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  #41  
Old 11-01-2018, 07:58 AM
lr172 lr172 is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bkervaski View Post
I tested a bunch of these ... I really wanted the simple look of this one:

(a) $5-$15ea - https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catal...alusbpanel.php

But the one that ultimately worked best and provided true 5A (2.4 per jack) consistently was this one:

(b) Blue Sea Systems - $45ea - https://www.steinair.com/product/dual-usb-panel-jack/

I tested by draining an iPad and iPad mini to dead and then plugged them both into the charger. "B" charged them both simultaneously as fast as the large Apple wall charger. "A" took hours and one of the iPads constantly dinged because it was loosing a connection. I did this 3 times for each charger, just started a test nightly before I went to bed.

I didn't stop there and really wanted the simple clean look of the "A" type chargers so I ordered a half dozen different brands, different sites. Some actually were different, however, most were just the same (Chinese?) unit repackaged and rebranded. All of them did the same thing in tests, the ones that worked anyway.

With a two place airplane and both people having smart phones and iPads, I extended the test by connecting two chargers to one 12V regulated source, 4 USB ports total.

The "A" units performed the same, horribly. After a few hours of constant disconnect "dinging" I just stopped the test.

The "B" units took whatever I threw at them like a champ, at one point having 2 dead iPhones, and 2 dead iPads sucking on them like a newborn, didn't skip a beat! The 100% charge times were within a few minutes of the solo test and they never even kicked the fan on from the power supply, highest draw was just over 10 amps as expected, average was around 4 amps.

The final test was all 4 devices playing video for an hour, surprised to say the chargers kept them at 95-100% power the entire time. I just stopped at an hour concluding that I was at that point just being excessive in my testing.

The "B" units (I purchased from SteinAir) just didn't have any issues at all. The bevel is larger and there is undesirable branding that I don't like, I doubt anyone but me would notice.

While very slow charging, most the other units did fine with just one device connected, but just one port at a time, the secondary port would simply drop to half an amp or lower.

Not scientific or exhaustive, but close enough, hope it helps!
Did you test this in the plane or just on the bench. Curious if it performs noise free. However, I figure if Stein sells them that they would have tested for this before offering it.
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  #42  
Old 11-01-2018, 08:51 AM
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bkervaski bkervaski is online now
 
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Quote:
Did you test this in the plane or just on the bench. Curious if it performs noise free.
Just on the bench .. the units claim to have "reduced electronic interference".
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  #43  
Old 11-01-2018, 09:14 AM
TShort TShort is offline
 
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I have 2 in the -10 and they are totally noise free.
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  #44  
Old 11-01-2018, 10:20 AM
lr172 lr172 is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TShort View Post
I have 2 in the -10 and they are totally noise free.
Thanks! more char's for Doug
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  #45  
Old 11-01-2018, 09:05 PM
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wjb wjb is offline
 
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I'm using a Powerwerx 2 USB charger. It fits in a round hole and has faston tabs on the back. It does the internal regulation to 5V for USB charging.

https://powerwerx.com/panel-mount-du...er-high-output

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  #46  
Old 11-02-2018, 02:16 PM
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sglynn sglynn is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CharlieWaffles View Post
Just remember you will need a 2A USB port to charge an iPad, most are 1A and the iPad will not charge while in use.

For panel mounting, something like this might be better so it's flush with the panel surface.



http://www.datapro.net/products/usb-...e-a-cable.html
How many amps will these USB ports put out? You need 2.4 amps to charge an iPad when it is running a GPS moving map app like Foreflight. 2.1 amps barely maintains. 1.0 amp drains.
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  #47  
Old 11-02-2018, 03:32 PM
Ron77 Ron77 is offline
 
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Location: Kemah, Texas
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Default Commit Lift USB

I've purchased several USB panel mounted chargers in the past, including both units from Stein, but found none that would keep my devices charged while in-use. The exception was Commit Lift's charger. It will quickly charge my Ipad and Stratus, simultaneously, while in use during flight.

Ron B.
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  #48  
Old 11-02-2018, 03:40 PM
Kyle Boatright Kyle Boatright is offline
 
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Strangely, I have a USB adapter that plugs into the aux power port in my panel. It makes zero noise. I think it was $5 at a local auto parts store.

Personally, I like having the non-dedicated 12V receptacle plus the usb converter plug. I can use the 12V receptacle for a lot of things - running an air compressor, charging the battery in the airplane, etc., and when I want, I can pull power through the USB port. The aux plug has enough pass through capability to charge both the ipad and iphone at the same time...
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  #49  
Old 11-02-2018, 03:46 PM
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Sam Buchanan Sam Buchanan is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kyle Boatright View Post
Strangely, I have a USB adapter that plugs into the aux power port in my panel. It makes zero noise. I think it was $5 at a local auto parts store.

Personally, I like having the non-dedicated 12V receptacle plus the usb converter plug. I can use the 12V receptacle for a lot of things - running an air compressor, charging the battery in the airplane, etc., and when I want, I can pull power through the USB port. The aux plug has enough pass through capability to charge both the ipad and iphone at the same time...
I tried three USB ports from various sources to power the Stratux ADS-B receiver and they were all noisy. On a lark while at Walmart I picked up a $5 adapter at the checkout as Kyle described and it works perfectly.
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  #50  
Old 11-07-2018, 12:31 AM
-joel -joel is offline
 
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Location: Wisconsin
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Likes others have said, be very wary of the nasty EMI some of these converters produce. I had one that would inject random screen taps to my tablet. Put your radio in monitor mode and plug it in, then plug your device in. You shouldn't hear much of a change in static if it's a quality design.

Carling makes this:


http://www.carlingtech.com/controls-v-charger

Would go nicely with a panel using these style switches.
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