dedicated charging station for phones, wifi, tablets

I installed something similar (different brand) to the item pictured below in our Motorhome.



I couldn't find one that had 2 sets of USB ports, so I replaced the 12v power outlet with a second dual USB socket for a total of 4 USB ports. I then attached a little dollar store letter organizer above the outlets to hold tablets and phones. It worked really well, wish I had done it when we first bought the Motorhome.

The new TT has USB ports in both bedrooms, so never bothered installing them in the TT.

-Michael

Moderator edit to re-size image to forum recommended limit of 640px maximum width.

Two port USB in my 12v connector has been more than sufficient for us.

I installed a combo cigarette lighter/usb port directly to my 12v source. It works great for us. If you decide to off grid a lot and like to watch tv a 12v model is great and uses a fraction of what an inverter to 120 takes.

I happen to have a couple of small compartments that are not useful much else over the cab area of my B camper. I installed 2 cigarette lighter outlets and an 110 volt plug in the back of one and a single cigarette outlet in the back of the other, I can mix and match either USB chargers or other charges. Have not needed the second compartment for charging so far but the main compartment works well for charging a laptop and a couple of iPads. on the wall outside the compartment I gave a small shelf with a rail around it, just big enough to put two iPhones on end leaning against the wall. Above the shelf I have a double USB outlet that has a voltmeter between the outlets just to monitor the cabin battery. I also scattered a couple of more cigarette lighter outlets in convenient places around the camper just in case, not used often but nice to have already installed to cut down on cables draped around.

This works for us. Three 120V outlets, 3 USB, and an automatic night light.

Clicky

Nice Upgrade.

I installed 3 of those dual USB ports in my RV; one on each side of the bed, and one in the dash. Easy install, and no need for 120VAC (shore, genset, or inverter). Makes no sense to me to convert 12vdc into 120VAC and then back down to 5vdc. That's like melting ice cubes to provide water for filling ice trays!:S

I have one of those 7 port charging docks, but yes the inverter must be on. This is an obvious downside for dry campers.

I tried a multi outlet USB thingy plugged into the power port on the dash (it is always on in our E450 motorhome) and blew the fuse. oops. Works fine to charge 2 iphones though.

Best solution for sure would be to install a few of those wall mounted USB ports posted above in strategic locations in the RV (bonus points for the little net idea, I like that!). It's on my 'to do' list, but until then we're just running the inverter 24/7 and taking the power hit.

I have USB ports on each side of the bed, under the TV, and on the couch. so far it's been sufficient :)

smita wrote:
https://www.powerbanktalk.com/best-usb-multi-phone-charging-station-docking/
Looks like link is removed here is the non permalink

Clickable links are removed for posters with less than some number of postings--I think the magic threshold is ten posts. This is a spam prevention measure (as often spammers are trying to game Google page ranks by creating lots of diverse links to their site as anything).

There is nothing inherently "wrong" or "dangerous" with using an inverter to power a charger or charging station, it's just rather inefficient electrically, and electrical efficiency is a matter of no small concern for people who are camping without utility hookups. A 12V charger is more efficient overall and they are not at all hard to come by nor expensive.

I put a little direct-from-Asia one in my motorhome dash; it has two charge ports under a flip-top cover that houses a tiny (watch-sized) analog clock. Since I had no other dash clock that solved two problems at once.