How do you store your darn power cords???

[Mr. Ingram's Computer Repair & Shoppe]

So this has been going on for 2 years now. I am ready to a real system for sorting/storing power cords.... because "dumped on the table" just takes to much space....

Spoiler: Picture.

Also, it's cleaning day. So no crap on my big ole mess. it'll at least be clean"er" by end-of-day

 

[HCHTech]

Are these just leftovers? In current use? Inventory?

Assuming they are leftovers, we have couple of "big 'ol boxes" in the back room. One is labeled "Power Cords" and the other "DC Power Adapters". Anything we end up with that doesn't test as bad goes in one of those boxes. You'd be surprised at the frequency I go digging through to find something for one reason or another. I got an 18-month old Sonicpoint back when one of my customers closed up shop last year. They forgot to save the power adapter. Because I had a spare in the back room, my church got a free $450 Sonicpoint to fix a long-standing problem that they couldn't afford to address otherwise.

 

[coffee]

Get a few wood dowels and mount them on the wall. Then hang em by one end. You can seperate them by type (mickey-mouse, ect...) and then you will always know where they are. No searching thru boxes and you can sort them by type.

 

[fencepost]

Might be worth sorting by output voltage as well though - and make sure you don't have an AC adapter sneak in there. I don't recall which vendor actually does/did a device that used a wall wart adapter that output AC, but I do remember that once upon a time it was an expensive mistake to grab that adapter and check the voltage/current only.

Other than that, labeled bins?

Edit: argh, only noticed my mistake when it was quoted. "output AC" not DC

 

[Krynn72]

One way to get rid of half the clutter is to keep three wall-cords plugged in all the time, the 2 and 3 prong laptop cords, and the standard desktop one. That way you dont need one with every ac adapter, just throw the excess in a box and shove it under the stairs in case you ever need to replace one of the "production" ones..

 

[Mr. Ingram's Computer Repair & Shoppe]

Just an update on it. I decided to hang everything on the wall. Total cost was about $60 and 2 hours of time. Completely worthwhile.

Spoiler: Image

The top row of power cords is New OEM and multiple of,
middle is new OEM and 1 of,
bottom is used/refurb/not OEM.

I call things "Store new" which means it's only been used in-store.

the boxes below are:
2-prong AC cords
3-prong AC cords
Candy... ...
New OEM Dell "Big Barrel" power cords... I go through a lot of those...
then its just organized screws and such.

 

[GTP]

That bench is to clean! Now, get back to work you slacker!

 

[coffee]

Yes, Your bench is way too clean. Your making us look bad here - lol.

 

[Bryce W]

I'm pretty sure power cords breed when they are stored in boxes. I have never bought one, but somehow the population of cords in there has grown.

 

[RoadRunner]

What's wrong with you
My bench never looks that clean. We have 3 boxes that are full sorted by AC leads and laptop PSU and monitor cables.
The worst box is the monitor adaptor one. You never find what you need. Was it mini DP to HDMI or DP to HDMI or maybe some DP to DVI and all 25 other versions that are around.

 

[timeshifter]

and make sure you don't have an AC adapter sneak in there. I don't recall which vendor actually does/did a device that used a wall wart adapter that output DC, but I do remember that once upon a time it was an expensive mistake to grab that adapter and check the voltage/current only.

That's never happened to me... wait, what's that smell??

 

[fencepost]

d'oh, corrected my post. I meant an AC output adapter. Not common, but there are a few things that use them.

 

[timeshifter]

d'oh, corrected my post. I meant an AC output adapter. Not common, but there are a few things that use them.

I wasn't nit-picking, knew what you meant. I was pointing out that I had a cheap Belkin router whose power adapter had failed. No problem I thought, I've got a ton of spares. This one will do it... plug it in, ew, what's that smell @#$%! I think the AC power brick (instead of the usual DC output) was for a DSL modem.

 

[Porthos]

what's that smell @#$%!

 

[fencepost]

I think the AC power brick (instead of the usual DC output) was for a DSL modem.

That sounds about right - I was thinking something network equipment.