Quad 44

[Western 91]

Hi All. Would any member be able to let me know where I could get a Mother power supply board m12436-5 for Quad 44 pre-amp. Quad does not have any left. I will be grateful for your replies.
Regard Western 91

[Ted Kendall]

Is the board physically damaged or does it merely have a fault?

[Western 91]

Hi Ted. The board as damaged tracks and pads.
Thank you for your reply.
Regards Western 91.

[fetteler]

It's worth contacting DaDa Electronics to see if they can help - they have a range of second hand spares but no 44 PSU at the moment.

You could try making a replacement board if you are into that sort of thing?

Other than that, just keep your eye on Ebay, they come up every now and again.

Steve.

[Ted Kendall]

Dada's status is not certain at the moment - they announced closure for the end of March, but it appears there have been supply issues for some time.

[Radio Wrangler]

Tracks can be replaced with wires. Plain tinned wire is fine, and can be anchored with dabs of glue. Form a small loop to simulate a pad.

There are even purpose made glues for this sort of job EG "Tack Pack" bu Loctite. it's thick superglue.

David

[Chris55000]

Quad 44 PSU boards were a product of the "tape and light–box" era when PCB layouts had to be designed entirely by hand, so the tracks shouldn't be too fine, therefore repairable by hand!

If the board material isn't physically broken, the OP may be able to cut small pieces of self–adhesive copper foil to stick over the damaged tracks and conductors, soldering to both the replacement and the original surrounding copper!

You used to be able to get "PCB Track Repair" kits for exactly this type of work, but they now only seem to be available in the U.S. at ridiculous inflated prices!

Chris Williams

[Leon Crampin]

You can make good replacement tracks by bending tinned copper wire to the shapes needed. Make loops for solder pads and choose the wire gauge according to the required track width.

Now take a light hammer and a small anvil (vice bed perhaps) and carefully flatten the wire to the width required. A little practice will yield an excellent result. Superglue the track - but watch the fumes when soldering. I have made fairly extensive track repairs with this method, which are very hard to spot.

Leon.

[Craig Sawyers]

Originally Posted by Ted Kendall

Dada's status is not certain at the moment - they announced closure for the end of March, but it appears there have been supply issues for some time.

There is nothing on the website to indicate that DADA is closing down.

Craig

[Craig Sawyers]

Originally Posted by Western 91

Hi Ted. The board as damaged tracks and pads.
Thank you for your reply.
Regards Western 91.

Makes you wonder why that was the case. Perhaps someone was trying to "upgrade" the supply.

Working on any Quad gear from the 33/303 right through the tuners to the 405 series is perilous, because they used single sided boards.

Back in the early 90's I was involved with Wharfedale and Cambridge Audio. Wharfedale crossovers were single sided, as was Cambridge Audio gear. At one stage there were failures in CA gear as a result of the heavy smoothing caps breaking loose from the board. Cured by using hotmelt to secure the caps before soldering.

Craig

[Ted Kendall]

Originally Posted by Craig Sawyers

There is nothing on the website to indicate that DADA is closing down.

Craig

Indeed not, but Quad groups on Facebook are awash with disgruntled customers. It appears that the Quad business was up for sale but no agreement was reached, and it has either ceased trading or will do shortly. In any case, caution appears to be a sensible approach.

[Leon Crampin]

Sadly, the Quad pc boards are rubbish. For automotive use, we specified 1 oz copper (in those days, the measure was oz/sq. ft.) together with 3/32" glass fibre board, non flammable grade. Cheap consumer grade boards used 1/2 oz copper and low spec srbp to maximise punch life.

Good components were and are available - but time, knowledge and some ingenuity are needed to find them. Tolerancing and component selection were not Quad's finest achievements. As always in engineering, chickens come home to roost.

Leon.

[Trigon.]

I have seen comments on other forums that DADA (Europe) will be closing on March 31st. Merely rumour perhaps, however, in the news section of the DADA Australia website it states:-

Dada Electronics is an informal world-wide partnership including Dada Electronics North America and others in Europe from time to time.

??

Partners in other countries may come and go, but Dada Electronics Australia will remain in business as usual after 31 March 2023.

Make of that what you will... Perhaps the 'informal partnership' has suffered a breakdown following the increasing number of reports of poor customer service concerning DADA Europe??

Cheers

[Craig Sawyers]

Well I have had zero problems in buying Quad spares from DADA Europe over the years.

Craig

[fetteler]

Originally Posted by Craig Sawyers

Well I have had zero problems in buying Quad spares from DADA Europe over the years.

Craig

Seconded - they've been excellent in my experience.

Steve.

[Western 91]

Thank you for all your replies.

[Diabolical Artificer]

Tracks can also be repaired with copper tape, fiddly but do-able when all else fails.