BC to ES adapter

[tabbypurr]

y an average-user-replaceable standard fuse?

Surely like any psu it can be protected any way the engineer & user chooses . Fuse, fireproof resistor, thermal cutout, foldback current limit, self re setting polyfuse etc etc. Fuse is far from the best choice.

nstead of a flexible lead, USB 5V (or other, for other voltages) outlets on one or more of the non-front faces. And perhaps an un-fused BS1363 socket on the front. In the event of a fault, plug in a spare wart instead.

so usb adaptors. Slightly better than wallwarts.

USB (etc.) sockets; I've not seen any. They could be designed to be remova ble using a medium-sized crochet hook. They should not be removable by inf ants.

I think something more robust than USB would be best.

NT

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Modems etc often have AC wall warts. Just whether they'd work on 12v DC, I dunno.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Have you worked out the cost of having your low voltage supply available everywhere you currently have a mains socket, then? And the costs of the cable and central power supply? Let alone installation costs.

You might say that. But it's nonsense.

Having lots and lots of extra sockets tidies things up?

I'd love to know your estimate of how much it would cost.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Why would it need to be?

If you don't mind it looking more ugly than the PS built into the socket.

Do you find 5v PS supplies fail often? If so, sound like you need to buy better ones.

5v DC is a hazard for infants? You live and learn.

[NY]

USB is a standard. Most things that take 5V have a lead with a USB A plug on one end (and usually Mini or Micro USB on the other end).

If you standardise on something other than USB for 5V power, you'd need a plentiful supply of leads with that plug on one end and whatever plug the device needs on the other end. So you'd need two leads: one for connecting to wall power and one for connecting to a computer, either for charging or data transfer. Better to standardise on USB for power, then one lead satisfies both uses.

There are mains sockets available which have a BS1363 socket but also a 5V supply and a USB socket.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Right. Going to make wiring the average house with this rather restrictive if the maximum run from the PS is limited to 13m. Have you ever re-wired a house? ;-)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

How much do you think a 1 amp voltage regulator costs? Drop in the ocean compared to cable and fitting costs. Let alone labour.

[RobertL]

It might be impossible to touch the contact itself when the bulb is screwed in but the metal part of the bulb is not so well covered and it suddenly becomes live while it's being screwed in.

Robert

[The Natural Philosopher]

I thnk so. WE moved from a few lighting circuits and a socket in the hall for et vacuum cleaner to cat 5, satellite/TV cable, alarm cable and multiple rings...in around 50 years...who knows what comes next.

If USB or similar becomes the standard way to power electronics I can easily see 5V stuff being piped around.

or 12v Or almost anything really.

[tabbypurr]

I do.

NT

[The Natural Philosopher]

Unless they are using half wave rectification and you connect them backwards they will be fine on DC

Most SMPSUS are anyway, and even liner PSUS are not unhgappy if fed via a full wave rectifier.

Project I worked on was specced from 48V DC (avionics) to 250V AC (UK grid) with no selectors at all,.

[tabbypurr]

It's a wide range, depending on system details and when & who did the job.

NT

[tabbypurr]

USB is too fragile, better suited to short lived computer products and loca tions where they won't get bashed. A barrel connector a size or 2 up from t he popular ones would work better. The number of lead types depends on the number of appliance power connectors, not on what wall socket standard is u sed.

I had a system that did this & more years ago. It had battery backup for th e 12v and small lights that came on in some places if mains failed. IIRC it cost me not a penny, all made from things that were otherwise due for chuc k out, or were chucked out. Install time was trivial, a bit was added when I had 5 minutes etc.

NT

[tabbypurr]

You snipped the bit about how it can run over 100m. Weird huh.

Yes. Have you ever engaged your brain?

NT

[tabbypurr]

Firstly one would need more than 1A. The IC is cheap enough. Turn it into a complete module with housing and take time to wire it up & costs add. For what? So you can run over 100m on a psu? Pointless.

NT

[Dave Plowman (News)]

How you you hold a lamp while screwing it in?

[tabbypurr]

If it's ever done, and it seems fairly likely, I expect it'll start as a selling point for new builds. Look! All that clutter gone! Only Weasel luxury homes offer that!

As years go by I expect ever more to convert from mains to 5/12v power. Many portable radios, radio alarms, maybe printers, computer speakers, small stereos, rechargeable torches, computers, shavers, toothbrushes, gameboxes, etc etc.

NT

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I snipped it on the basic of cable and installation costs going through the roof. ;-)

Unlike you, yes.

If I were running an ELV supply in a house, I'd make it the maximum voltage allowable and use regulators at each outlet. So the same supply could do both 5v and 12v. The outlets would likely have to be custom made anyway, so no big deal to incorporate a simple PCB. To keep the expensive cable size and installation costs to a minimum.

[Robin]

I was not claiming that - or anything else.

I am sorry my question was not clear. Let me try again. Do you have any *evidence* that RFCs *in practice* are safer than radials?

You may think that is obvious to the meanest intellect but it isn't to me - and IIRC it wasn't to those (far more knowledgeable than me) who debated the pros and cons of RFCs at the IET in 2007.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Since valve days, all these things run off lower than mains voltage, via an internal power supply.

And many, like computers, have more than one low voltage rail. So will still need an internal power supply to derive those from your single one.

To be as flexible as using mains, you'd need an equal number of low volt outlets. Thus doubling up such things in the average house.