Blue Sea Systems 1016 Dual USB Charger Socket, 12/24v 2.1a, Black

The Blue Sea USB outlet is easy to install, durable, and corrosion resistant. It is meant to be installed on a belowdecks panel, not on a a console exposed to weather. The rubber flap closes things up and protects it from spray, but I wouldn't trust it in very wet conditions, and if it is not closed properly, any amount of sea water ingress will destroy it. Fast charging is automatically engaged for those devices configured to trigger it; it charges my iPhone from dead to 100% in just over an hour, and my iPad in about 2 hours. Other devices that don't trigger fast charging mode are much slower; I have a bluetooth speaker that takes 4 or 5 hours to charge, for example. Its size is perfectly suited for installation into the hole of a standard AC wall socket, or the hole for a cigarette lighter style socket, or you can use the included bezel to install it on a panel. Everywhere I need USB charging, I only use the Blue Sea outlet; so far I have 4 of them on my 2 boats, and I intend to install more.

Install was straight-forward. I used a stepped drill-bit, 1-1/8 inch hole. I hand-filed the last bit to make a snug fit. No problem running wiring - I used an empty spot in the fuse box to tap into the power (selected an always-hot), protecting the circuit with a 5-amp fuse on the + side. Nice looking after install, doesn't look like an add-on. I use this to re-charge and power a Bluetooth adapter, and also to recharge my phone. It handles both at once, no noise from the power supply through the adapter. Nice 'bit of kit' as the Brits would say. Should have done this long ago. One caveat - make certain you have the clearance behind whatever panel into which you mount this. It's deeper than one would think, plus the clearance for the wires - which use spade terminals to plug straight into the back.

A few years ago I ordered a Blue Sea Systems Panel SCK USB & Volt (D) panel and unit performed as advertised. In particular, the 1016 Dual USB Charger Socket which was part of the panel is especially nice USB socket. I hooked a 1016 up to an external battery and now have a continuous USB charging voltage for my USB gismos. Most USB battery backup banks apparently stop supplying the required USB voltage to charge your USB gismso, so if you have a remote application, as soon as the USB item requiring to be charged is fully charged, the battery bank shuts down to conserve its charging status. With a combination of the Blue Systems 1016 Dual USB Charger Socket and a small external AGM battery, I get days of continuous USB power in very remote locations. Ended up using the 1016 Dual USB Charger Socket to continuolsly power up a very remote wifi hotspot to serve as a hotspot for solar wifi webcams. This allows for continuous remote monitoring of nature related observations. :-) Very happy with the Blue System 1016 Dual USB Charger Socket and can recommend it as a dependable USB charging outlet

First, the unit I received appears to be exactly as listed. It is not a 12V power jack with a USB power adapter stuck in it. The USB ports and power converter itself is a black conformal coated module within the cylinder you see and mount. For marine environment use this coating is important as there is no other good way to moisture proof electronic circuits short of hermetically sealing them and using water proof input and output connectors. So except for the exposed connector contacts on the unit, salt air should not have much negative effect on long term reliability. I bought this to power the Bluetooth to RS232 adapter on my race car's Megasquirt ECU and the Nexus10 tablet that I use for the instrument cluster on the same car. The Nexus would not charge at above 500ma with this power port until I shorted the data pins together on one of the USB jacks as described by Mr Borosky. I have had to do this on a number of USB power ports to get more than 500ma. There is a recent USB charge port power spec that calls for devices connected to the charge port to simply increase current draw until the USB voltage drops under 5V in order to find and use the most amperage such a charge port can supply, but I dont own any that do this yet, but I have a couple Android devices that detect the shorted data pins. I power this USB power port (and thus the Nexus and Bluetooth adapter) separately from the ignition ON switch in the race car to reduce the time needed to have fully functional instruments upon engine startup. Because starter current demand during engine cranking will drop available battery voltage, and I use the smallest (and lightest) battery I can afford that will start the car, I wanted to know how well this power port would ride thru voltage sags during this time. I found the port will remain fully functional at input voltages down to 6V and the USB port outputs remain a steady 5V until the input voltage drops to close to 5V. Based on observing regulator switching noise on the power input, it appears the port drops out of switched regulation and into what must be linear regulation below about 7.5V because the switching noise on the input power wire completely disappears (and the green LED goes off, but the regulated 5V output continues unaffected until the input drops below 6V. This performance is more than adequate as my system voltage on the car does not drop below 9V during cranking if my battery has a decent charge. It also appears pretty robust in my view since some similar I have seen shut down at 9V and the outputs drop to zero volts. Because I have a number of unshielded analog sensor signals connected to the ECU and am using Bluetooth to connect the ECU with the Nexus/instrument cluster I was concerned about generated electrical noise from the unit, either radiated from the unit into the air or from the 5V outputs or 12V input. I found no discernable noise on the 5V outputs as seen on a 350MHz o'scope or radiated into air based on a handheld 140M-900MHz amateur radio transceiver set to scan that range (actually multiple bands in that range with some frequencies that are not tuneable). The 12V power input exhibits a 300KHz triangle wave with some 1MHz short duration ringing syncronized to the triangle peaks. The 300KHz triangle wave is under .2V p-p and the 1MHz ringing is under .4V p-p. Under some combinations of input voltage (7.5-15V) and load (0 to 1A tested) the ringing and triangle wave decreases or disappear entirely. At least one reviewer wrote that his sample was producing enough noise on the 5V outputs that the radiated noise interfered with reception on his marine radio. Based on how mine behaves, I would have to guess his was defective or a different product than the one I have. I found that a medium sized clip-on ferrite with the power wire passing thru and a 6800uf 25V electrolytic between the power port input terminals eradicated this from the 12V wire back to the power switch.

With two ways to mount (with or without bezel) and a simple two wire connection to power and ground, it is simple to hook up. I mounted mine inside the glove box on the boat. The only issue I had was finding a 30mm hole saw; best i could find locally was a 1 1/4" hole saw, so the hole was slightly too large. But, the mounting bezel covered the gap, no problem. It can be mounted in materials from 1/8 thick to over an inch thick. At 5 volts and 2 amps+ on each terminal, this power supply charges my iPhone in about 2 hours from dead and the iPad about 4 hours from dead. The nicest benefit is that I will never have to worry about conserving my phone battery while I'm out on my boat all day.

Worked really well on my motorcycle camper. Installation was very easy, just put some type of sealant around it to curb water intrusion.

On my 2009 ford F150 there was an open panel area right of th 12V socket and Audio Sync plug. Got myself a $5 wood drill bit. And drilled right through the thin plastic. Spliced red and black wires to 12v and installed! This thing powers electronic devices that my 12v socket adapters wouldn't charge! I can charge my iPad. Flip phone. And wifi hot spot in multiple combinations with one another and iPad always shows charge, which is a problem on other adapters. This product adapts to the amperage necessary for each component. Offers a very classy, stock install appearance. Been using it for a month. Every time I drive. I will be installing another one in my boat and my spouses car! Little expensive. But i believe it is Made in USA and build quality seems better than other Chinese products. So I have no problem w the price after that.

Great addition to any boat!

Blue Seas is my number 1 choice for marine applications, a top quality product .

Installed on centre console of my 2018 Tacoma along with the 120v in cab outlet install. Charges general USB things with decent speed like a common wall charger. Robust construction and doesn’t run hot. Install was easy. Use of square support plate is optional.

Well built. Works great. Worth the extra bit of cash versus the knockoffs. Wish I had bought Blue Sea for BOTH sides of the bed now... Knockoff on my side. Sadness.

Works great installed it on my kayak. Powers my go pro off my fish finder battery

OK