I just remembered that a friend who has one of these SP Systems packs
also had some trouble getting his to output power also. On inspection
he discovered that one of his several Quantum cords had a slightly
larger diameter on the plastic sleeve that surrounds the connector
cylinder on the power pack end. It's possible it was even a Q-flash
since he has one of those. The hole in the SP Systems pack case for the
cable connector has very little extra clearance. Since the connector
was very slightly off-center with respect to the hole in the case this
slightly larger diameter sleeve was not fitting through the hole in the
case and was not allowing the connector to seat completely into the
socket. A couple turns with an X-acto knife in the inside of the hole
in the case enlarged it enough that the second cable would seat properly.
You don't necessarily get precision of manufacture for 1/3 the price.
Chuck Norcutt
Chuck Norcutt wrote:
> I'm sure you know that Quantum batteries (and the SP as well) are
> sensitive to the order in which things are turned on. As a safety
> measure, if the pack detects a "no load" conditiion it will not output
> any power. I didn't know this at first and thought my SP pack was bad
> since there was no power at all the first time I tried it. My error was
> to turn the power switch of the pack on and then turn the flash on. Wrong!
>
> The proper order is to connect both flash and power pack with the cable
> while both are turned off. Then turn on the flash. Next turn on the
> power pack. If the situation is confused leave the flash switch on and
> turn the power pack off and then back on again.
>
> Since you probably already knew this it's probably not the problem. It
> could be that the Q-flash communicates with the Turbo Z via one of the
> otherwise unused pins in the connector. SP Systems does not advertise
> this pack as compatible with any Quantum battrey. I just found out
> about it somehow.
>
> Chuck Norcutt
>
> ScottGee1 wrote:
>
>> Well, I ordered one of these (from B&H) and for some reason my Quantum
>> T2 flash will not recognize it -- no power to the unit at all. Battery
>> works fine with a couple other flashes. Quantum flash works
>> well with a Turbo Z.
>>
>> I recall Quantum flashes not working correctly with some of their
>> older batteries so this situation may be similar. Not sure how they
>> do it, but it sure discourages copycats -- mine will get returned.
>> That, or discourages people from buying their flashes!
>
>
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