On Thu, 15 Feb 2018 10:52:26 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Johnny B Good wrote:
I think the apparent convenience of USB charging sockets will prove to
be mostly illusory and not quite so neat an idea as the manufacturers
would have you believe. I suspect most of these charging ports will
land up being filled in with a matching colour of epoxy resin in four
or five years time when they fail and go completely (and safely) dead.

Given how cheap ordinary sockets are, why not just fit a new one? Or
even just put back the one which was there before you fitted the USB
type?

That assumes a DIYer organised enough to keep the originals in a safe
(and *memorable* location). :-)

Also, when the 13A sockets themselves are still perfectly serviceable
(virtually guaranteed for many decades of use unless made in a Chinese
factory following no recognised standards whatsoever using the cheapest
"Obtainium" materials that come to hand), just filling in the USB holes
to de-uglify the socket saves needlessly disturbing the ring main wiring.

If they *are* swapped out with new or the carefully preserved originals,
a canny[1] DIYer will store them somewhere safe for use as "Emergency
Spares" (de-uglyfied or not). They can always be used to release a normal
socket from a location where appearance isn't an issue to replace a
broken socket where appearance *is* an issue in a variation of the game
of 'Musical Chairs' where the 'loser' lands up in the skip.

[1] Meaning in this case someone with a strong "Waste not, want not."
ethic. :-)

--
Johnny B Good