Sears alternative to Smart Strip

[TOK]

Found this while shopping for other cabinet hardware. Since its claim is to turn on a light or other accessory when using a power tool, I was afraid a PC might not put enough of a load on it to trigger the outlets. I plugged my PC and monitor into it, and it worked great, just like a Smart Strip. Outlets are kind of limited, but I suppose there would be no problem with putting a regular power strip on one of them. It works out perfect for me since I only have the PC, monitor and marquee light to power.

Price is good too, $20.

[shardian]

Do you have a picture of the packaging, or at least a true name of the product?

[Havok]

I think I found it:

Sears Autoswitch

I think I'm going to have to check this out...

[TOK]

Thats the one... I got mine at Sears Hardware. It comes in a black and red blister pack and they had them hanging on the wall with the saw blades and drill bits.

[gamecreature]

Can you adjust it? I had to do some fiddling with the settings on my Smartstrip before it would consistantly turn things off. This box might need the same tweaking.

[ahofle]

Yeah I had to adjust my powerstrip too after some time.  If it works, that's a great deal!

[Havok]

It looks like it plugs directly into the wall socket (no cord), is that the case?

[javeryh]

Can you adjust it? I had to do some fiddling with the settings on my Smartstrip before it would consistantly turn things off. This box might need the same tweaking.

What kind of adjusting?  I thought it was just plug and play... I guess I'll find out tonight when I power everything on for the first time...

[ahofle]

On the bitslimited strip, there is a little screw on the side that is supposed to adjust the sensitivity of the outlet that triggers the other outlets off/on.  When I first used it, I didn't even know it was there and everything worked fine out of the box...but a few months later, it stopped working and someone here alerted me to the adjustment dial.  After cranking it a bit everything worked again.  I have no idea why it suddenly stopped working like that though.

[gamecreature]

Can you adjust it? I had to do some fiddling with the settings on my Smartstrip before it would consistantly turn things off. This box might need the same tweaking.

What kind of adjusting?  I thought it was just plug and play... I guess I'll find out tonight when I power everything on for the first time...

The first time I used it, it worked fine, and then the second time the other stuff wouldn't turn off. I just turned the screw on the side until they did and tested it once more. After the second tweak it's worked every time.

[TOK]

No adjustment on this. That's one of the things I didn't consider a positive feature of the Smart Strip.
Since there seems to be some interest in the Sears version we should find out pretty quick if anyone has issues with the lack of adjustment. It does plug directly into an outlet, but I tested mine on an extension cord and didn't have a problem.

[shardian]

You can always put a junction box in your cabinet, cut off the end of an extension cord,and wire the recepticle in the junction box to the extension cord for power. This would seem to be the most durable way of istalling this in a cabinet.

[arcadepcnut]

so can anyone confirm or deny this is adjustable? Two say it is and one or two say it isn't. I installed a relay into a power strip but the relay itself is $8 and the power strip is 3-4$ no to mention time to install it. This looks like a real viable option for us! Can someone do a review on how this works?

[lharles]

I bought one of these to power up my cabinet a while back.  I found it through posts on the forums here, (they were pretty old - but I wanted something I could just go out and purchase rather than waiting for a smartstrip).

I'm not in a position to be able to say with absolute certainty that it is or isn't adjustable...BUT I'll go home and take a look at it tonight.  I would imagine that it would be fairly obvious with just a quick look at the device. 

For what it's worth, I didn't even dig in to trying to determine any sort of secondary configuration options on the thing as it worked perfectly for my application, right out of the box.

Finally, good luck on getting someone at Sears to help you find one.  The Sears that I got mine from showed a half dozen in stock, but when I went to the store, they couldn't find it.  They initially showed me the section near their power strips and when they couldn't find it there they told me they didn't carry it.  I just wandered the isles near the tools until I eventually found it.  Needless to say, they were a bit surprised. 


Lharles

[shardian]

It shows in stock at a sears somewhat near me. I will go take a look this weekend.

[TOK]

so can anyone confirm or deny this is adjustable? Two say it is and one or two say it isn't. I installed a relay into a power strip but the relay itself is $8 and the power strip is 3-4$ no to mention time to install it. This looks like a real viable option for us! Can someone do a review on how this works?

Mine is definitely not. There are no adjustment screws or any removable covers of any type that would indicate adjustability. Just an On/Off switch and 3 outlets. It did work for me under what I consider the lightest possible loads I'd possibly use, a PC on the trigger outlet and monitor on the slave.

Edit for arcadenut: I just reread the thread, and I think you're confusing the Bits Limited strip which has the adjustment screw with the Sears version that doesn't. Didn't see where anyone claimed the Sears version was adjustable.

[koz319]

I've had one of these in my cab for almost 3 years now, and I have had no problems at all with it.  The one I have is definitely not adjustable. 

Also, just like mentioned here, I use an extension cord to connect this to the wall, have the computer connected to the 'control' port, and a regular power strip plugged into the 'switched' outlet. The monitor, marquee lights, speaker amp etc are plugged into the standard power strip. 

And yeah, the guys at sears will probably have no idea where to find this.  Mine was by the circular saws on an end cap of an isle when I found it. 

Koz