Compact power supply from 110 for XBee and Adapter

[petek157]

Hello,

I have a project in mind for the XBee and arduino.

One requirement that I have is that my remote XBee (router/EP) with adapter and power supply needs to fit into a single gang outlet box in the wall.

I already have 110vac going into the box. Any suggestion on a way to power the above setup directly from the 110 in the box yet keep the whole thing small enough to fit into the single box?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Pete

[Franklin97355]

If there will be nothing else in the box you could take a 5vdc wall wart and remove the case. You need to be sure the power is off and have the circuit tested before you start tearing the brick apart. DO NOT DO THIS IF YOU ARE NOT QUALIFIED!

[waltr]

There are circuits that convert the AC mains into low Voltage DC that can power an XBee. But these circuit are directly connected the the AC mains and can be lethal if not handled properly. I do not recommend any of these types.

The next are circuits that can be found inside Wall Warts (as franklin97355 suggested). These have isolation from the AC mains so their outputs are safe but one must know how to properly handle the input from the AC mains.

[greyf350]

If you're powering an XBee only, you can use the same transformerless circuit from the KillAWatt...ie, a few parts consisting of a couple of caps, resistors, and a zener. Regardless, it's probably easiest using one of the tiny 5V USB 120V adapters used for phones/ipods that look like a one-inch cube.

Technically speaking, I don't think it's to code if you're mixing high voltage romex wiring along next to low voltage stuff without any physical separation inside. Depending on how much space you have, you can use a dual-chamber retrofit box that's used for A/V installations--you can cram the AC stuff in one half and your arduino stuff in the other. That would be real clean solution