5 slot charging station for a small counter
Five bays, one socket, QR or app start. The entry build, and the cheapest way to find out whether a site rents at all.
What five bays covers
Five bays is a room with one queue and a staff member who will hand the pack over. A cafe with a 20 minute table turn, a studio with appointments, a small bar with a regular crowd: the demand arrives in a trickle rather than a wave, and five bays absorb it.
The arithmetic is the same at every size. Count the guests holding a pack at the same moment on the busiest hour, add a pack pool, and the bay count follows. At five bays the pool matters more than the cabinet: two spares double the working capacity on a Saturday.
The socket rule
A plug-in unit needs a socket you control. Not one behind the coffee machine, not one the cleaner unplugs at close, not one shared with a fridge that trips the circuit. The socket is the installation, and the installation is what decides whether the station runs all week.
- One socket within reach of the counter, on a circuit nobody switches off at night.
- A surface the unit can stand on without blocking service.
- A guest sightline from the door, so the staff do not have to sell it.
When five is not enough
If two guests ask at once and one has to wait, the site is already at six. The 6 slot build adds a bay and a card terminal, which matters where guests arrive without data. If the queue is longer than a few minutes at the peak, the 8 slot station is the next step, and the counter unit becomes the second site rather than the bigger one.
Spec sheet
What the sheet states for this build, and what is only settled per order.
| Field | This build |
|---|---|
| Slots | 5 |
| Pack | 6000 mAh |
| Input | Mains, plug-in |
| Starts a rental | QR code or app |
| Screen | None |
| Form | Counter top |
| Pack pool | Quoted with the order |
| Spare parts | Bay assembly, springs, cables |
| Connectivity | Confirmed at quotation |
| Housing | Per data sheet |
| Mounting | Counter top, or a wall bracket as a separate carton |
| Operating temperature | Per data sheet |
| Certification route | Per market, confirmed at quotation |
The sheet that ships with a quotation carries the port layout, the consumption figures and the plug type for the destination market.
Where the 5 slot build fits, and where it does not
It fits a trial. One counter, one queue, one operator who wants to learn whether the room rents at all before committing a second cabinet. It also fits as the third or fourth site in a chain that already knows the answer and wants the smallest shape that works.
It does not fit a venue whose peak arrives as a wave. A cinema foyer or an event gate empties five bays in the first hour and then has nothing to hand out, so the cabinet is sized for the average hour and paid for on the peak.
Nor does it fit an unattended corridor, where there is nobody to hand a pack over and no app install to fall back on. That site wants the freestanding card kiosk rather than a counter unit with a queue in front of it.
How buyers customise the 5 slot build, and what each option changes
The first row changes the guest flow. The rest change what the cabinet has to be ordered as.
- Start method
- Changes the guest flow and the firmware drop, not the five bays themselves.
- Counter top or wall bracket
- Changes the carton and the install. The bracket is a separate line on the order rather than a choice inside the cabinet.
- Pack print and colour
- Changes the MOQ and adds a sample round, because a printed pack is a batch rather than a stock pick.
- Cabinet finish
- Changes the MOQ where the shell is a custom colour, and it adds a sample round before the batch.
- Guest language
- Changes the firmware drop and the signage set, agreed before production rather than at the port.
- Pack pool size
- Changes the working capacity on a busy day and the capex on the first order, not the cabinet itself.
What to confirm before you approve a 5 slot sample
6 checks on the 5 slot sample before the order is approved.
- The socket, and that nobody switches it off at close.
- A count of guests holding a pack at the same moment on the busiest hour.
- What the guest sees at the counter, and who explains it when it does not work.
- The spare pack pool, ordered with the cabinet rather than after the first loss.
- The plug type and the guest language for the destination market.
- Whether the site has room for a second cabinet later, because five is a starting point rather than a plan.
Questions that come back before the order
Short answers to the questions that arrive with the first email.
How many packs should be ordered with five bays?
Start from spares rather than from a total. A cabinet with no spare packs stops working the day the first pack is out, so the pool is ordered with the cabinet rather than shipped after the first loss.
Can a 5 slot unit become a 6 slot unit later?
Not by adding a bay. The 6 slot build is a different cabinet with a terminal, so the upgrade is a second unit rather than a module.
Does it need an internet link?
The rental flow depends on the software and on the payment method, and the link is part of that question. Ask for the connectivity line on the sheet for the build you are ordering rather than assuming a link is included.
Before the order
- Start method: QR, app and card are different cartons and different firmware.
- Plug type: the destination market decides the adapter.
- Spare packs: two per ten bays, ordered with the cabinet, not after the first loss.
- Build
- 5 slot
- Family
- Desktop stations
- Ask for
- Specification sheet, spare part list, RMA terms
Venues this build is specified into
The venue pages where this build usually lands.
Send the venue, get the sheet.
Format, slot count and the specification sheet for each line item, in one reply.