Power Distribution Extension Lead

I have a three-way individually switched adapter which helps in a similar situation. Unfortunately, I have no idea where it came from, nor when, and there are no indications of who made it. It might have been a chance sighting at Tesco or Morrison's, but not recently. Hope that helps~!

You can get them where the sockets are staggered, that may help?

Or some have the sockets angled to 45° which may help or hinder for the wall-wart type plugs, some even allow the sockets to rotate in place.

two 4-ways may suit better than one 8-way?

Plug an old-fashioned 3-way plug into one of the sockets, and plug the USB power supply into the top of that.

-- Richard

Something like this might solve your problem as the sockets are staggered

Richard

I'm not sure the first customer photo shows the ideal way to use it ...

swap the ones with the lead out the top for alternatives.

Why on earth does it need to be switched? The standby current for a disconnected USB charger is so low as to be virtually undetectable.

Everything else has a power switch, and again, whilst it might be in standby, again, for most devices the power used is minute.

Googling turned up this:-

Dave

Many thanks for all the replies :-)

Andy broke me out of my tunnel vision, two separate strips is much more flexible so I've gone for that.

I wonder if a Darwin Award is imminent; perhaps three of them...

CPC have a good range of rack mount "PDUs" (multiway extension leads designed for mounting in 19" racks).

There are two common types; horizontal and vertical. The horizontal ones are intended to be mounted like a rack mount device across the rack, fixing to the mounting holes down each side. These have their mounting lugs flush with the front face of the sockets, so you get enough space to the front to fit the plugs and still have the door close. Handy for racks but less useful as more generic extension leads.

The vertical ones however are designed for mounting in the sides or back of the racks where they don't consume any "U" space in the rack. Handily these usually have mounting lugs flush with the back of the unit, so they can be screwed to any flat surface.

I use a couple of 8 way ones[1] for easy access sockets above my desk - mounted vertically and beside my shelf / drawer project[2]. By separating them by about 40mm, and then staggering the height so that the sockets are also interleaved you can accommodate ordinary plugs and a variety of configurations of wall wart.

(note mine only have a master switch for each device)

Many thanks John :-)

I have a 12 way horizontal version behind my Hi-Fi cabinet, it only has 2 x unused sockets!

Annoying how most power strips just have slots, so they can be hung up. Fine until you need to plug something in or out . . .

Anyone found a decent method of fixing them to a wall?

You mean the ones with keyhole shaped holes in the back where you need to set screw at the "just right" depth, push the thing over the screw heads and then slide it down to it is kind of fixed in place?

If so, two options - tit about tweaking the screw depth so that it needs a fair bit of force to do that final slide into position. Or say "sod it", find one with a removable front cover (with screw on the front", take it apart, drill through the back of it, screw to wall and then replace the cover!)

Personally I like the PDUs and put up with the visible fixing that is easy to screw to things!

Theo

Not sure of we are talking about the same thing, but ...

I've got a couple of two way multiplugs that don't have any means of mounting (unlike some of the four ways with keyholes for screws in the back). I've 3D printed a block that can be screwed to a suitable surface, with a channel on the face opposite that surface which the multiway snuggly fits into. The block has a couple of slots in it that I can run cable ties through, and these hold the multiway to the block.

Adrian

I thought there was some special rule that extension leads cannot be used as a fixed mounting, and are permitted for portable use only?

Ah yes, that's the thing - I was thinking of cable ties but couldn't work out how to fix them.

Oh for a 3D printer . . .

Another way is to fit the extension block to carefully tweaked screws, using the keyhole slots, then fit a couple of screws to the wall just above the block so that it can't move upwards. It looks better if the screws above the block pass through a small block or strip of wood rather than being bare. This method gives a very secure fixing. John