I’m looking at fitting a tablet on my hallway wall and was initially thinking I’d chase a long USB cable into the wall which runs to the closest socket to power it.
However, on a test I’m finding the length of the cable means the tablet doesn’t get enough juice (short cable works fine) - plus it’ll look ugly where the cable exits the wall.
Is there anything that can safely be put inside a wall socket backbox (UK) to drop 240v to 5v ? - I could then put this directly behind where the tablet will mount, and have a very short cable to the tablet.
I did consider a simple USB wall plug socket, but it would protrude a lot from the wall surface once plugged in, meaning the tablet sticks out a lot!
What great ideas have people come up with for this?
Maybe consider a small buck step-down converter like this:
You will need to check the spec’s to make sure it can deliver enough current for your tablet (this one appears good for up to 1A at 5V). A typical generic USB charger is usually good for something like 2.1A but bear in mind the smaller you go the lower the rated current.
Not sure if they have them in UK, but in USA the best/safest solution (and still not as good as would like) are these wall sockets that have USB sockets in them and are rated by UL or other safety group. They have some with 5.1 amp now, USB A and C. You then have to get creative with USB cables with angled connectors on the ends (lots of combos of left and right turns on Amazon, takes some work to figure out the right ones, and you end up with a bunch of wrongs ones still ). You can get a little fancier by using one of the magnet USB connectors at the tablet (these are still a bit dicey in terms of solid and safe connection but at least they are at low voltage and outside the wall).
Maybe you could use something like this recessed into the wall assuming you have the depth, the tablet & mount could cover the access hole and allow the cable to be fed though.
Would love to know your solution to this issue? As I am in the same boat and I was thinking of hiding the adapter inside the plaster board in the back box and then plastering the wall. I know it’s not a good idea in case the adapter fails but not sure what else I could do?
). You can get a little fancier by using one of the magnet USB connectors at the tablet (these are still a bit dicey in terms of solid and safe connection but at least they are at low voltage and outside the wall).