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Old 03-10-2018, 01:00 PM   #1
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A Plea for Some Canadian Help - Please, Please, Please...

I have installed a couple of overhead cubbyhole compartments above the head of the bed in our 19' for overnight use as a place to conveniently stow magazines, books, glasses, phone, tablet, etc when it's "lights out" time. I added some stainless steel rods along the edges on which to hang up to 4 cute little 4" half-amp USB-powered fans for those hot muggy nights, so we won't have to run the Maxxfan or get up in the middle of the night to turn it off, and the breeze can "shine" directly on us. I planned to install a small multi-USB port device adjacent to the under-cabinet light into which to plug in the fans (and for phone, tablet, mp3 player, etc, as well) and looked all over for a unit that (1) runs off of 12 volts, (2) has an on-off switch so I wouldn't have to deal with installing a switch in the small air space below the floor of the cabinet, (3) has at least a few USB ports, (4) hopefully has a 12 volt "cigarette lighter" socket or two, and (5) has a voltmeter to at least roughly monitor the 12 volt system while lying in bed and not have to get up and go look at the voltmeter that's installed in the front of the trailer.

Low and behold, there apparently exists exactly one such creature in the whole entire world, as seen in the accompanying image. I immediately ordered one for $20 from Amazon, wanting to have a look at the product before ordering more to have as backups just in case - given that the quality is likely somewhat marginal I wanted to have a spare or two. I burned in the one I got from Amazon for a few hours and all was well, so went to order a few more and - oops - discontinued product - no longer available. Spent tons of time looking all over the web, found them available on Amazon Germany, UK, and Canada grossly overpriced, and not deliverable to US addresses. Found one remaining in stock at eBay Japan for a moderately overpriced $47 which I ordered just to make sure I had at least one spare. That one is apparently on it's way - at least I have a legit tracking number for it. Also found availability at a few web sites that appeared to be in Turkey and one in South Africa, and decided to avoid these options. Then found availability at ThanksBuyer.com in China for a reasonable $23, the only problem being that it turned out that they really didn't have any, and after some irritating - but hilarious - cryptic e-mails, it sounds like they are sending me one without the 12 volt "cigarette lighter" sockets, only 2 USB ports, and that runs off of 120 volts, not 12 volts. Hey guys - not what you advertised, not what I bought, and not what I want. I'm not really sure what, if anything, will eventually show up.

So that's where you good Canadian members of this forum, if you choose, come in. If you're still with me (and I apologize for this somewhat lengthy but hopefully sympathy-generating missive), I'm looking for a friendly Canadian that would accept delivery of two of these items, and be so kind as to forward them to me at my US address. I could order and pay for them on Amazon Canada, have them delivered to your address, then have you throw them into an old shoebox and send them to me. This, of course, would involve some time, effort, and expense on your part, so there would be a generous monetary compensation from me to you involved. (Note that I am now optimistically referring to "you" - yes, that means you.) I suppose that it's possible that when I order on the Amazon Canada web site, it might not let me, a US orderer, enter your Canadian delivery address, in which case I could send you the money up front and ask you to place the order, then forward the package to me. The Amazon Canada site currently shows two sellers - one very overpriced and the other ridiculously overpriced.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/offer-listi...706577&sr=8-19

I'll be down in Utah during the Escape Rally this year, so taking delivery in Osoyoos wouldn't be an option.

I checked with the manufacturer, and they tell me that the product has really been discontinued - I'm guessing that maybe the ammeter and the two voltmeters (USB 5v and battery 12v) would have scared away some potential but non-geeky buyers. Given that the world supply of these things is apparently diminishing by the day, time is of the essence.

Any takers? Please, please, please...
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Old 03-10-2018, 02:21 PM   #2
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Would this work?
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...359-014K-00001
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Old 03-10-2018, 02:23 PM   #3
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Is this the same item?
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...359-014K-00001
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Old 03-10-2018, 03:05 PM   #4
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PM me if you need help and I would be happy to oblige.
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Old 03-10-2018, 03:36 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wetzk View Post
Yes, yes, yes!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by A&B View Post
Yes, yes, yes!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by kootenaigirl View Post
PM me if you need help and I would be happy to oblige.
Thanks for your kind offer, but...

I just ordered a couple of 'em from NewEgg. I use NewEgg for PC stuff, and didn't think to look there. Don't know why NewEgg didn't show up in any of my exhaustive, and exhausting, searches. The price isn't so good, but I'll take what I can get!

[Edit] I just checked, and I got 2 of the last 5 that they had available. Timing is everything...
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Old 03-10-2018, 10:29 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Great Eggstrications View Post
I have installed a couple of overhead cubbyhole compartments above the head of the bed in our 19' for overnight use as a place to conveniently stow magazines, books, glasses, phone, tablet, etc.
A little off topic, but I was thinking of making the same type of shelves- how did you attach them to the underside of the overhead cabinets?
Thanks
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Old 03-11-2018, 12:32 AM   #7
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Each one is made up of 2 side pieces of 1/2" birch plywood with a sheet of 3/16" birch plywood spanning between them, big enough for standard size magazines with a little extra room, and they line up with the edges of the fabric window valances. There is no real need for a back panel. For each cubbyhole compartment, I kind of weenie'd out and just drilled 4 clearance holes up through the 1/2" side pieces and screwed into the thin plywood that makes up the lower cabinet panel. They weigh very little, and won't have much weight in them (and will be empty when traveling), so I just used some of those long coarse-thread decking screws, shortened so they wouldn't poke through and up into the cabinet itself - crude but effective. I trimmed them to just the right length so they actually thread into the bottom cabinet plywood panel, through the air space, and then up and into the upper panel (the actual floor of the cabinet) to catch a few more threads. Probably should have countersunk the screws and used trim buttons, but got lazy and anyhow didn't want to block access when hanging stuff from the stainless steel rods. I was initially planning to use some expando plastic anchors, but really didn't see any need. I suppose that to really do it right, one could drill out a 3/8" hole in the lower cabinet panel for each of the screw locations, and then glue a cut-off piece of dowel up into the air space and against the bottom surface of the cabinet floor panel, then screw into the dowel for a more solid anchor point. But again, laziness struck...

I just need to keep reminding the boss that they are NOT there to be used as load-bearing grab handles.
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