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Topic: USB Chargers (Read 1463 times) previous topic - next topic

USB Chargers

Did a little revamping of the phone wires and plugs.
China's best,total investment $10.95
Now we can charge phones at bedroom and sofa.
Volt meter with switch
Just changed the outside coax/phone hookup to single plate. Tied into the power at light with a 5 amp spade fuse.
It's such low amps (.085 amp) , the phone wire is fine (I twisted the pairs to double them).
Chris and Tammy White  CDA Idaho
Previous owners 1997 U295 36' 3126 Cat 300 HP Build # 4998
Former Foretravel tech & RVIA certified tech
Former owner Custom Satellite home/RV satellites 
Former owner Vans LTD  van conversions
Unemployed, panhandler, drag racer NHRA #6348

Re: USB Chargers

Reply #1 –
Quote from: gracerace –
Just changed the outside coax/phone hookup to single plate. Tied into the power at switch.
It's such low voltage, the phone wire is fine.

Hopefully you are talking about 12V power for your usb plug.
2014 ih45  (4th Foretravel owned)
 1997 36' U295 Sold in 2020, owned for 19 years
  U240 36' Sold to insurance company after melting in garage fire
    33' Foretravel on Dodge Chassis  Sold very long time ago

Re: USB Chargers

Reply #2 –
Quote from: turbojack –
Hopefully you are talking about 12V power for your usb plug.
DUH...LOL
Chris and Tammy White  CDA Idaho
Previous owners 1997 U295 36' 3126 Cat 300 HP Build # 4998
Former Foretravel tech & RVIA certified tech
Former owner Custom Satellite home/RV satellites 
Former owner Vans LTD  van conversions
Unemployed, panhandler, drag racer NHRA #6348

Re: USB Chargers

Reply #3 –
Quote from: Roger & Susan in Home2 –
Check to see what the charging requirements are for your devices.  Lots of phones, tablets and especially laptops can use higher voltages and currents available is QC3 type chargers. 

Lots of choices that run on 12v. 
Amazon.com: BlueFire Upgraded Aluminum Alloy Fast Charging 3.0 USB Charger...

For many of these the 3-4 amps they can use are probably more than a phone wire can handle.

Agree, but double twisted them, and remember, they are solid wire, not stranded. But that will probably open another discussion.... ;)
Our phones only require .025 amps
$4.98 each delivered from China...Same as yours, just black

12V/24V Quick Charger QC 3.0 USB Car Cigarette Lighter ON/OFF Socket...
As an Amazon Associate Foretravel Owners' Forum earns from qualifying purchases.
Chris and Tammy White  CDA Idaho
Previous owners 1997 U295 36' 3126 Cat 300 HP Build # 4998
Former Foretravel tech & RVIA certified tech
Former owner Custom Satellite home/RV satellites 
Former owner Vans LTD  van conversions
Unemployed, panhandler, drag racer NHRA #6348

Re: USB Chargers

Reply #4 –
Got bored, installed one by the stereo
Chris and Tammy White  CDA Idaho
Previous owners 1997 U295 36' 3126 Cat 300 HP Build # 4998
Former Foretravel tech & RVIA certified tech
Former owner Custom Satellite home/RV satellites 
Former owner Vans LTD  van conversions
Unemployed, panhandler, drag racer NHRA #6348

Re: USB Chargers

Reply #5 –
Quote from: Roger & Susan in Home2 –
Chris, your math seem off.  0.025 amps is only 0.3 watts.  A standard phone charger for a smart phone is 5v @ 1 or 1.1 amps, 5+ watts. That is more than .0.4 amps at 12v. Most 12v plug in chargers output is 2.1 amp @ 5v or 10.5 watts.  Tablet chargers are more.

QC2 chargers charge at stepped voltages, 5, 9, 12 and 20 volts, many as much as 30 watts.  QC3 chargers charge at variable voltages from 3.7 to 20 volts. I have seen them as high as 40 watts. 40 watts at 12v is at least 3.3 amps. Older solid phone wire is only 22 ga. Do what you think is safe.

I stand corrected, hard to read the small print. Tablet and phone charger are 5.0 volts .085 amps, nothing soild copper phone wire can't handle

But I guess you didn't read my post right? I twisted the 4 wires, so the gauge is double.

I had a 1500' low voltage (24 volt DC) intercom system at my last home, all in phone wire. Do you know why? Because it was already there buried down the hill when I built my home, so I used it.

