Travelers Power Box Charging Station

What is a power box you may ask? While traveling one of the difficulties I had was keeping track of all the power bricks, cords and chargers. Always afraid of leaving one behind and where to plug them in so as to remember to bring everything with you on departure, especially if you have more than one device to charge at a time.

I've seen those fancy boxes or "charging stations" for close to a hundred dollars in department store gadget displays. Expensive, and not really made for mobile use, I decided to make my own.

The following is not fancy, but it's fairly cheap, and it works. Most of all, once you are in the habit of using this, you are unlikely to leave anything behind.

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Step One

First of all, get yourself a small plastic box with a snap on cover. This one is 14" x 9" x 4.5" and cost $2.97 on sale.

Drill some holes in the cover for the power tips to come through, sized according to the size of your devices power connectors.

 

Four holes are shown here, if you think you would charge more devices at a time, you could drill additional holes on the other side of the cover and on the ends.

 Step Two

You will need a couple of small power bars, with three or four outlets each and a short cord. This one has a three foot cord and is just right.

 

I have two of these in my box just in case. 

These will be placed inside the box along with the various cords and charging power bricks of your devices that travel with you.

 

 

 Step Three

 

In one end of the box, make a hole just large enough that the plug from the power bar can be forced through the hole. Don't make it too large.

To make the hole, use a Dremel tool or something similar, and only cut it on three sides. That way the cord can be put back inside and the flap pushed closed for traveling so that you don't lose anything. 

Step Four

Finally, place the power bars, and all the charging adapters inside the box, and snap the cover on.

You are ready for traveling. Just take your box full of goodies with you.

You're Done

 

When you stop overnight or get to your vacation destination, just bring your power box inside with you.

Plug the adapters you need into one of the power bars inside the box.

Pull the power bar cord through the hole in the end of the box and plug it into a nearby outlet.

Bring the adapter cord/tip through the hole in the cover and lay your devices on top.

Presto! You own personal mobile charging station that keeps everything together and is easy to carry. Total cost, approximately $5. to $8.