Griffin PowerMate Volume Control Cabinet Mod

[blind_dado]

I know there have been some previous threads about people trying to get a Griffin PowerMate volume control to work with their cabs, and it seems like a lot of people couldn't get it to work.  I really liked the idea of modifying one of these to work in my cab, so here is what I did.

For those who are not familiar with the product, it looks like this (first two pics from a google search):


http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/powermate

It is a USB volume control that has a blue LED under it that glows brighter as you turn the knob to increase the volume.  It also has a really neat pulsing effect when the computer hibernates, and a push-to-mute feature.

This is what the blue LED looks like from the bottom of the PowerMate.



This is a disassembled PowerMate. I found this pic on another discussion here (appropriately called "Griffin Powermate - EXPLODED!!") about modifications that whammoed made to a PowerMate (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=63751.0/).  It inspired me to take mine apart too!



Here is the actual volume control part of the PowerMate.  The wires are actually soldered to the circuit board, not with a handy disconnect as shown.  The dissconect is a mod that whammoed made on a PowerMate, which you can see at the forum post I mentioned above.  

The LED is under the circuit board.  This created a problem, because the light points away from the volumn knob, so there seemed to be no way to get the light to the front of the cab once I mounted the volume knob in the admin panel.



The solution was to de-solder the metal volume control from the circuit board and re-attach it with wires so the the light could be mounted next to the control knob, pointing to the front of the admin panel, like so:



This is what it looks like from the front, with a knob I found in a junk store stuck on and a piece of glass put over the hole where the LED is.



Here is the final product in action.  Note that the LED blinks twice when it reaches max volume and pulses at the end when I put the computer into hibernate.  I also demonstrate the push-to-mute feature.



Some people have had trouble with the software for the PowerMate being buggy.  I found that I had to use the earlier version 1.5.3 and NOT the later version 2.0.1 software.  I had all kinds of problems with version 2.0.1, but the earlier version works fine.

Anyway, I really like the effect, and hope some people find the info useful.

[Encryptor]

Where do you get the older version of the software? Most websites only put the latest version of their drivers online. Very cool by the way!


Encryptor

[blind_dado]

I have an early version of the software on CD from when I purchased the PowerMate a couple years ago.  But it looks like earlier versions of the software are available on thier website: http://www.griffintechnology.com/software/

[Encryptor]

Ok great and thanks. I was looking on their site and didn't find that page. Thanks again.


Encryptor

[DaOld Man]

Hey thats pretty slick.

I used the older 1.5.3, but my powermate (well, the wife's now), does not start every time.
Id say it is about 2 out of 3 times it starts ok.
Its very frustrating.
So much that i intend to swap it out with an audio pot.

[blind_dado]

I find that it helps if I put my cab into hibernate instead of shutting down.  I hibernate many times over seveal weeks before doing an occasional restart.  Sometimes the PowerMate does give me problems, but it's always solved be unplugging and re-plugging, sometimes into a different usb port, or (ironically) just restarting.

[JRoz]

Guys, sorry to open this up again, I plan to use this for my jukebox project.  I basiaclly want to strip it down and use it as a volume and wake up button but not sure its going to clear my monitor etc.  I basically have 3 pre drilled holes where the old radio buttons were, and the monitor is mounted right above it..so clearance isnt that great.  I'm trying to get an idea on how wide the control knob area is (just the square metal area around the volume knob) and also how long the actual volume knob is.  I'll pretty much need to hot glue my existing dial onto this but need to make sure its long enough for it to get to the other side (wood is roughly a 1/4" thick..anyone have any idea or have these dimensions?

thanks