Quark turbo x: something loose in the head

ibbleobble

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Mar 3, 2010
Messages
17
Hello, I have been a bit of a 4sevens fan for a while now, and among many other lights I have bought, I have quark turbo x which is a few years old. Something - the pill I guess - is loose inside, and although the light still works, I cannot change modes. I have contacted the company, and they say to send it to them, but the problem is, it costs $30-$40 to send it ( from outside the US) and this is the SECOND TIME that the same problem has happened. Once, I can right off as bad luck, but twice, and I've just about paid for another light in postage costs, and no guarantee the problem won't happen again.
I have dropped the light a couple of times from a height of a few feet, but I was kind of expecting a 4sevens product to be able to handle that. I have DX lights that cost much less, but have lasted longer.
Has anyone had the same issue? Or can someone explain how to fix it?
Im thinking of sticking with trust/ultra/unique fire from now on. At least a purchased replacement is cheaper than a warranty claim for non US residents
appreciate any help
 

reppans

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 25, 2007
Messages
4,873

Unfortunately I have no easy answer for you. I've had the same issue on my Turbo X which I've dropped a bunch times or so on asphalt - and some of those drops have been juggled up to greater heights while trying to save it. One drop even broke my battery (PCB on an AW17670 :D). I think the pill is screwed in and then Loctite to housing, and big drops break it loose. I think it's pretty specific to this model - dropped a bunch of my other Quarks without any issue.

Anyways, despite the drop testing, mine always worked perfectly and only rattled when there was no battery/spring pressing up against the pill, so I just used it like that for a year or two. Then on a different order, I needed to mail something back to them and so just ask about this rattle - I didn't even think they'd warranty it since it worked fine. They said throw it in the box, and 4 days later I had brand new head :D.

I'd try a couple of things: first see if you can rotate the pill in the housing to tighten it up - might need some dental tools since there's not much to grab on the circuit board. From the sounds of your problem (working but can't change modes) it seems like the pill has unscrewed to the point that the brass ring on the circuit board (tight bezel sensing ring) is touching the bare aluminum head threads (they should be separated by a couple mm's for the light to distinguish loose/tight bezel mode). Second, if it's a throw away for you, perhaps you can open the head up to tighten up and/or re-glue - looks like the head splits open right where it starts to taper in at the cooling fins. Thread lock is sure to be used here so you might need some strap wrenches and heat to weaken the thread lock - one good way I've read is to put the head in a waterproof plastic bag and put it in boiling water.

Good luck.

 

ibbleobble

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Mar 3, 2010
Messages
17
Well thank you very much for the advice. I'll have a go at tightening the pill. Are you saying that the thread for the pill is further inside than the thread for the battery tube? Its certainly not a throw away, seeing that it still works perfectly on one mode, but I might consider pulling it apart anyway. I probably wouldn't break it. Its just annoying, I know they're under no obligation to replace the head without me sending it back, but the same thing has happened twice. It would be nice if they would just send it out!!
I'm eyeing off the maelstrom mmu-x3, but this kind of sours me a little
 

reppans

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 25, 2007
Messages
4,873
Yes, I believe the pill is screwed into threads deep in the head that you can't see.

You can easily see the negative electrical path on this light. Loose bezel mode, the neg path is only through the threads. Tight bezel mode, the neg path is a combination of both the threads and the brass ring around the circuit board making contact with battery tube. You have to make sure that brass ring and the threads in the head are not making contact in any way (eg, pill unscrewed and moved down, metallic burr, aluminumized greasy sludge, etc) or it will only recognize one mode. You can also test with just the head, battery and piece of wire - hold the batt to the positive contact, and run a wire from the negative batt terminal to 1) the threads and 2) threads + brass ring.

A couple other things that can cause problems are dirty threads/contact points in the head or tail, a loose pocket clip retaining ring, and a loose tail clicky disk (silver disk surrounding the spring with two indentations in it).
 
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