I DO NOT SUPPORT QUANTUM FLASHES and PACKS
About once a week I get asked do I support the Quantum Flash series like the T2, T4, T4D, T5D's and Trios. And the second question is, do I rebuild the Turbo 2+2 packs. The answer is NO and NO. Then I get asked, why?
Simple...my battery packs will not work on them, thats reason enough. They made their products totally reliant to function on their own ancillary products through the use of specialized cables, lots and lots of electronic components, secret assemblies, no schematics, whiz bang technology, blinking lights and turn signals and few outside repair facilities. They like the famous cine batteries by Anton Bauer and Norman keep a close hand on things.
To power these units you'll need to get a Quantum Turbo, about $600 to 679.00 new and about the same used if you get a bad used one on eBay that needs repairs. Thats the hidden costs of those things. One will not work without the other and now you have two expensive parts and if pack A gets used up during a wedding, you'll need a spare. A Trio and two packs is about $2000.
Yes, I'm told I'm stupid not to support them. People are always looking for a low-cost alternative. I agree but I'm swamped now by folks who like simple, cost free and reliable products. I could go after their market but this old fox is smart enough not to. In fact, they will drive you broke with their high overhead, staff and pricing helps me because as the economy winds down I have lower cost alternatives and they don't.
NO PARTS, NO SERVICE, SORRY
I do not have access to the parts and schematics, I will not tap dance in a minefield. I used to know a Flamenco Dancer who danced on the top floor of a condemned building and his eulogy read, "Here's a man who worked his way to the bottom".
I can't afford to protect and repair very proprietary strobes having very high accelerated voltage needs and when they fail, there is only one place in the world they can be repaired. Thats at Quantum, and it's not cheap for you, and not for me. By the way the Chinese have a clone of the Turbo out and one of my customers ordered three which lasted about two weeks. That was a year ago, he's still waiting for a refund.
In this day and age of Bridezillas, speed, action stopping, the need for complexity is overshadowed by the sound of nothing when all that technology fails. Old Russian artillery shells and cell phones in IED's have done more harm in Afganistan than any other weapon we have faced.
SHORT TRAGIC STORY
This sums it up. A customer of mine bought a used T2 off ebay, "bragging he stole it for $250.00". Four weeks later after I told him, "I do not support the T series", he was mad at me because I don't support them. He "scored" again investing in a used Turbo for $250.00. His total to date $500.00
The T2 stopped, the repair quoted because it was an older series was 425.00 to upgrade and restore the T2. They had to upgrade because they had none of the older boards. He could of bought a new one. He bit the bullet, had it fixed, So now, the total to date $925.00
The Turbo part did not produce enough for half a Wedding and that will cost another $200.00 for new cells and board upgrades bringing the mess to $1125.00. Thats not including, postage, handling and a migraine headache to boot. If he had only read my website. And he still can only shoot half a wedding.
NO REPAIRS EITHER ON QUANTUM BATTERY PACKS:
I do not service any Quantum packs. At one time I did. I used to re-battery them, tweaked the comparators and returned them to service. There are just too many that are getting old, too many versions, different boards, and some are beyond hope and really need the garbage can.
Send them to Quantum and expect about one to two hundred dollars for batteries and a new board if it needs one. With new batteries they will calibrate the pack. Part of life, expect service bills. The NiMH fail on the Quantum's from lack of usage and then long recharges, as the battery heat given off when charging and dis-charging will cook the electronics.
That's the brown stuff you see around the boards when they get old. Looks like melted shellac. Shows up on all their cables too. It's waterproofing and sealing the copper tracks on the mother boards.
USED QUANTUM'S & DIGITAL CAMERA BATTERY MIA
SPEED KILLS - DIGITAL CAMERA BATTERY Those black and silver cases are DCB's, "the fastest pack in the world" and at one time, the shortest lived pack in the world when they blew the guts out of a bunch of just released brand new Canon 580s and when the smoke cleared, that was the end of the DCB company and their product and a bunch of working Canons.
This batch came to me when no one else wanted to tackle them. They were so hard to take apart we used a drill press and wood blocks to get the old swelled packs out of the cases. After we got them apart, we declared it a no-brainer. Too many contact areas with different metals and thats a corrosion problem down the road and thats not good. The scenario: Swelled Ni-MH, aluminum, copper , steel, mixed together and crammed into a heat induced place with electronics. A recipe for disaster.
They are dodo birds, no one works on them and they are out of business. I get calls all the time because the company was located fifteen miles from me. I had nothing to do with them. You can see how they swelled in the top unit in the picture. They wound up on the aluminum pile. Save the postage, trash them.
QUANTUMS UNIQUE CELL
Those green things are called 2/3 sub "C" cells and actually not too common at all. You won't find them in Home depot or Sams. The standard sub C is more common and thus cheaper. Again, the small cottage industry rebuilding Quantum Turbo SLA's on eBay dried up when Quantum switched to these NiMH on the 2+2's and Lithium on the smaller high-cost unit.
The configuration they used had to fit in the old leatherette cardboard case style they had on hand that used the Sealed Lead Acid and that related to selling off what was in the bins so as not to lose money. But to be profitable with a welded pack, you have to get the price down and that means offshore both in numbers and that means China to Mexico to the USA via NAFTA.
THINGS TO AVOID - "GREAT EBAY DEALS"
In the past many eBay entrepreneurs have tried to make money simply replacing the SLA batteries in standard Turbos, they took the simple but well made German Sonnenschein 8V-2.8, which are hard to find good stock on, very expensive and replaced them with PowerSonic and other Chinese knockoffs.
But these tire changers, had little working knowledge, nor access to the schematics of the boards and comparators. Thats why you see many on eBay. Just a battery does not fix all ills in those babies. They need to be calibrated. The electronics and guts have been exposed to heat from charging and discharging.
The newer Turbo 2+2's etc, went to newer Ni-MH which are a whole new ball game using again batteries that are available but not that common and dangerous to work with as they can unload in one quick short.
Their real problem is Ni-MH diminish slowly, and it is not apparent. Also they discharge just sitting around.
The Ni-Mh put into a 12v pack by welding can be hard to assemble as these packs were made to fit the older cases. Turbo Quantum's are not created equal. There have been many variants through the years, Neither is the integrity of all sellers. Buying one on eBay is a crapshoot. Over the years, I have been sent many. All follow the same pattern, "I got a good deal". So he thinks.
Just got too many calls and sad stories and unfortunately, I can't help you. Avoid those that look "used" on eBay from a Pawn Shop Operation. They probably got twenty to thirty dollars in them, and thats the tops a pawn shop will pay for one. And they sell it as is.
VILLAGE IDIOT APPROVED SALES TACTICS
When they tell you it has a new battery, it means nothing. Unless you are the villiage idiot why would someone re-battery something and then sell it at a loss. He'll also tell you all four lights work, light four LEDS, but that means nothing. Duh, what about the 95% of electronics in there. Be cautious when an ad on the web say's "no charger, could not test. No charger, no buy. Pass, run, get out of Dodge.
The new battery ruse is always a good ruse. Especially when they have been rebuilt, butchered by installed batteries by someone other than Quantum without calibration. A new battery just makes the indicator lights work, it is no indication of the depth or quality of power it will put out. Again, If all it needed was a new battery, why is it being sold? Send it to Quantum and get all the reads for the comparators and charge circuits calibrated and the board upgraded. Look for about $200.00 dollars. And then sell it for $150.00, now thats real villiage idiot stuff.
ARMATARS - SERVICE NOT AVAILABLE - SEE VIVITAR