Are quickplugs the future or a fad?

[BMoore]

I’m on the fence about converting to quickplugs (have been for a while). One thing that bothers me is I’m not seeing professional display companies make the switch even though they would theoretically reap the largest time benefit. I worked a pro show this year where we wired approx 1,500 cues to speaker terminals and when I mentioned quickplugs it was kind of chuckled at. Looking at FireOne and other major pro firing systems I’m not seeing quickplug options. In terms of e-matches we have MJG initiators and I know MJG offers quickplugs on regulated e-match but that’s it. In terms of e-match a conversion to quickplugs seems to limit us to just one manufacturer.

Any thoughts? I really like the concept but will it stand the test of time? I’d hate to make a sizable equipment investment only to see the industry leave me behind having to convert my own e-matches negating the benefit.

[PyroJoeNEPA]

I know of one professional company that is using them with StarFire equipment & the topic has been discussed with the company I shoot for. We are using FireOne and have a sizeable investment in PyroMate style [long] rails, compact rails [with & without modules] using the PyroClips [which I personally love] and other compact rails using the "speaker style" clips--which are a pain!
The discussion has involved importing a container of ematch with the quick plugs, and using a "third party" "slat" with the quick plugs to Centronics 36 pin cable for use with the Fire One system.
The "up side" of this is that the FireOne modules do not have to be dropped early in the day--in the event of thunderstorm/lightning--the mods do not like lightning, and once a "compact rail" is wired, the mod is out in the field without a proper shunt on it.
Another plus side is that the third party slats are relatively inexpensive [almost a throw away seasonal use item] and the time saved to land ques would be a huge time saver!! The down side I see is if there are any "special needs"---ie: 3 matches in series for one que, etc. it might be necessary to add scab wire for a few things...but again, time saved would be huge.
If we go that route, I see us breaking the equipment out into two different systems--one system using the new quick plug state & ematch, and the other using the existing slats & compact rails that we already have.
So, from a professional users view, I see there being a future for them in the industry. Time will tell. Ask me at this time next year & we will see where the industry is heading.
At the non-pro, or hobbyist level, I see the Cobra users definitely moving in that direction. It certainly will eliminate a lot of poor connections via the speaker type terminal connections.

[Birdman]

I've avoided them. I too love the concept and how you can use mini slats if you have them. There were a few times during my setup this year where I thought quick plugs would have been nice. One problem/concern with them is availability. I have a local source for MJG's but they don't sell them with quick plugs. I would rather be foreced to buy quick plug wires and cut off the quickplug and strip the wires then have to add qucikplugs to wires. I also don't like that it makes wiring in series or parallel more difficult. I thought this concern would be resolved with the new boards available to connect multiple wires to a single cue. Now I'm reading the new boards haven't been all that reliable. For now I'm sticking with onboard cues. There's always the option to switch out onboard cues for quick plugs if needed. I don't think they will ever go out of fashion completely. There's too many mods out there that use them and the new consumer system Cobra released, I believe, uses them exclusively. However, I don't see them replacing onboard cues.

[BMoore]

PyroJoe - Interesting comments. Will be interesting to see how that goes. This is the first I’ve heard of a company considering it seriously. But even here you are talking about a 3rd party board to mate with FireOne. I wonder why FireOne isn’t making their own quickplug option? The economies of scale should make quickplugs most attractive to professional display companies. Instead we are seeing them up and coming in the consumer/backyard market but almost ignored in the professional market. There must be a reason for that. Might be as simple as upfront costs and “old way is the right way” mentality.

[ssmith512]

I'm on the fence about them. This was my first year with my Cobra. 1ea 72M and 3ea 18M, used every single cue - onboard terminals. I'm just a simple backyard guy and I dont see myself setting up a "show" more than twice a year, most years might only be one show on the 4th. After setting up my first "big" show this year, I am not sure I would see a huge savings in time necessarily. BUT having said that, I am also considering adding many many many more single shots, comets, slices to my show next year. So my cue count will go up a bit, so maybe QP's will be more beneficial. Even then, they will probably be on racks and I can always pre-wire the rack with a speaker terminal slat. Then it is just a DB25 cable to hook up.

Who knows......It's tough, like you, I dont want to jump on board a ship that might sink in a year or two (by spending the money to switch everything over to QP's).

The more I think about it, the more I think onboard terminals are just fine for me and my size of shows that I plan on doing each year. I doubt changing to QP's would save me any more than an hour at most in the field landing wires. Not sure that is worth the initial upfront cost for me to switch over.

[WithReport]

I have a lot of mixed feelings about Quick Plugs. I apologize for the length of this, but I hope most find some of my thoughts and test data worthwhile and I would appreciate your opinions on some of these topics.

Simple but Limited
I did one small show solely with quick plugs and yes setup was faster. However, there was no prewired items (that don't come with quick plugs), no scabbing needed, and no series or parallel circuits. If one is just planning on poking a few cakes and adding some single items with a fairly simple setup - there is probably a benefit.

But some of my setups look like this - doable with quick plugs, but would have been a much more involved/difficult setup - including keeping wiring clean and out of the way of everything.

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=5908&stc=1 http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=5909&stc=1

Also, when time allows, I will trim and strip my igniter leads as needed rather than bundling up slack. Sometimes this makes it very nice when you have dense positions you can setup ahead of time. In this photo this was setup in the shop and all wires were trimmed to length. This is not doable with quick plugs unless you cut and splice the quick plug ends or install new quick plugs which would be a nightmare.

