(power) Outlet Strips

Here's a single ac outlet with a switch mounted above. These are expensive but you can probably find them cheaper. watch the wrap.

referralID=NA&mr:device=c&mr:adType=pla&mr:ad=56682935965&mr:keyword=&mr:match=&mr:filter=91935296365&gclid=CMH23Zvj8sECFcJQ7AodfUYAjg

Mikek

I'm considering that -- the outlets I've on hand are much shallower, contain provisions for earth ground *and* round! Round holes are easier to punch and get the "orientation" right :>

(they also have screw terminals and mount from below -- important if you will be working in a piece of U-channel)

No. It would have to be mounted with the switches on the top, outlets on the bottom. Then, the wall warts would interfere with the wall. I.e.,

| || | || |s || |Xw|| | w|| | .|| | .||

|=mounting surface ||=wall X=outlet strip (profile) s=switch per outlet w=wall wart .=cord from wall wart

The way I see your example:

| || | || |s || |X || |X || |ww.|| | .||

(note kink in cord)

Off to check some of the surplus/auction/salvage sites, locally, to see if I can find "inspiration" in someone else's "trash"!

Den tirsdag den 11. november 2014 03.53.38 UTC+1 skrev Don Y:

you USAians don't have something similar to this?

mounts in a hole made by overlapping 56mm round holes, or a box like this:

or channels like this:

comes in all variations of double, no switch, ethernet, antenna, audio etc.

-Lasse

The prewired wiremold outlet strips have the outlets going in the wrong orientation. I.e., they (and most other suppliers) arrange them like:

| | .

| | .

| | .

Whereas I want

_ _.

_ _.

The snap-in outlets are rectangular so you can't just rotate them and have them still fit in the channel.

If you use the large wiremold Jboxes, then you effectively end up fastening them end to end (or side to side) owing to their overall dimensions (36" for 12 outlets means you really need to hug the 3" figure)

Lastly, you're fighting the Jbox depth. "Outlet strips" tend to be much shallower than Jboxes -- hence the small "barely legal" switch Jbox that I referenced before. They're barely large enough to wire with 14AWG and probably not legal for 12AWG... that's how

E.g., for a SPST switch: yoke = 2 units clamp=1 unit three conductors=3 units box ground=0 units 6 units @ 2 cu in = 12 cu in

If it was a duplex outlet and the conductors ran *through* the box (to the next duplex outlet):

yoke = 2 units clamp=1 unit two sets of three conductors=6 units box ground=0 units 9 units @ 2 cu in = 18 cu in (FAIL)

Well, I could always resort to the Furman device for $10/outlet. :<

It's just hard to believe these things aren't in greater demand. Esp with the prevalence of wall warts, nowadays!

Sure:

They are also available in different "stylistic" versions.

But, you have to be wary of the distance between the outlet and the switch (i.e., make sure the wall wart plugged into the outlet doesn't interfere/overlap with the switch).

Note that this requires the assembly to be mounted in the configuration shown with the *next* such switch/outlet being located to the left/right (not above/below) in order to satisfy my requirement that the wall wart be normal to the outlet strip

Sure, we have all sorts of junction boxes -- new works, old works, wet location, surface mount, etc. The required volume of the box is related to the yoke installed in it, number of conductors, clamps, fasteners, etc. E.g., a switch+outlet can have up to 5 conductors (the switch need not control the outlet!), one yoke, internal clamp, etc. So, easily 8 "volume units". Volume units are related to wire sizes. E.g., 14AWG is 2 cu in; 12AWG is 2.25. So, 16 - 18 cu in for that single fixture.

Things like ethernet, HDMI, RCA jacks, speaker binding posts, etc. often have the same physical form factor but, being low voltage devices, the wiring requirements differ (along with required box volumes, etc.). E.g., the house, here, has 25 (?) "single gang" boxes distributed throughout, each with an 'F' connector (CATV), RJ11 (phone) and RJ45 (network).

