12v outlets for Nightstand

[Gary M]

Finally got around out wiring up the nightstands today. DC on top, AC on bottom. Had to reposition the LED switch on the right side. Removed the LED's from the 12v outlets like I did on the others.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XDDGCOE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002EQUZI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[nhlakes]

Nice work.  Plan to do something similar, but for now I discovered that after the first time I pulled that shelf straight up, it goes back down and stays into place quite nicely.  The dried glue holds it in place.   So I have my connections inside, ran a 12v plug from behind the light in the storage compartment below, and store my 12v travel cpap in there - it sort of has become bedside storage with a few wires roaming around. 

[tbrady]

Great work Gary!  How did you wire these in?  Did you tie in to line that powers the blue light over the bed?  How did you get the lid off the nightstand?  Is it just glued down?

thanks for any more details, this is something I want to do as well!

[Gary M]

Nice work.  Plan to do something similar, but for now I discovered that after the first time I pulled that shelf straight up, it goes back down and stays into place quite nicely.  The dried glue holds it in place.   So I have my connections inside, ran a 12v plug from behind the light in the storage compartment below, and store my 12v travel cpap in there - it sort of has become bedside storage with a few wires roaming around. 

I didn't lift the shelf off. Did you have to re-glue it back down? The main reason for me doing this was to be able to plug in my cpap. Added usb ports for phone charging on 12v power was a bonus. I just use the same resmed airsense10 cpap that I use at home, and just bought a 12v plug for it. I am getting tired of moving it in and out of the house for every trip we take. I was surprised how little amperage it uses with the humidity turned off. Do you store your travel cpap in the storage compartment, or under the nightstand shelf?

[Gary M]

Great work Gary!  How did you wire these in?  Did you tie in to line that powers the blue light over the bed?  How did you get the lid off the nightstand?  Is it just glued down?

thanks for any more details, this is something I want to do as well!

Thanks! I did tap into the hot wire for the blue LED switch. There's 2 sets of wires running to the switch. One is dead and just runs to the LED strip, so I used a multimeter to determine which was the hot one.

As for the wire routing, I ran it out the other side of the nightstand towards the headboard. Then I routed it under the trim at the head of the bed over to the other side. **BUT*** after thinking about this, I've decided to re-route it today for safety concerns, and I'll explain why.

I squeezed the wire between the forward wall of the trailer, and the aluminum tubing frame for the nightstand. Problem is, it's a tight fit, and the wire will eventually chafe from the trailer bouncing down the road. The wire would short itself to the aluminum tubing frame. It may not happen soon, but could eventually happen to someone else if ever sold the trailer later on.

So todays project will be re-routing it in a safer manner. I'm going to see if I can route it under the aluminum frame and come up through the same holes that the other wires pass through. If that's not easy to do, then I'm just going to drill a hole on the opposite (inner) side of the aluminum frame tubing, and install a rubber grommet to pass the wires through. It would still be hidden and have no contact with the aluminum.

I never removed the top shelf. Doing so would make this job ALOT easier. Instead I removed the existing AC outlets, and used a set of long "mechanical fingers" to pull the wire back through the opening to work with. I'm very interested in how Don was able to lift his shelf straight up, and if any tools were involved, or just pure man strength 

I'll post again with pics after I make the changes to the wire routing.

[nhlakes]

I didn't lift the shelf off. Did you have to re-glue it back down? The main reason for me doing this was to be able to plug in my cpap. Added usb ports for phone charging on 12v power was a bonus. I just use the same resmed airsense10 cpap that I use at home, and just bought a 12v plug for it. I am getting tired of moving it in and out of the house for every trip we take. I was surprised how little amperage it uses with the humidity turned off. Do you store your travel cpap in the storage compartment, or under the nightstand shelf?

I just lifted the side stand top straight up with a little umph and it popped loose.  I knew there had to be a bunch of unused space there.  So far I just ran a 12V cord up from below with a cig style connector for my 12V travel cpap.   I have power most of the time so I usually bring my larger cpap with heated tube, humidifier tank, etc.   Both fit in that space easily.   The residual dry rubbery glue holds the top in place just fine - it has never moved while traveling.   For USB power for now I just keep a little battery pack/brick in there to charge the phone for the occasional night we do not have power.

Plan was to hinge the top, add a strut, a USB outlet, etc... but it's actually working just fine for now so no hurry.



My wife's side of the bed will require some more creativity. The wardrobe is a few inches above the stand top, so she would not have easy access to the interior.  I was considering moving the outlet on her side and creating a drawer that slides in and out of that space - but she uses the flat surface in front of the drawer, so she'd have to move stuff to open it - and she's not complaining - so again - no hurry.

[Gary M]

I just lifted the side stand top straight up with a little umph and it popped loose.  I knew there had to be a bunch of unused space there.  So far I just ran a 12V cord up from below with a cig style connector for my 12V travel cpap.   I have power most of the time so I usually bring my larger cpap with heated tube, humidifier tank, etc.   Both fit in that space easily.   The residual dry rubbery glue holds the top in place just fine - it has never moved while traveling.   For USB power for now I just keep a little battery pack/brick in there to charge the phone for the occasional night we do not have power.

Plan was to hinge the top, add a strut, a USB outlet, etc... but it's actually working just fine for now so no hurry.

Great picture! And I like the idea of adding a hinge. I wonder if you can do it with the outer wall being soo tight to it. If you figure it out, let me know, and I'll do the same for sure.

For now, I'm a little skeptical of lifting it off. My luck would result in it being loose, and me having to find another way to re-secure it.

What did you tap into for power for that cord? and how did you access the area beneath the hole? My pass thru storage is rectangular and that area is blocked off by a wall.

[nhlakes]

I temporarily removed a 12v light on the front wall in the storage below the bed stand and fished a wire down from a whole drilled in the bottom of the stand compartment.  Then tapped into the 12v source and reinstalled the light.

Before pulling up the top I verified there no accessible fasteners and assumed it had to be glued.  It gave a little when pulled so I just went for it



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[nhlakes]

On the hinge.., yes I'd have to cut the top so it would clear the wall - which helped me decide to leave well enough alone for now...


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[Gary M]

I re-routed the wire that runs across the head of the bed to avoid having it chafe between the aluminum framing and the forward wall that flexes. I just used rubber grommets, removed the wire from under the trim, and wrapped some flexible conduit for now because I had it laying around. I'll switch to a solid conduit later.