Gadgetory

cell phones mp3 players tablets they're all powered by USB cords you either plug them into your computer or into an AC adapter and into your wall but what if you could skip all of that and plug your USB cord directly into your wall socket I'm Sharon Vaknin for CNET with a tutorial on replacing your twentieth-century wall receptacle with a wall socket that includes two USB ports to get this done you'll need the Vieux socket you can buy it online at places like Amazon for about 30 bucks you'll also need a screwdriver and about twenty to thirty minutes of your time now once you've decided where to install the u socket make sure the power to that receptacle is turned off the process for doing this will vary depending on your house but usually it involves flipping a switch now we've turned off the power to this AC receptacle but to make sure it's definitely off you can either use one of those voltage testers or just plug in a lamp you know works for sure and if it doesn't turn on you're good to go to get started remove the faceplate then unscrew the mounting bracket and pull it out so that it's insides are exposed before we disconnect anything let's take a look at how the wires are connected in a normal unit three wires will be connected to the receptacle the black or red wire is the hot or live wire which carries the electrical current then there's the white or silver neutral wire and the green ground wire without Anatomy out of the way we can start disconnecting wires grab your screwdriver and unscrew the terminal screws so that they're loose enough to let the wires loose do this for all three wires now grab the you socket and connect the wires to their respective terminals I've already done the green and the white and finally let's tighten up the red screw once the wires are set put the unit back in the wall tighten the screws on the mount on the top and the bottom now is the time to turn the power back on and the first thing to check is this indicator light if it's glowing red that means you're live and neutral wires are switched so you need to turn the power back off and switch those wires since ours isn't on I'm going to put the faceplate back on and secure it with this screw in the middle here now that we're all set let's take it for a spin I'll plug in my phone and it's charging here with plenty of room for my other gadgets and appliances besides convenience the you socket is also energy efficient so you might save some money in the long run if you have any questions or want to show me a picture of your installations and send me a photo on Twitter and say hello to me on Facebook for cnet.com I'm Sharon Vaknin you