Stereo Input Jack Wiring

[awgearhart]

Hello all, haven't posted in a while and also forgot some of my DIY pedal wiring knowledge.

I'm trying to wire a stereo input jack in my pedal (so that it can only turn on when powered AND has an input), and I can't remember exactly how to do it. Also note, I am NOT using a battery clip (most graphics online depict using a battery clip in conjunction with a DC supply). This is what I believe I'm supposed to do, if my memory serves me:

TIP: 3PDT input
SLEEVE: Ground (I use the sleeve as ground for the whole circuit coming off the DC power jack)
RING: Negative terminal on the DC power jack

Is this correct? Any help would be great. Thanks everyone!

[iainpunk]

if youre using a separate power supply only, i wouldnt bother with a power switching jack, it can only cause pops and stuff when plugging, and a power supply doesn't run empty when not in use, as you can simply unplug it.

if you insist on this feature, i'd switch around the ring and sleeve of the jack, thats what i do

cheers

[antonis]

Ignore Battery clip..

[awgearhart]

The second picture confuses me... shouldn't ground also be wired to the ground on the power supply? It doesn't depict it that way.

[antonis]

The second picture confuses me... shouldn't ground also be wired to the ground on the power supply?

It does but only when IN plug shorts Ring & Sleeve..

You see, we can "cut" power supply either by disengaging +9V or GND..

[Mark Hammer]

The hardest part of wiring up a stereo input jack is figuring out which solder lug connects to which plug contact.  It's dead easy for mono plugs with two contacts, given how painfully obvious the ground contact is.  It gets more comp0licated when there are tip and ring contacts/lugs.  Unfortunately, there is really no standardization with respect to which lug is where.  The tip lug could be this one or that one, and if it is a closed-circuit jack with that extra lug and contact for a "default" connection when no plug is inserted, it gets even more confusing.

The only remedy is to visually inspect the jack for which solder lug goes to which plug contact.  For instance, here you would visually trace where the solder lug at the bottom left "goes to", and where the one at the top right "goes to".

In the case of the PCB-mounted jacks like these ones, there can be multiple "default" contacts/lugs.  What you see here makes tip, ring, shaft quite obvious via their sequential lineup.  BUT, the side you will use is the side opposite to the one facing us in this picture.  Inserting a plug breaks the connection between the contacts you see here, and the contacts on the "other" side.    I have a nasty habit of wiring up jacks to test out circuits before they are boxed up, and I can't tell you how many times I have accidentally soldered leads to the "wrong" set of contacts and wondered why I wasn't getting any sound.

And these ones, you need to peek inside to see what leads to what.  However, it is often the case that the ground contact/lug is the only one at an angle, relative to the box-like sides.  That narrows it down a little bit, but still leaves some detective work.

[mozz]

Switchcraft and some of the cheaper open style copies all do not use the same layout as was said above.  Show me the schematic first, then pictures.  Some of the open jacks sold by radio shack and Amazon are close to the quality of switchcraft but are different when it comes to wiring them. 

[awgearhart]

if youre using a separate power supply only, i wouldnt bother with a power switching jack, it can only cause pops and stuff when plugging, and a power supply doesn't run empty when not in use, as you can simply unplug it.

if you insist on this feature, i'd switch around the ring and sleeve of the jack, thats what i do

cheers

Thanks to all! I ended up just going with iainpunk's advice and just switch it to a mono jack. I think the first pedal I ever did used a battery clip in conjunction with the dc jack, therefore it mentioned using a stereo input jack. I just figured it was better to use them in any case, but everything works now with the mono input.