Canon Digital Pocket Cameras

I have a couple of Vivitar 285hv flash units which I normally use in addition to my main Canon ex580 speedlights as small background lights on location. I normally trigger these 285's with Wein Peanut photo slaves.

Due to weilding & cutting equipment causing false flash triggering I want to trigger these another way. I dont have the time to buy the cheap pocket wizards you see on ebay to trigger these units wirelessly so thats not a solution.

I'd like to use a good old fashion sink lead I have to hand but am concerned about the trigger voltage being too high for my Canon D1s mark 3 or my back up 40D. I had heard the 285hv is a low trigger voltage safe for digital cameras but have no way of testing it myself.

Does anyone know what the trigger voltage is? is it safe with digital cameras? or is there any other solutions anyone can think of either to reduce the voltage, or trigger them another way?

Thanks in advance

"285HV's are also safe for your digicam, with a ~6v trigger voltage.

PLEASE NOTE that older 285's which are NOT designated as "HV" are NOT voltage safe and can fry your digital baby. Be warned."