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In 2021 I cut the end off a USB cable to expose the power leads which I scotch taped to the power meter on my bike to charge it. I kept that cable. In 2024 I used it to add USB disconnects to the light strip I attached to the bottom of my son's crib, allowing me to keep the light strip intact when we lowered the base from the baby height to the toddler height. A week later we got rid of the strip because we really didn't need the light like that any more. Still, no regrets. This was my version of using every part of the buffalo.

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While I like to improvise I'd never want to use a cut-off cable anywhere near a toddler. Whatever the savings or practical benefits, they just can't outweigh the risk of the toddler doing something that causes a shock, fire, ... Maybe for the best that you removed that light strip.

If you are worried about 5 Volt electric shocks (!), I presume 'electromagnetic hypersensitivity' is also something you worry about?

Fire is more worrying. You can also make small sparks with 5 volts under certain conditions, which may frighten someone about as much as a small shock.

There were no loose energized cable ends in this story, fyi. The light strip was your standard white LED tape cut in the middle of the copper pads [0]. I soldered the USB cable's power leads to the copper pads [1] and then covered the solder joint with heat shrink tubing filled with liquid electrical tape [2]. Then on the strip I connected to, it was the same procedure but with a female USB-A connector. There were no conductors with exposed ends to move apart and make a spark.

[0] e.g. https://www.homedepot.com/p/32-8-ft-LED-Tape-Light-120-LEDs-...

[1] https://www.homedepot.com/p/Star-brite-4-oz-Liquid-Electrica...

[2] hero image from https://us.govee.com/blogs/led-strip-lights/how-to-solder-le...

Yeah my plan was to anchor the loose cable ends under wood once we lowered the bed, but as I said, we pulled off the light strip very soon after. It now sits in, you guessed it, the big box of cables, in case I need a motion activated 5V DC power supply.

waiting for the next piece of this story, where your toddler turns 13 and gets their first mp3 player, which doesn't ship with a charger and guess who still has 18 inches of cable left?

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