If anyone still wants one I have a spare. I'll be keeping a close eye on the Veleno mailers as I'm intrigued as to what Steve plans to replace the Quantum line with.
4rmless me too! Keep us posted, as I don't get the emails all the time. (Dunno why, but I only get sporadic notifications from Veleno)
I think they are sporadic, and I feel like I've missed some (never got anything about the Helix, pretty sure I had signed up before waves 2 and 3 happened). Maybe a combination of infrequent updates and wonky software? I'll post anything I find. I'm trying to find a source for the QTC squares as I've broken 2. Might be best off trying one of the QTC protection mods.
4rmless seems we've had similar notification issues then. I forget when I signed up, but I remember getting an email about that iphone case, & that was about it. Nothing on the Helix or anything else since. Thanks for reminding me about the pills, I need to grab some more of those too!
I just purchased a couple of QTC squares off "theBay". I just searched there again and the top search response was the source I used. I got them to go into my Peak Eiger, so I could use 14500s.
My experience is with the Q DD / D2 / TiCustom versions. For convention, front is end nearest the emitter and lens, lol where the light comes out. The DD has the QTC pill at the back of the battery and the D2 & Ti custom has it at the front. There are pros and cons that sum evenly IMHO. The D2 & Ti versions have a relatively smaller battery contact on the +ve terminal. The DD has a larger contact area but the magnet that holds the battery and pill in place is of a smaller Ø than -ve battery end and has a slight undercut to the rear casing resulting in a small ridge. In both cases my liberal use of output range, that is light squeeze to much heavier pinch, appears to erode the QTC material via torsional friction. A small amount of magnetic dust will become evident and the light's performance tends to become less stable. Usually removal and cleaning (I use a DeoxIT® pen) of conductive surfaces brings all back to normal with only rare cases requiring a changeout of the QTC pill. In an effort to mitigate the DD's undercut I use a thin larger Ø magnet at it's base which seems to improve the overall performance, stability and time to service. HTHs
Thanks for the concise answer. Mine doesn't get much use admittedly and I never liked screwing it down too hard either.
All I can say, and acknowledge it is not always easy, make it serve you and never the other way around. Don't hold back. If it flogs out a QTC, let me know and I'll post you one. They are pretty robust, I have to say. Was at a mate's place not long after getting my first QDDs and the BBQ light gave up the ghost. Well QDD to the rescue. It ran on WFO from go to pretty much battery woe. The most noticeable difficulty was the heat. Man, it got quite toasty. After a rest and batt change, good as new.
Had a faulty battery, and while screwing down tight to try to turn it on, I somehow sheared one piece. The second just inexplicable stopped working, no idea why. At that point I sent it to Steve for some tlc and he cleaned it, replaced pill and battery, lubed it, fitted 2 trits in consolation and sent it back working flawlessly. Heywood Floyd, I'm finding that my Helix Zi doesn't move up in brightness very smoothly, may be due to the issue you mentioned above. I'm planning to mod it to put a battery on the tail anyway, maybe I'll look at adjusting the magnet and QTC at the same time. Anyone remember who posted that thread about modding an O-ring and spacer into a D2 and what it was called? I'm also concerned that it doesn't get warm at all. So I think I'll refrain from prolonged use on high as I imagine that just means the zirconium isn't conducting any heat away from the driver and led.
It sounds like your QTC needs some TLC. I'd expect the Zirconium alloy to have about the same thermal conductivity as Titanium alloy. That is in both cases orders of magnitude less than Cu. Some stainless steels are as poor as Ti and Zr alloys but many are better. Anyway enough of the engineering banter, I reckon the important heat transfer away from the emitter and circuit board will depend on how the latter conducts to the body of the flashlight. If there is not much interface contact to the body and the circuit board substrate won't conduct then the outer material properties are moot. From another angle, Steve Ku has designed and built a lot of different flashlights over a number of years and AFAIK they are quite sought after. Consequently I'd expect he knows what he's doing. Nobody is perfect but I'm happy with all my Veleno gear. Has anyone reported problems with their Helix light as I've no experience with that model? Sorry, I think that O-ring and spacer mod post was in this thread but can't find it.
I'll have a dig for the spacer mod. I'm happy with the light, and no reports elsewhere of issues, just a nagging feeling that if it's been running on high for 5+ minutes and is still cool to the touch, that isn't quite right. My D2 would be warming up a fair bit by then.
Phewwwwww!!!! 59 pages and I finally reached the end of the thread ................ only to find out that they no longer manufacture these little gems. However, after reading through ALL the pages I don't feel as if I would know what page to look at to ask if anyone might have a couple spare trits that I might be able to purchase for my Quantum? I think I might have some Norlands kicking around somewhere that I got from the Passaround box that r-ice put in awhile ago. But after reading this, I think I might opt for the clear nail polish trick in case I need to replace them in the future. I don't know what version I have so maybe someone here can help me identify it? Here is a pic: Cheers, FACE
There are 4 versions of the Quantum Quantum DD - Stainless Steel body, sapphire crystal window, 34 degree flood optic, Cree XP-G R5 1C tint. Includes a serial number on the bottom Quantum D2 - Stainless Steel body with coating (almost looks black), sapphire crystal window, 34 degree flood optic, an upgraded Cree XP-G2 Cool White emitter. Has a QTC assembly and magnet redesign (to resolve "stuck" battery problems), and an upgraded charger. Package comes with triangles for keychain carry. Quantum D2 - Stainless Steel without the coating Quantum Ti - Limited run that is now sold out. Titanium body and choice of 3 different LEDs and 2 optics. Special Editions without the Quantum name, but the same 10180 battery. DogBone - Titanium body and more trit slots. Body looks different than the Quantum Helix Zi- Zirconium body and more trit slots. Body looks different than the Quantum There were predecessors to the Quantum series called the 38DD, 40DD and the 44DD. They came in Titanium and some limited Damascus, with the 40DD being Stainless Steel. The 44DD used the larger 10220 battery.
I guess it did. I bought it off the BST .......... Oh, I was having a midlife crisis moment and now I know who I bought this light off of. Now going to check his BST thread to see what type it is .............. Never mind, KeyeEl has already identified it!! Thanks!! EDITED TO ADD: this is what I have, Quantum D2 - Stainless Steel body with coating (almost looks black), sapphire crystal window, 34 degree flood optic, an upgraded Cree XP-G2 Cool White emitter. Has a QTC assembly and magnet redesign (to resolve "stuck" battery problems), and an upgraded charger. Package comes with triangles for keychain carry.
