AC/DC adapters are common and are easily found in houses. While these adapters can regulate voltages and power our electronics, we can also use them to hide random or secret objects. But How? Good question! You see these adapters have a circuit board inside their bellies(compartment) which fills up all the space inside, but what if you were able to replace that large circuit board with a smaller version of it? We will have free space inside the belly of the adapter which we could hide some stuffs in. The best thing about this idea is that the adapter will still work, so no one will have a clue that something the size of a flash drive is inside a working phone charger/adapter. Not even the FBI(well atleast at first sight, hopefully).

Supplies

For this, you’ll need:
1. Two wall adapters with similar voltage and Amp rating, one should be bigger in size than the other.
2. Hot glue or double sided tape.
3. Cardboard(optional)
4. Screw driver
5. Soldering Iron and solder(optional)
6. Heat shrink or electrical tape(to make everything neat)

Step 1: Swapping the Circuit Board

Unscrew the back cover of the smaller adapter and then remove the circuit board inside. Take note of the output pins polarity and the input pins when cutting the wires. Repeat this with the larger adapter and then reconnect the smaller board in place of the larger board inside the large adapter. Secure the board in place with a bit of hot glue of double sided tape. You can see now we have a fully functioning adapter with free hiding space inside.

Step 2: Create a Partition

To prevent the hidden object from possibly shorting the board(if metallic) I made a simple partition out of a small rectangular cardboard sheet so as to separate the hiding space from the circuit.

Step 3: What Can You Hide?

Well you can hide several things inside ranging from cash, SD Cards, flashdrives, battery(not recommended) etc. When hiding small objects, squeeze some paper into balls and use it to fill the free gap to prevent the objects from shaking or moving around. Close the charger and screw back the screws.
Here are some few examples as well as pictures of what I was able to hide inside the charger.
- Some cash
- A 32gb Sony flash drive, a Micro Sd card adapter, 16gb Sd card and extra space.
- A 9g micro servo with its lead
- Two 12v relay stacked on top of each other
- Bluetooth module, WiFi dongle and a Lipo battery. I do not recommend storing Lipo batteries this way as the overall adapter tends to get warm when using and Lipo battery generally don’t like to be heated.
- A combination of 13 pushbutton and slideswitch + 26 led diodes + one strip of led.

To test, I kept 5dollars and a flashdrive inside the charger and swapped the charger with my cousin one. For 3 whole days, he had no idea that anything was stored inside until when I told him. Test Score= A+

What were you able to hide? Share it in the comment below and also don’t forget to like and vote for me in the Hidden Compartment contest. Have fun hiding stuff!