CES 2009: Smart Charger Strip Added to Smart Strip Family
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California 
on 01.10.09
We've talked about the Smart Strip quite a bit before – the power strip that can put an end to vampire power. Mainly it's used for cutting power to slave devices when one main device, like a computer, is shut off.
But there's a new strip on its way out that can cut power to chargers once gadget batteries are full.
The new smart charger strip can sense when a gadget is fully charged and cut power off, so there is no trickle charge being sucked from the grid.
It's brand new, and the booth didn't have literature on it yet, and unfortunately I don't have pricing information yet either. But I was told it would be out soon, and you can check on BITS Limited Smart Strip website to keep watch. We'll update you with more information as soon as we get it as well.
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Can someone tell me why it would be so difficult to just put in a relay that only activates the wall wart when a device is actually attached and drawing current? It would be an auto on/off charger. Unplug the phone, laptop, or whatever, and the charger shuts itself off.
Unless the relay is mechanically triggered by human action, where does the circuit get the power to detect something really needing to draw a charge?
Rgds
Damon
Right there on the output. If it's not plugged into a device, 0ma are flowing out. If it's plugged in, then amperage is flowing since the circuit is now closed. Today's transformers just keep on transforming and using up electricity even when there's nothing plugged into the output.
In a more complicated plug, they could just have a couple of pins in the plug that serve as an on/off switch. Plug it in and the device shorts the pins to say the transformer needs to be on. Unplug the phone and it opens the circuit. It won't shut off once the battery is full or anything, which would be ideal, but it would kill off wall warts if they don't have anything plugged into the output.