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I found this outlet plug deal at the dollar store for like ten bucks. I only bought it to open it up and have a look-see inside. Found this 110v AC to 5v DC circuit, as you'd expect. USB data lines don't run to anything (good!). The +5v lines aren't isolated from each other, so it's really just the one line shared by both ports. The wires hanging off went to the mains.

Would this be an okay circuit for a DIY Arduino project? Just needs to power the little AT board and a relay for switching on and off 110 to a heater coil periodically. Been wondering how I was going to do power supply for that project, and I like this little form factor. Probably end up removing the USB ports and just solder wire to the board.

I found this outlet plug deal at the dollar store for like ten bucks. I only bought it to open it up and have a look-see inside. Found this 110v AC to 5v DC circuit, as you'd expect. USB data lines don't run to anything (good!). The +5v lines aren't isolated from each other, so it's really just the one line shared by both ports. The wires hanging off went to the mains. Would this be an okay circuit for a DIY Arduino project? Just needs to power the little AT board and a relay for switching on and off 110 to a heater coil periodically. Been wondering how I was going to do power supply for that project, and I like this little form factor. Probably end up removing the USB ports and just solder wire to the board.

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[–] • 1 pt

Check the separation between the high and low voltage sides on the board, because inadequate separation could lead to Bad Things(tm). AvE and bigclivedotcom have USB adapter teardowns on Youtube where they go over the components and board assembly, with special attention to the separation distance and components used. You should be able to identify most of the components crossing that gap with their videos for reference, and make a judgement based on that.