kept plugged..well, it all adds up

[toogers]

untrue, dude. imagine the outlet with nothing plugged into it. no connections are being made, so no power goes through it. same with the phone charger. when a phone is plugged into it, it makes a closed circuit. power goes through, back to the outlet making the charger use electricity. with no phone, there is no closed circuit. no electricity back to the outlet, making no electricity wasted.
if it used power, with no phone,  it would blow a house fuse. sorry to burst your bubble.
-toogers

[KNT]

Untrue on your untrue. There are still control circuts (pulse chargers) or loss of energy on the transformer (older chargers).
So when in doubt - unplug.

[camiller]

My biggest concern would be the build up of heat inside the enclosure due to the waste heat from the "wall wart" transformers. I would be concerned about shortening the life of the transformers.

[toogers]

maybe an a/c computer fan in the box, too?

[ChandraW]

Yea. The radiant heat is my concern too when I look at it. Perhaps the hole is large enough for ventilating the container tho

[Hoopajoo]

So this just organizes your chargers. Basically it's a tub where you run the power cord into a power strip through an illuminated switch. You still need the chargers to run the individual units, they're plugged into the power strip. Just clarifying. It's not a bad idea for keeping your chargers organized and in one place (a big problem for me).

[cplucasb]

If you want an all-in-one charger, try the Chargepod. It's a bit cleaner and greener.

[toogers]

this isn't much greener- it charges from one outlet, sure. but takes more power from the one outlet. sorry
-toogers.

[rcg40]

add a timer at the wall plug so that the gizmo works only during off hours.

[RyanPotter]

It looks very nice, but I think you need to detail this instructable a bit more. All you said is that it charges your stuff and involves a power strip. Let's see some schematics or something.

[pral 2a studio]

I draw this schematic. I think it could help you.

[ChandraW]

Did I mention its pretty? It IS quite eye-pleasing. Mine'd probly look like a toaster/spider mutant

[Silas]

Seriously, if you need a schematic, you should't even be allowed to have a mains outlet in your house! OMFG

[toogers]

my response:

[toogers]

sorry, i had to.

[toogers]

ignore title and annotations.

[ChandraW]

Don't be a doody-head Silas

[isobot]

Come on Silas, This forum is for people to HELP each other, if you want to show your superiority there are plenty of other forums. your comment was certainly condescending. What is great about a schematic is it can help to clarify a question about a design which may arise from the lack of clarity in the written description (most of us are not technical writers) or a lack of clarity in the photographs ( most of us are not photographers) Since when is more information a bad thing?

[gormly]

isobot, this isn't a forum. although I agree silas is a dolt, the need for a schematic in this particular case, points toward someone who shouldn't be fiddling with this in the first place. and NO ONE should be building electrical thingies from instructables on the web unless they know what they are doing.. so while Silas wasn't playing nice.. he was certainly right.

[isobot]

This is not a forum? Sorry, O.k. it is the comments section of an website that promotes exchanges of ideas. you got me there! Let's see, people post questions, answers and make comments on the projects and related tangents in this comments section. The comment section is not just for "good job! bad job! comments, it is for the exchange of ideas, which makes it operate like a forum but pardon me for referring to it as one. I have written this reply quickly on a very poor keyboard so if there are any other errors please chalk them up to my lack of editorial review. Sorry for being so snide but to call me on that, when it has nothing to do with the validity of the comments just seems a bit passive aggressive. As for Silas's comment, He was wrong, period. I wanted to see a schematic too because I could not figure out what was going on in the poorly written description ( non-english speaker I believe). Like I said before additional information can not hurt. If I had ask for one so I could understand what was going on and got that reply then Silas would be proved the fool. If a person can read a schematic, and I am talking about a real circuit diagram with the proper symbols, then he is qualified to plug his project into an outlet as they must have the basic understanding of electricity and an idea of what the 110v (here in the U.S.) can do. Even knowing what a schematic is shows that Ryanpotter can handle plugging something he made into a wall.

[binnie]

:O its just like under my computer table > in a box :O

[RyanPotter]

Dude, first of all, I though he hardwired it all together. I didn't realize that he just plugged them into a power strip and threw it in a box. There's no need to freak out and use idiotic sounding acronyms.

[j626no]

what is a thermomretractable? looks very nice though and im thinking about making one for my girlfriend and myself

[ChandraW]

He just used specialized terminology. Like ecto- vs. endo-thermic when referencing animals. Therma is latin for heat. Retract=um..to retract. Dang but I wish Latin was still tought in public schools; one can extrapolate so much with even a rudimentary grasp of it. Dumb it down a bit for us noobs that aren't quite so 'techy' pls, pral. k tx hugz

[pral 2a studio]

sorry, when I said thermoretractable I'd mean heat-shrinkable tubing. although you could use electrical tape.

[jongscx]

I like that... "thermoretractable"... it has a nice ring to it and makes it sound way more complicated than it actually is....

[castcase1]

Is the Box very heavy. I mean is it easy to carry?
It would be better if you can custom a fit-bag :)

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[laspic]

It's meant to be a cheap DIY alternative to something like the Lizell Recharge Power Station that retails for around $30.

[Silas]

It looks nice.. Way to go. Simple, but effective.. Im deffenatly going to make one, as I constantly throw away my chargers..

[Sgt.Waffles]

Great idea to keep all of the miscellanious junk chargers in. I like it! +