In other places, I have 6 F connectors in the same physical space. Or, 6 RJ11's. etc.

Argh! I'm late. Gotta go...

On Mon, 10 Nov 2014 19:53:44 -0700, Don Y Gave us:

Wall warts differ in how their power lugs are oriented.

Get a strip with selectable individual outlet indexing.

Sorry, when I did my power strip I had no problem finding normal and 90 deg outlets for the raceway, but a quick browse at allied and mcmaster had no luck and I don't remember what brand I was using. I did find a few power strips with 90 deg outlets and individual switches on ebay that might work for you (search for "power strip individually switched"). Price range $15 to 45. Best hits:

This is by Rosewill so if you don't like ebay I'm sure newegg or amazon has them:

Another Rosewill, with surge protection:

Longer, metal, with more room between outlets:

The prewired wiremold outlet strips have the outlets going in the wrong orientation. I.e., they (and most other suppliers) arrange them like:

| | .

| | .

| | .

Whereas I want

_ _.

_ _.

The snap-in outlets are rectangular so you can't just rotate them and have them still fit in the channel.

If you use the large wiremold Jboxes, then you effectively end up fastening them end to end (or side to side) owing to their overall dimensions (36" for 12 outlets means you really need to hug the 3" figure)

Lastly, you're fighting the Jbox depth. "Outlet strips" tend to be much shallower than Jboxes -- hence the small "barely legal" switch Jbox that I referenced before. They're barely large enough to wire with 14AWG and probably not legal for 12AWG... that's how

E.g., for a SPST switch: yoke = 2 units clamp=1 unit three conductors=3 units box ground=0 units 6 units @ 2 cu in = 12 cu in

If it was a duplex outlet and the conductors ran *through* the box (to the next duplex outlet):

yoke = 2 units clamp=1 unit two sets of three conductors=6 units box ground=0 units 9 units @ 2 cu in = 18 cu in (FAIL)

Well, I could always resort to the Furman device for $10/outlet. :<

It's just hard to believe these things aren't in greater demand. Esp with the prevalence of wall warts, nowadays!

You don't need to get so fancy. You can just use standard 1 gang metal outlet boxes and the combo switch/outlet. Wire several of them together with whatever spacing you desire and presto, a very low cost and easy to make outlet string.

On Tue, 11 Nov 2014 13:18:19 -0500, "Carl Ijames" Gave us:

snip

The old, extruded Aluminum box type that Radio shack used to make and sell were nearly bulletproof. I still see them in use on Youtube videos, so I must not be the only one who remembers these things.

Just look for 36 inch power strips.

The one I pointed to has 9 units, but they also make 12 units in a

"36 inch wall mount power strip" is the search keys.

A 12 outlet type.

depending on what you want, they also make the horizontal mounts and that means the plugs or orientated the other way.

Jamie

Why bother? I have a similar arrangement along the back of several hi-fi cabinets, workbenches, and shelves. If the wall wart tries to fall out of the socket, I use a blob of hot melt glue to keep it in place.

Put a long power strip under the bench with the wall warts facing down. Yes, they will all try to unplug themselves, but hot melt glue should keep them in place. Then, you can shove the bench against the wall.

Why? Is turning the equipment on/off from the front panel difficult?

If you're going to design and build something, I suggest some solid state relay modules, driving either a duplex outlet, or a double duplex outlet, with a remote control panel. I have something like that for switching on/off my HP8656A signal generator, where there is no power OFF position, and the fan runs continuously in standby.

There is no *space* behind the bench. You need to move the bench away from the wall far enough for the thickness of outlet strip plus the thickness (in the orientation I am using) of the wall wart plus the length of the blades of the wall wart -- so it can be removed/inserted. In my case that's about 4". In one instance, there is a very narrow walk path in front of the bench such that moving the bench further out makes a "tight squeeze" even tighter! :<

That's how the benches in the office are arranged -- six sets of 6-outlet strips.

