I saw a couple of posts with people coming up with or wanting ideas on coverting a 2-prong plug to 3.5mm mini plug in order for the 950 to trigger the Panamax unit to turn on. How have people been doing this? Are there cords that you can purchase that will take a 2-prong plug on one end (female) and a 3.5mm on the other? or will I have to make my own? Somebody mentioned cutting off the male end of an extension cord and adding the 3.5mm mini plug to it? I'm not sure but with an extension cord, isn't one side negative and the other positive? How do you wire the mini plug to the extension cord?
Thanks in advance

John,
I've got a Max1000+ and was able to get it working this weekend. I made a 'project box' out of an X10 module (bought just for this use), stuck a couple of RatShack 3.5mm jacks in it, and cut off the 120V male plug blades. It works fine and doesn't look _too_ bad.

To answer your question about polarity, the TIP on the 3.5mm is +12V on the 950 side. This should be connected to the NARROWER of the two blades on the Panamax voltage sense plug. If you're familiar with polarized AC cords, the narrow blade is hot, and the wider blade is neutral.

Hope that helps. If you have any questions, ask away! I don't know what would happen if you got it backwards, but hopefully the 12VDC output of the 950 is fused...

---Jedi Mike

Jedi, which module did you buy to do this? And why do you need a module to do this? More detail instruction on how you did this is greatly appreciated.

I used an old extension cord, cutting most of the cord and male end off and attaching a 3.5mm mini plug that works perfectly. I used a soderless mini plug from ratshack and had to trim down the extension cords outer covering to get it to fit through the plug. For those that don't know, the narrow plug is the hot side for the extension cord and would go to the smaller extension side of the plug. I also had to use electrical tape to wrap around each side; when I put the plug back together before taping, it never would work so I tested each step of the process with a multimeter and no matter what I did when I screwed the bottom part of the plug back, it would not work until I used the electrical tape.

Hi John, thanks for the tip but I am still confused. First of all, which 3.5mm mini plug did you use from Radio Shack? I was there today and couldn't find anything as you described.



And I am especially confused about this statement. OK, the extention cord is going to have two wires, one is hot and one is neutral. Which one of these two wires should be in contact with the plug and how? I've never had any sort of electronics training at all so please excuse my ignorance. Your help is greatly appreciated. Hope to hear from you soon.

MY

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I think the plug that John is referring to is this one from Radio Shack , although this one may also work.

As for the connections, the wire from the narrow blade on the extension cord (the hot) goes to the tip of the mini plug (based on Jedi Mike's info above). The mini plug should have two places to connect to -- one for the tip and one for the body. I'm guessing that once you get your hands on one of the mini plugs, the connection that goes to the tip will be the "smaller extension side of the plug" but I'm in the same boat as you, having not actually put eyes on one.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

Thank you Gonk for your help once again. And also a big thank you to John and Jedi Mike. I got the solderless 1/8" mini phone plug (274-868) from Radio Shack and I bought an 6' extension cord for a total of little over $5. Follow the instructions as provided here and everything work out perfectly. Thanks again for everyone's help.

Sorry it took awhile to reply but I was on vacation. Thanks Gonk for filling in and you are correct about the hookup, the shorter extension on the mini plug is hot.

Sorry for the slow reply, I was out for a bit, too. If I had to do it again, I'd go for the simpler method of cutting apart an extension cord. I'm glad you guys are up and working.

BTW, a couple days after I finished my experiment and had it working, Panamax Customer Service sent me a Word Doc that showed cutting apart an extension cord. That makes me feel more comfortable -- if Panamax recommends the procedure, then we're not voiding the warrantee.