I did this, because I wanted to hear our pregnant pygmy goats at the horse barn. Guess what? It's still there, and up and running 27 years later.

I admit, it had a very low hum, but worked flawless. And there is another 1200 run to the shop, along with a 50' run to the basement in the home theater.

Nothing wrong with phone wire.

Have you ever noticed how thin a USB cable is? That is because the wire inside is 28 gauge.Do they get hot, are they unsafe, I don;t think so.

Here is a good read:

Fast charging? Why some cables charge faster than others.

Chris
Chris and Tammy White  CDA Idaho
Previous owners 1997 U295 36' 3126 Cat 300 HP Build # 4998
Former Foretravel tech & RVIA certified tech
Former owner Custom Satellite home/RV satellites 
Former owner Vans LTD  van conversions
Unemployed, panhandler, drag racer NHRA #6348

Re: USB Chargers

Reply #6 –
Quote from: Roger & Susan in Home2 –
In any case phone cable is not designed for power distribution.

I've seen a number of homes with low-voltage transformers powering their phone system supplying various phone devices. Therefore at least some phone wiring is designed for some power distribution.
David and Carolyn Osborn
1995 U320C SE 40' Build 4726 Feb 1995
FMCA 147762
Motorcade 17186

Re: USB Chargers

Reply #7 –
Rodger
It's not about the volts, it's about the amps. Again, I looked at my charger.
It reads 5.0 volts 0.85 amps output.
It's not like I hooked a cigarette lighter to the wire
Thanks for blocking me in personal messages, so I'll say what I have to say right here.
Seems you can dish criticism out, but can't take it.
Then you threaten me for speaking honestly to you privately.
I don't post to argue, but always seems that way with you

Chris

Good read:

Phone Line Basics: Revisited | News & Reviews - JK Audio

Analog Phone Lines
The term "outside line" refers to a direct connection to the telephone line outside of the building, also referred to as an "analog line", or "POTS line" (Plain Old Telephone Service), in other words a standard residence type phone line. The POTS line is the line you will need for your remote broadcast console, telephone hybrid, analog telephone, cordless telephone, fax machine, or modem. The POTS line consists of two wires called tip and ring. These two wires provide DC current to power the telephone electronics, AC current to ring the telephone bell or electronic ringer, and a full duplex balanced voice path.

This is a closed loop, balanced system not referenced to earth ground. The POTS phone line, with all phones on-hook, should measure around 48 volts DC. Taking a phone off-hook creates a DC signal path across the pair, which is detected as loop current back at the central office. This drops the voltage measured at the phone down to about 3 to 9 volts. An off-hook telephone typically draws about 15 to 20 milliamps of DC current to operate, at a DC resistance around 180 ohms. The remaining voltage drop occurs over the copper wire path and over the telephone company circuits. These circuits provide from 200 to 400 ohms of series resistance to protect from short circuits and decouple the audio signals.

To ring your telephone, the phone company momentarily applies a 90 VRMS, 20 Hz AC signal to the line. Even with a thousand ohms of line resistance, this can still pack a bit of a shock so be careful when you are probing around trying to find a POTS line.

Why the primer on telephone lines? The world of communications is certainly changing but there are still millions of analog telephones, cordless telephones, fax machines, and modems that use POTS line. Even though the POTS line has been around for years, its old technology is still misunderstood by many engineers. Lets face it, unless you are a telecom circuit designer, there isn't much coverage of "old" technology in schools, publications, or journals.
Chris and Tammy White  CDA Idaho
Previous owners 1997 U295 36' 3126 Cat 300 HP Build # 4998
Former Foretravel tech & RVIA certified tech
Former owner Custom Satellite home/RV satellites 
Former owner Vans LTD  van conversions
Unemployed, panhandler, drag racer NHRA #6348

Re: USB Chargers

Reply #8 –
Just a little update.
Was told I was going to burn the coach down. Well here we are 2 yrs later, and we are charging our phones at the auto drag races (my buddy was an RV tech also) ,thinking how awesome this mod works.

Has never blown a fuse. really glad I did this mod, makes things more user friendly, never have to worry about someone leaving their charger at home. Works with any style phone.

Chris.
Chris and Tammy White  CDA Idaho
Previous owners 1997 U295 36' 3126 Cat 300 HP Build # 4998
Former Foretravel tech & RVIA certified tech
Former owner Custom Satellite home/RV satellites 
Former owner Vans LTD  van conversions
Unemployed, panhandler, drag racer NHRA #6348