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A few days ago I saw the "PowerSquid" on ThinkGeek a very cool 5 outlet power strip that allows you to plug in those bulky square adaptors. I was going to order one, but they were out of stock and I also realized I could make my own, with a total of 8 outlets for almost half the price of the PowerSquid, here's the simple cheap version...
I should start out saying that I love ThinkGeek - this is a quick HOW TO that might come in handy for folks who don't mind the risk of tripping a circuit breaker or who might want to just add cables to their existing power strips.
Here's the PowerSquid Outlet Multiplier, very handy and cool if you have lots of things to plug in.
I figured that I could pick up some cheap power adaptors and plug those in to my own power strip.
For my version, I hit the 99 cent store and picked up 4 "Power strip liberators" You can also get these from Amazon, but they're about $1.79
Next up. a power strip, I had picked up this one on clearance for $3.99!
Plugging in all the liberators to the power strip (with 5 foot cord) not only gets me 4 spots for the bulky adaptors, but 4 on top for a total of 8 outlets.
All for about $8!
Here's it is juicing up a lot of gear, I've named it the "Spaghetti Monster Outlet Multiplier".
Excellent stuff. Have any readers come across these sort of "power strip liberators" for UK style 13A plugs? I got a 12 outlet strip from the wonderful Lidl sometime ago to tidy up the rat's nest under my desk but just about all the power bricks for the speakers, the Netgear routers, the scanner and the phone chargers block the adjacent sockets.
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I found PowerSquids at my local Fry's for $10. No assembly required :) I couldn't find them on their website though.
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What I would love to see is a Make article about building a custom powerstrip with surge protection.
I have 3 powerstrips just begging to be canabilized and made to fit 8 wall warts and be able to hide under my desk and with a remote switch (I hate having to grope around for the switch waaay back there...).
Now that would be a great and universally useful Make article.
:)
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You might want to change the name from Spaghetti Monster Outlet Multiplier, Lest ye incur the wrath of Monster Cable.
Everyone knows how they love their lawyers.
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IkeD: Wait until a week after Christmas, and you can get wireless remote switched outlets for a few bucks. I got several (GE branded models with a grounded outlet that can handle 1440W) for $3 each at Home Depot in the Christmas closeout area. They're forest green and have a keychain remote. I don't know why retailers think this stuff loses 9/10 of its retail value when the calendar says Dec. 26, but they do ...
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We wouldn't need these devices if the power brick manufacturers would simply install a 3" pigtail instead of attaching the terminals directly. There's a million dollar idea, and it wouldn't even cost them much if anything more.
Another peeve of mine is manufacturers including bricks from <insert Asian company here> and not putting their own label on the brick. Short of finding the power requirements on the device, it's quite easy to pick the wrong brick from the "pile".
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This is the best. You're pressing us all into little
inventors and makers, now we're minor edisons. No,
reilly, this is the best project yet, because it's
so obvious that everybody must be getting the idea
that: hey, you don't have to take things as they are
off the shelf! MAKE it better!
So for that, hip hip horraaay.
"-"
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I really don't see the ingenuity here. Why not just buy a straight power strip and put the power bricks straight into that? But maybe european plugs are a bit smaller?
Now what I would like to see is a project to do away with those stupid power bricks alltogether! They are space and electricity wasters.
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how about a universal power supply with retractable DC cords .
You would mount it at the back of your desk, behind the equipment, and pull out a little DC wire for each device. Each wire should be switchable so you have the right voltage/amps for the application. Do the different size plugs on wall warts (DC end) correspond to the output voltage or ampherage?
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At the point where the 'line in' power feeds these monsters, there should be a gauge to indicate how much power, i.e. amps 'n kwh, this squiddie is drawing. (Although ideally this should be a wireless enhancement, so that you can have an attractive little desk/wall/monitor object that provides this information to you.)
For safety's sake, initially -- when I was a wee lad, we were cautioned not to daisy-chain too many christmas light strings together; granted, newer power strips have much lower-gauged wire than the zip-cords of old, but that doesn't change the house-wiring behind it. And I'd just like to know, y'know?
And two, I think we should be more conscious of the power we use. A little blobject that changes color from soothing blue to an angry neon red as power consumption goes up, along the lines of the Viridian Energy Meter, might remind us all to turn off what we don't use.
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At the point where the 'line in' power feeds these monsters, there should be a gauge to indicate how much power, i.e. amps 'n kwh, this squiddie is drawing. (Although ideally this should be a wireless enhancement, so that you can have an attractive little desk/wall/monitor object that provides this information to you.)
For safety's sake, initially -- when I was a wee lad, we were cautioned not to daisy-chain too many christmas light strings together; granted, newer power strips have much lower-gauged wire than the zip-cords of old, but that doesn't change the house-wiring behind it. And I'd just like to know, y'know?
And two, I think we should be more conscious of the power we use. A little blobject that changes color from soothing blue to an angry neon red as power consumption goes up, along the lines of the Viridian Energy Meter, might remind us all to turn off what we don't use.
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You can get a Power Squid at Bed, Bath, & Beyond. $10.
If you have one of those ubiquitous 20% coupons they are always sending, then you can get it for $8.
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You can get a Power Squid at Bed, Bath, & Beyond. $10.
If you have one of those ubiquitous 20% coupons they are always sending, then you can get it for $8.
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You can get a power squid at Bed, Bath, & Beyond. $10. If you have one of those 20% coupons they are always sending, then it will cost only $8.
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Power Squids are at Bed, Bath, & Beyond. $10.
If you have one of their ubiquitous 20% off coupons, it is only $8.
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