Hi,

It's about charging my phone.

I can either charge it using its supplied charger or through the USB socket on my laptop.

The other day I saw a 13amp socket with a USB port on it. I was tempted to try charging the phone with it but chickened out as it just didn't seem right. Is it OK to use these sockets for charging things, not only phones but cameras etc?

Sid

Is this a plug in device or a replacement wall socket? I've seen wall socket devices advertised by Maplin for one. Though their website last time I looked said they had been withdrawn from sale. One has to wonder why, maybe they failed safety checks! It didn't seem to have any on-off switch that I could see either.

In theory if the voltage and current specs meet the USB standard then they should be perfectly OK.

It's a replacement socket.

I believe most devices are designed to only draw the current they need, up to a maximum which is usually 1A or 2.1A. This would prevent any damage being caused by using a higher output socket, while not restricting you to only using certain sockets. I could be wrong though, and it could explode your phone...I suggest you try it and let us know!

Yes, I suspect that you are right. It's still a bit of a leap of faith, though, isn't it?

I just wonder about why we have so many different chargers and cables if actually a simple universal thing like this would suffice. I suppose everyone wants to make a charger, socket and cables specific for their equipment for the obvious financial reasons.

We have been trained mentally to be suspicious of something like this, and I, for one, have been sucked in. Oh well, it's the world.

Sid

Something like this ?

http://www.ukelectricalsupplies.com/...rticle-219.htm


As david said the device should only draws the current is needs. As long as its outputing the correct voltage and is rated for maximum possible current draw (which should be 500mA but some devices draw up to 2A) then there should not be a problem.

see the required amp and voltage requires of your phones and cameras. make sure the given voltage of the gargets is compatible with the voltage and amp you use now!