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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Pocket Wizard repair
Don Feria, Photographer, Assistant
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union city | CA | United States | Posted: 4:01 PM on 02.25.11 |
->> Does anyone have any leads to places that repair older Pocket Wizard units, specifically the PW Max (pre MultiMax generation)?
I tried calling the MacGroup, and they won't touch em anymore, and it would be too much of a loss for the upgrade.
Thanks in advance! |
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Louis Lopez, Photographer
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Fontana | CA | USA | Posted: 3:35 PM on 02.26.11 |
| ->> Just upgrade already... |
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Don Feria, Photographer, Assistant
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union city | CA | United States | Posted: 3:53 PM on 02.26.11 |
| ->> Thanks for your help, Louis. May your generosity be repaid to you tenfold. |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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Boise | ID | US | Posted: 4:13 PM on 02.26.11 |
| ->> What's wrong with them? Are we talking broken feet or electrical problems? |
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George Bridges, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Washington | DC | USA | Posted: 6:20 PM on 02.26.11 |
->> I don't know anyone who works on them. Usually if you send them to PW directly they will offer discount on new models.
Not what you want to hear but maybe a way to save a bit on the upgrade if you want to go ahead with that route. |
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Dave Prelosky, Photographer
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Lower Burrell | Pa | US | Posted: 9:10 PM on 02.26.11 |
| ->> Keep in mind that LPA Design seem to be organized as a marketing company, rather than a manufacturer. They design and spec their goods which are assembled elsewhere. Distribution and "service" are handled by the MAC Group who are very good at shipping replacement feet, but offer no board or component level service - at a rational price. When PW's break, I'd give even money that LPA tells them to make the replacement and throw the old ones in a wood chipper. My personal take was that the "goodwill allowance" they offered brought the price of the replacement to what I figured was the wholesale cost of a unit. Not very much of a deal at all. But, as they hold all the cards...... |
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Don Feria, Photographer, Assistant
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union city | CA | United States | Posted: 9:51 PM on 02.26.11 |
->> Thanks guys,
Israel, the problem is a broken lcd screen. In talking with MAC, they said something about needing to replace the whole circuit board. Of course it would have cost a ton, but thankfully ss.com member Ian Elliott came to the rescue by offering to sell some parts of a broken pw he had.
George and Dave, you're right, they did offer the discount upgrade, said discount contingent on the condition of the unit, which, with a broken lcd, I'm imagining wouldn't be much at all. So like Dave said, it wasn't much of a deal in the end, hence the starting of this post.
But in any case, thanks to Ian for contacting me offline, and to you guys for chiming in. I figured the odds were stacked against me on this one, but I figured I'd give it a shot! |
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George Bridges, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Washington | DC | USA | Posted: 9:54 PM on 02.26.11 |
| ->> Dave, LPA must have changed. A few years ago I dealt directly with one of the guys at LPA and he knew his stuff and made some fast turnarounds on repair and custom IDs. |
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Brian Tietz, Photographer
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Fort Myers | FL | USA | Posted: 10:03 PM on 02.26.11 |
| ->> I actually just sent an old original MultiMax in last week, MAC said it was beyond repair and replaced it for brand spankin' new one for $228. Sounded like a good deal to me. |
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Dave Prelosky, Photographer
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Lower Burrell | Pa | US | Posted: 12:16 AM on 02.27.11 |
->> George -
I don't doubt that there are folks in Burlington who can handle a small volume of customization, but if you Google LPA you see they offer a whole batch of electronic R&D and consulting that has nothing to do with photography.
From their web site:
Founded in 1990 as an electronics R&D consulting company, LPA Design’s team of engineers has developed expertise in printed circuit board design, RF communications and antenna optimization, and remote sensors.
In the late 1990’s, LPA Design developed the industry leading PocketWizardTM line of high precision wireless control devices for the professional photography market.
PocketWizardTM products provide ultra-high precision, wireless synchronization of cameras, flash lighting, and light meters, allowing professional photographers to create unparalleled photographs and achieve unmatched reliability in capturing high value images.
LPA Design currently develops and markets the PocketWizardTM product line and conducts R&D for clients in control systems and remote sensors.
Not trying to start a forest fire, but they do much more than Pocket Wizards |
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Patrick Murphy-Racey, Photographer
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Powell | TN | USA | Posted: 1:19 AM on 02.27.11 |
->> wish I had different news for you Don but my experience has been the same... they just offer low net dealer pricing on a new one can call it a day. I have 9 multimax units and of those, five are from the original batch of the old blue pw max models that they upgraded to multimax for $90 each.
They told me about four years ago that they had run out of the circuit boards completely to make this changeover, which replaced about 40% of the guts of the unit and gave it a new black shell/case. I have two units of the 9 that the screen no longer works on at all and they stay locked on my arena strobe freq. all the time. Kinda keeps their repair dept. at a minimum if all they do is replace rather than repair, I guess...
Ebay always has 10-20 multimaxes for sale at varying prices. I snag them every once in a while on the cheap there... If you're patient, you could probably pick one up there for less than $228. My last one was $154 because the seller couldn't spell pocket "wizzard" and so it didn't come up on the normal search engine.
pm-r |
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Jon Wright, Photographer
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Wayzata | MN | USA | Posted: 9:59 AM on 02.27.11 |
| ->> When I dropped one of my cameras a while back the Pocket Wizard gave it's life up in the process. I was also offered a discount versus repair. I took the deal and felt it was actually kind of generous. |
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Clark Brooks, Photo Editor, Photographer
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Urbana | IL | USA | Posted: 11:31 AM on 02.27.11 |
| ->> The last time I needed PW repaired the cost was $70 because a receiver antenna could not pick up a signal because it needed a new circuit board. Another cost $35 for a new shoe. Now, I have three that need repaired and this doesn't sound like good news. |
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Dave Prelosky, Photographer
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Lower Burrell | Pa | US | Posted: 12:31 PM on 02.27.11 |
| ->> Unless they've dropped that part of the service equation, PW feet are fairly easy to obtain and swap out. Instructions are available via Google search. As far as circuit board repair.... |
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Delane B. Rouse, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Washington | DC | US | Posted: 10:42 PM on 06.16.11 |
| ->> I just sent one in for a busted LCD and it was beyond repair... They offered to replace it with the newer model for $228 and I took em up on the offer. |
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