USB Power Port

A USB port close at hand to take advantage of some of the cheap and useful USB devices that are out there. I thought of this when i needed a reading light for my bed. This is my first attempt for my sons room. I am working on a 2 port system for me and the wife.

Step 1: Supplies

You will need the items shown, plus the other traditional things, cutting tools, drill, wire, epoxy, tape.

Step 2: Layout

Measuring and marking the hole.

Step 3: Cutting the Hole

I started with a drill to remove most of the material.

Step 4: Finished Hole

It could be cut smoother but i didn't take my time. It has to be oversized on the height to get the port in at a angle.

Step 5: Gluing

I used epoxy to glue both the port and the terminal strip in place.

Step 6: Wiring

Drill a hole and insert the wire coming from the adapter. Secure the wires to the terminal strip.

Step 7: Wire the USB Port

Solder the wires on the USB port. Since I only want the port for its power, I only needed to hook up those two wires. Here is a site that explains the pinouts on USB. http://www.hardwarebook.info/Universal_Serial_Bus_(USB)

Step 8: Port to Strip

Connect the wires from the USB to the terminal strip, double checking the polarity.

Step 9: Done

Close up the box, plug it in and let er' rip.

Comments

[Mig Welder]

Looks very nice. When I saw that picture, it occurred to me that it might be a good idea to put some ballast inside the box to keep it from flipping over. Just a thought.
Nice 'ible!

[munchman]

Good job. I thought of an idea where you could wire a 5V dc transformer directly to the AC power and have usb wall plates.

[abadfart]

nice I'm going make one for my iPod

[kraM]

thats a cool idea i guess, but thanks for the link to the site with the usb stuff, that shuld help alot with other projects once again thanks!

[smmiller506]

For USB, it must be 5 VDC. Otherwise, the system will not recognize it. This is why I like FireWire. It isn't as picky as USB. FireWire requires anywhere from 12 to 30 VDC. As for amperage, I would be some kind of limiter on each port, to ensure you don't put out more than 500ma of power. If you do, you can easily fry circuits. Excellent idea, though. I might have to build myself something like this...

[wingman246]

instead of ordering a usb port, a friend of mine gave me a USB port extender (he got it from a dollar store, amazing what you can find at those places...) to use for this. I think (and hope) that it will work.

[wingman246]

if any one knows where I can purchase a USB port that I can use in this project please let me know it would make me quite happy.

[tyep]

Here is a link from Mouser's website for usb ports. I haven't ordered from them but I'm going to, they have project boxes and terminal strips too. http://www.mouser.com/catalog/629/975.pdf

[wingman246]

I have a old game boy pocket adapter (now unuseable because the jack was somehow removed), it is a DC3V 300mA adapter. Any way I could use it for this project? My main reason for wanting to make this is to power my digital camera because I HATE its battery life.

[tyep]

I think that it would have to be 5 volt dc, because thats what your computer's port puts out.

[josh92176]

isnt it easyer to buy a cheap ipod charger off ebay their about £2($3.90) and just stick a usb port on the end?

[tyep]

Thats pretty much all that this is, except I found a cheaper power supply, and you need to put the port into something to act as a base so it can be mounted on the wall, or the windowsill as shown.

[evy-wevy]

will it charge ipods?

[jarv34]

It won't unless the data lines are tied to ground and a pull-up to 5v. I haven't found a solution that works for all ipods so maybe there is some black magic involved.
My usb power hack worked okay with the new ipods:
https://www.instructables.com/id/EKT9NV4O9UEWT14I98/

[tyep]

I think that we are the last family in the world to have an Ipod free household, so I'm not sure, but 5V dc is the same as the power that your computer puts out of its usb port, so I don't see why not, but someone else probably knows more than I do about it.