The instance mentioned above (it's actually a cabinet, not a bench) has ~9 inch legs (i.e., the cabinet extends from just above the floor to just about eye level). The outlet strips under *it* are an issue because:

- I have to LAY on the floor (in that "tight squeeze" space) in order to reach any of the plugs mated to it

- many of the devices plugged into the strips can't be placed where I would like them (because the cord length on wall warts can't be adjusted as easily as "use a longer power cord")

Most things (here) with wall warts don't have power switches! :> And, I may wish to selectively power up certain devices. E.g., if I need to access something on *one* external disk drive, why would I want to spin up ALL of the external disk drives? Just apply power to the wall wart for the drive in question!

An outlet strip mounted horizontally with outlets spaced ~3 inches apart and oriented in the same configuration as a typical "wall socket" with individual toggle switches along the *top* edge of the strip is perfect. The cords from the wall warts will all "hang" in-line (instead of forcing a 90 degree bend *at* the strain relief). Their thickness (thinness?) will allow the cabinet to be positioned close to the wall. And, the switches along the top will be accessible so I can easily locate the switch in question and physically *access* it (without having to thread my hand down a 4-inch "canyon" (between wall and cabinet), dodging the bulk of several wall warts and trying to locate switches *between* them!

"Power centers". They are common. But, fall into two categories:

- switchable "power center" where the switches are on the front and outlets along the back. as a rack has few "depth" limitations, these tend to be "thick" (front to back). In my deployment, the switches would end up on top and outlets on *bottom* (instead of the "back side"). No joy, there (see another post this thread for a description)

- traditional power strip (either with standard outlets or with outlets that resemble the mating connector on a typical "power cord"). These tend to suffer from the same problems that plague all power strips (it's just easier to make a power strip where all of the outlets are "in line" -- i.e., = = = instead of || || || -- think about it)

The strips that I use, here, are similar to: (though not as much "wasted space" on the end -- probably a filter hiding in there?). They are very sturdy, easily mounted (blind hardware) and could *conceivably* be constructed with the outlets rotated 90 degrees (I've never checked to verify that).

They are relatively low profile and could accommodate some "mini toggles" along the top edge (when oriented with the power cord exiting from the *bottom* edge)

But, the outlets are too close together. I lose every other one when I plug in wall warts. And, the "lost" outlets not only can't support another wall wart, but they also can't support a regular

As a result, I tend to only use the two "end outlets" for wall warts; letting one hang over the end of the outlet strip and the other rotated 180 degrees and overlapping the power switch (located approx where that shiny silver rivet is to the right of the rightmost outlet in that photo)

Plugging or unplugging any of the OTHER cords tends to then disturb these wall warts due to the tight spacing. (no joy for a disk to spin down while you are unplugging something else! Or, document feeder to stop and that job need to be restarted because the peripheral was effectively 'reset")

I was thinking more like this...

Nice round edges. Add a combo switch/outlet and wire them up in any orientation you choose. About $6 per outlet.

-Lasse

Both ignore the fact that a problem solved benefits others besides yourself! E.g., how many times do *you*, personally, need access to a telephone while you are "away from home/office" and not near enough to a "pay/public phone" to make that call? I suspect the number of instances over a LIFETIME wouldn't account for a fraction of a percent of the time required to design a "cell phone (system)". By extension, this would be true of EVERY soul on the planet!

So, ANY time spent -- by anyONE -- thinking on the problem (other than pondering the likely location of the nearest public phone) would, by your (above) suggestion, be *wasted*! :>

How much time/energy do you think went into creating the first "outlet strip"? Enough to offset the "cost" of just plugging in another extension cord?? ;-)

This stanley one is what he had in mind, but is too long (maybe)

Cheers

Yes, that one is 36 inches, they do make 4 footers too! Actually, you can get power plugmold strips that most use in their work shop, at least that is what I do... :)

Jamie