AC Power For Your Pocket Wizard Plus II - $1.97. No, really.

I know this isn't for everyone and most people are trying to get away from having devices tethered by cables and wires but I am so tired of replacing batteries in my Pocket Wizard Plus II's and it was making me nuts.

In any given day my Pocket Wizards are fired several hundred times, if not more. That kind of usage will have you either replacing your alkaline's or swapping out rechargeables far too often for my taste. If the Pocket Wizard is kept close to the strobe and up high on a stand or boom then that's one more reason you have to lower your stand or get up on a ladder at what usually seem to be the most inopportune time. A Pocket Wizard up on a boom is also easily left on and I always kick myself the next day when I realize I left the Pocket Wizard on for 12 hours.I realize most of the battery consumption is from triggering but sitting idle for 12 hours at a time adds up and I do it often. Obviously I'm only using these adapters on the PW's attached to strobes and not the PW on camera. The PW on camera doesn't get the same usage as the others because it doesn't trigger when I'm metering, and I do a ton of metering.

So I decided to get an AC to DC adapter for my PW's but like so many things, when I looked at the price of the PW adapter sold by PW it was a ridiculously high price. If I recall if was something like $43 and I would never pay that for an AC to DC adapter.

Then I went hunting on the Internet and looked at all the distributors and suppliers of AC to DC adapters to find the right power spec as well as the right spec on the plug.

There were some options and I found some adapters that would work but would require me to replace the plug and would still cost me about $20. I needed 3 of these adapters but really didn't feel like paying $60 and still have to do some soldering to make this happen.

Well, the last place I looked was Radio Shack. I'm generally not a Radio Shack guy when it comes to parts and components, etc. but I figured I would give it a shot. The stores don't always stock everything in the catalog so I looked online.

Wow, was I surprised. I found what I thought was a typo but it wasn't. Radio Shack makes what they call the Enercell line of products, which includes AC to DC adapters, some of which are universal and include a selection of popular tips and some that are specific in their power rating and you need to find the correct tip. They have a complete selection of tips so the chances are always good that you're going to find the one you need, and so I did.

The Pocket Wizard Plus II requires 4.5 Volts and 300mA, not the 3V indicated right on the side of the unit and the 200mA specified in the manual. I know, many of you are already questioning this. You can confirm this information 2 ways. Plug in a 3 volt 200mA power adapter and won't work. The other way is to call MAC Group/Pocket Wizard and speak with a tech. They will give you the same response I got, which is that they know the information in the printed and online manual is wrong and they couldn't give me an answer as to why the PW itself says 3V next to the jack for AC power. After I got that information I zoomed in on the image of the adapter sold by Pocket Wizard and it does say 4.5 Volts and 300mA.

It was impossible to find an exact match for the tip because the length of the barrel is shorter than what seems to be available. The tip that fits and matches the inner and outer diameter spec is slightly too long but it's a snug fit and since it's the ground (shield) that is exposed it's a non-issue.

The Radio Shack part number is 273-1760. It's a 4.5 Volt 1600mA AC to DC adapter and if you understand basic electronics you know that it's more than fine to use an adapter that can supply more current than needed because the item plugged in will only draw what it needs. This adapter is very small and weighs practically nothing.

If you look at the item in the catalog it indicates that you do need the tip and those sell for about $7 each but when I looked at the packaging for the adapter I saw that in bold black type on the back it says Includes one Adaptaplug at no extra cost. So I went back to Radio Shack and got my free tip.

The tip you need is the Enercell Adaptaplug H.

This is what the adapter looks like with the tip attached.

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that's a price of coffee from Dunkin Donut.. Sweet! thx for sharing.!

johnlo wrote in post #9855133
that's a price of coffee from Dunkin Donut.. Sweet! thx for sharing.!

Sure thing. I figured it was a good enough find to pass on to others.

TMR Design wrote in post #9855097
It's a 4.5 Volt 1600mA AC to DC adapter and if you understand basic electronics you know that it's more than fine to use an adapter that can supply more current than needed because the item plugged in will only draw what it needs. This adapter is very small and weighs practically nothing.

With one caution.

From your description (small and lightweight) it is probably a newer switch mode adapter, but if it was an old style 60hz transformer adapter then you have to be careful because the rated output voltage is at rated load and can be significantly higher when lightly loaded.

Always best to check the no load voltage with a DMM before risking your expensive photo gear.

mbellot wrote in post #9855854
With one caution.

From your description (small and lightweight) it is probably a newer switch mode adapter, but if it was an old style 60hz transformer adapter then you have to be careful because the rated output voltage is at rated load and can be significantly higher when lightly loaded.

Always best to check the no load voltage with a DMM before risking your expensive photo gear.

It is definitely newer technology and I did put a meter across it when I got it. Typically these adapters do spit out a bit more with no load and I found this one to be no different and very acceptable at 4.66 Volts.

TMR Design wrote in post #9856096
IThese adapters work like a charm with the Pocket Wizards and for under $7 I have the Pocket Wizards on my strobes running without batteries. Bliss!

