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Reply to: Yes, you have 6 wires. That is a good thing! You should be just fine running USB power over that wire.

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Reply to: Hi Doug - Just responding to your post from last month. I was able to confirm it’s a 6 wire system - at least that’s my understanding based on the pic. Is that right? If so, im guessing that’s a good thing?

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Reply to: Without seeing what the wire is, I couldn't say for sure. We're talking about very low power here, so if the wire is in good shape, I would guess it would, but double check with an electrician who knows local code and can put eyeballs on it if you have concerns. I don't have any pics on the Meanwell supply install, but it is pretty plug and play--positive to positive, negative to negative on the DC side. The leads are all labeled. The AC is standard. Nothing special required there. On the DC side, I used two terminal blocks: one for the positive connections, one for the negative. On the left side, I put each of the wires coming from the stations (positive or negative, as the case may be), with the inline fuses. On the right side of each block, I connected the leads from the power supply with jumper wires (my supply has 3 leads). On the right side of the blocks, it worked like: pin 1: first lead from supply; pin 2: jumper from pin 1; pin 3: jumper from pin 2; pin 4: second lead from supply, pin 5: jumper from pin 4, etc. It's the same on the positive block and negative block, just different colored wires from your pair. Depending on what terminal block you buy, it might come with jumpers. I just made my own. I bought two small spools of wire (one red, one black) to make it easy to keep positive/negative straight. I have 8 total stations connected, so I balanced the number of connections across each lead of the 3 leads on my power supply. You wouldn't necessarily even have to do that. It's not like the iPads load that supply significantly. Hope that helps! Doug

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Reply to: I should mention that I did install a Ring Video Doorbell Elite to replace the outside Nutone station in front, and a Sonos in-wall speaker for the outside station in our four seasons room. That will have to be a separate comment or thread because I didn't take pictures! I did run new wire for the Ring Elite, since it requires actual Ethernet plus PoE. I mention it here because is a company that makes a nice metal adapter that covers the outdoor station's hole and leaves you with a standard outlet box perfect for the Elite!

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Reply to: Thanks! I really think this particular type of project is within most people's reach. That's part of why I wanted to share. One of my goals was to do this with all off-the-shelf products with no modifications to keep it within the realm of the semi-handy! I couldn't find any examples online, and this thread was the closest to it! The one caveat is to check your existing wiring before you reuse it! The jacket of the wire will tell you its rating. Most Cat 3 22-26 AWG 6-wire cable installed in the last 25-30 years will probably be fine if the cable it still in good shape. Even in my system, each iPad isn't pulling more than 1-2 amps at most and never all at the same time (even though I engineered for that). This kept me well within spec for this type of cabling. With this system design above, you should have plenty of overhead for 8-10 stations. I had no cable loss issues, either. Even on my longest cable runs to the second floor, I still had a solid 12-12.1 V at the step down converter. Older 4-wire systems should be o.k. to reuse, particularly with something like the Echo Dot that pulls < 0.5 amps, but YMMV. Consult your local fire code or an electrician to tell you whether your existing wires will still work and that the step down converter and power supply devices that I mention here comply with local code requirements.

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Reply to: Here's a "before" view of the 6-wire Nutone station: After taking out the station (I also removed the metal bracket): On this particular station, we had some tight clearances on the light switches, which I fixed later. Here's the rough cut hole withthe drywall saw. I cleaned up the opening with a utility knife and rounded file: 24 VDC to USB converter (available at Amazon): iWallDock installed (you can choose which direction you want the power coming from based on where the studs are and what kind of clearance you have). iWallDock sells versions for iPad mini through iPad Pro 12.9", including all the new and old versions. I used the less expensive version that requires a suction cup to remove the iPad, since I didn't intend to have these come out: With the iPad installed: Here are two of the other 8 stations: Hope that helps!

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Reply to: I went a similar route with our old NuTone system, but I'm not a fan of the always-on microphones and I wanted to have the ability to control everything in our smart home, so I went with refurb iPads. The 6 wire cable already in the wall is sufficiently rated to power USB, so I: Removed each station and cut a LARGER hole in the wall to fit an ipad mount from https://www.iwalldock.com/ (no need to patch--just follow the cutout). This mounts flush to the wall vertically or horizontally. You can find cheaper mounts on Amazon. I just wanted something that was flush and well-constructed so that I could use it over time. Installed a 100W - 24V Meanwell supply (specially, the HRP-450-12), 3 amp in-line fuses (x8 for my setup) and a pair of terminal blocks in the basement where the former NuTone system was connected and powered. Installed an iPad Air Gen 1 in the wall mount. I used the Air 1 because it is the same size as later generations of the iPad, so it is an easy drop-in replacement if I want to upgrade in a few years. Used a 24V DC to 5V DC step down converter to power the units. Connected two wires to the converter and the MeanWell supply with an inline 3 amp fuse for each station. Total project: Each Station: $35 Mount or $180 iWalldock mount + $50 iPad Air + $5 DC/DC Converter. $90 or $235 Total $50 MeanWell Supply, $36 Blue Sea Systems ST Blade ATO/ATC Fuse Block (8 capacity) + $40 Terminal Blocks (for 2). $126 Total. Each iPad now includes apps for weather and all of our smart home controls. Each station took me about 20 minutes to install start to finish (removing the old station, cutting a bigger hole in the drywall, installing the power and the mount, powering up the iPad). Happy to provide more details and photos for anyone interested.

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