NOTE: - This is not the correct adapter for a Pocket Wizard Multi-Max. The Multi-Max requires a different power and plug spec.

Too bad you can't buy the 6-conductor 3.5mm plugs cheap because if you could, I'd show you how you can use that power supply to power your MM units also.

BTW, thanks for sharing your "find". It's good stuff to know about.

Robert, How long is the cord?

4th party win!

PacAce wrote in post #9856516
Too bad you can't buy the 6-conductor 3.5mm plugs cheap because if you could, I'd show you how you can use that power supply to power your MM units also.

BTW, thanks for sharing your "find". It's good stuff to know about.

Do tell, Leo.

claybuster wrote in post #9856549
Robert, How long is the cord?

6 feet long.

TMR Design wrote in post #9858166
Do tell, Leo.

The MultiMax(version 4 and higher) has an accessory port which is a 6-conductor 3.5mm jack. The only place online where I was able to find a 6-conductor 3.5mm plug was Digi-Key (www.digikey.com). At the time I was looking (sometime in Feb of 2008 ), each 6-conductor plug with leads was $8.00 plus S&H (I bought 2 units and paid a total of $29.92 for a unit price of around $15.00).

I checked again today but they don't have any in stock anymore although the unit price is now down to $4.26 (in quantities of 1,000). Unfortunately, the minimum order is 1000 units.

This is the 6-conductor 3.5mm plug I got: http://search.digikey.​com …or=0&keywords=C​P-356CS-ND

and this is the specs for it: http://www.tensility.c​om/pdffiles/CA-356CS.pdf

Anyway, if you can find the 6-conductor plug elsewhere and for a cheaper price, you can solder that to the RadioShack Enercell 2-pin Adaptaplug connector (http://www.radioshack.​com …dex.jsp?product​Id=3870008) and that'll allow you to power a MM unit with your 4.5V power supply.

Referring to the pin-out shown in the spec sheet above, the +4.5 lead of the power supply would connect to pin F (outside sleeve) and the ground lead would connect to pin E (inside sleeve). The other pins of the 6-conductor plug are used for the focus and shutter release connections between the MM and the camera remote release port.

PacAce wrote in post #9858585
The MultiMax(version 4 and higher) has an accessory port which is a 6-conductor 3.5mm jack. The only place online where I was able to find a 6-conductor 3.5mm plug was Digi-Key (www.digikey.com). At the time I was looking (sometime in Feb of 2008 ), each 6-conductor plug with leads was $8.00 plus S&H (I bought 2 units and paid a total of $29.92 for a unit price of around $15.00).

I checked again today but they don't have any in stock anymore although the unit price is now down to $4.26 (in quantities of 1,000). Unfortunately, the minimum order is 1000 units.

This is the 6-conductor 3.5mm plug I got: http://search.digikey.​com …or=0&keywords=C​P-356CS-ND

and this is the specs for it: http://www.tensility.c​om/pdffiles/CA-356CS.pdf

Anyway, if you can find the 6-conductor plug elsewhere and for a cheaper price, you can solder that to the RadioShack Enercell 2-pin Adaptaplug connector (http://www.radioshack.​com …dex.jsp?product​Id=3870008) and that'll allow you to power a MM unit with your 4.5V power supply.

Referring to the pin-out shown in the spec sheet above, the +4.5 lead of the power supply would connect to pin F (outside sleeve) and the ground lead would connect to pin E (inside sleeve). The other pins of the 6-conductor plug are used for the focus and shutter release connections between the MM and the camera remote release port.

Thanks Leo. I may poke around and see if I can find the plug. I don't think I need 1000 of them unless you want to go half-sies.. LOLOLOL

TMR Design wrote in post #9856096
It is definitely newer technology and I did put a meter across it when I got it. Typically these adapters do spit out a bit more with no load and I found this one to be no different and very acceptable at 4.66 Volts.

Not bad. I've seen 9v/300mA transformer type adapters put out 14-15 volts unloaded, that's why I thought it was worth raising the red flag.

mbellot wrote in post #9860623
Not bad. I've seen 9v/300mA transformer type adapters put out 14-15 volts unloaded, that's why I thought it was worth raising the red flag.

Wow, I've never seen that kind of difference between spec and measured voltage. I have another Enercell Universal AC to DC adapter and I think I'll test it at the various voltages too.

For what it's worth, while I don't even have any PocketWizards and probably never will, I'm always up for a good challenge when it comes to finding parts like that (the 6 conductor plug for the MultiMax), so I looked around quite a bit yesterday. I couldn't find anyone, anywhere, that supplied that part other than DigiKey, and it doesn't look like any other vendors make anything comparable.

I did put in a question to the manufacturer to find out if they know of any way of getting smaller volumes, and if I find anything out, I'll pass it on. I figured I'd post this now to prevent anyone else from spending a bunch of time digging into it like I did.

Regarding power supplies, I used to have an application where I used 12V unregulated supplies, and they typically hung out around 17V with little or no load.