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=5910&stc=1

Speed
I did some bench tests timing between Quick Plugs and Stereo Terminals for 6 cues.

Pinning
Stereo: 1:33
MTA-100 Quick Plug: 0:42
Custom Quick Plug Receptacle*: 0:38

Tear Down
Stereo: 0:08
MTA-100 Quick Plugs: 0:08
Custom Quick Plug Receptacle*: 0:05
*see discussion on force below


Force
The MTA-100 system - that the Quick Plugs are based on, have a locking tab that positively holds the plug into the receptacle (blue outline on receptacle and red outline on plug in the image) without relying on the friction between the pins and the sockets. Additionally they can only be inserted in one orientation.

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=5907&stc=1


Pure MTA-100 parts require a fair amount of force to insert and remove. Some firing systems provide custom receptacles that do not include the blue outlined feature on their receptacles or rails and the plugs are much easier to install and remove and can be installed in either orientation. The custom receptacles may be too easy to remove. I have limited use with them, but I have been told some have concerns with the pins wearing down or wires being snagged and the plugs coming out too easy.

So, I did some direct pull tests with a fish scale and I was surprised at the difference and could easily see the concern some might have with items being pulled loose.

Pull Tests
MTA-100 receptacle: 7lbs
Custom receptacles without retention: less than 1 lb

For another reference, some of what I call Locking Lever rails I've tested up to 15lbs of pull and with flip of the lever, they fall out free.

I could see the low force required to remove quick plugs from some of the custom receptacles as a concern on the professional level. Additionally, I suspect both Custom and the MTA-100 standard receptacles may wear down over repeated use - but have no data to support this. With the spring stereo terminals - or other spring/jaw based terminals, any wear is taken up by the spring.


On-The-Spot Solutions
If all you a have is quick plug receptacles and there is an issue or unexpected or poorly planned situation with setup - need to add scab, short quick plugs, pre-wire single shots, etc., many solutions are fairly easy with standard igniters. When all you have is quick plug rails/slats, more stuff is required so it poses more risk with the setup. My main system relies wholly on rails - there are no "on-board" cues. I have about 20 quick plug rails and a bunch of the quick plug series boards. I like this rather than "on-board" cues. On another system I have with "on-board" cues I did upgrade some to quick receptacles as a trial, but also purchased standard rails (see loss leader discussion below, too). These options allow us to swap our rails, but it still may complicate those on-the-spot solutions that are needed at times.


Teardown
If there is any teardown of a show where one might be temporarily leaving the igniters inserted, they will want to shunt the leads - this becomes more of a hassle with quick plugs. Either the shunt that came with it needs to be saved and re-inserted, some other conductor is needed as a shunt, or the quick plug is cut off, the leads are striped, and conductors are shunted.


Safety
Quickplugs are perhaps less safe than standard igniters. For all igniters, the industry shunts the leads during manufacturing. Standard igniters can be manufactured shunted or easily shunted by a user without the need for a separate component. We've lost that with Quick Plugs. Now the two exposed contacts are relatively close and mostly covered by the plastic MTA-100 plug, but the concern of a potential due to static to pull current through the match head is still there.


Loss Leader
I also think Quick Plugs, even if there are user benefits, are a loss leader for certain companies in the industry to encourage purchases of additional equipment and upgrades to existing fully functional equipment. There must be some additional manufacturing or part cost between the standard igniters and then adding MTA-100 plugs, potting, and a shunt to the part. I'm sure there is some % loss taken to push quick plug equipment sales. I'm not saying it is evil or wrong - companies are to make money. And companies make a lot of profit on all the accessories and upgrades and would certainly push this to boost the accessory and upgrade sales.

I think many pyros, me included at times, want the new shinny items on the market and are thankful that someone will take our money. But sometimes we don't really need it. :p

For example. I upgraded an "on-board" cue module with quick plugs as a trial (upgrade purchase), but I wanted to keep the ability for standard igniters so I bought a rail (accessory purchase), the rail obviously needs protection, to I bought a backing plate (accessory purchase), then I wanted to have the ability to wire quick plugs in series so I bought some breakout boards (accessory purchase, again), and I'd need another cable for the rail (accessory purchase). Suddenly based on all those purchases for six cues, my increased by $9.66/cue!!!!

[joewad]

I can see their advantage but not for me, I do a lot of parallel wiring with my Cobra 18Ms. Even though you could probably splicw multiple "shots" to one (1) quickplug.

[mguerra]

If you have helpers who are not pyros, QP’s can be useful. You don’t have to teach them how to strip exactly the right amount of wire, make the wire fold with the correct radius, ensure the spring terminals are tightly closed and clamped on the copper, not the insulator, and not have excess copper coming out of the terminal shorting out the leads. I had a newbie with no experience on a commercial show, and had him wire product to QP modules while the experienced guys wired up spring terminal modules. We used the Cobra breakout boards for double, triple, and quadruple shots on single cues, so no hassle with stripping and splicing igniters. They all fired. I only have 5 of 25 modules with QP’s but have no regrets yet.

[cjurczak]

My perspective was mostly from the startup of a display company point of view. I have been using quick connect/plug ematches since about ~2015. We were able to get more cues for our dollar by skipping the cables and speaker terminal slats. We hadn't had the best luck with speaker terminals in the past, pyro clips were better, but there were some minor hang ups like cost ($$$). Quick connect/plug ematch slats were significantly cheaper, we didn't need cables, and they saved a ton of time. Since the 4th of July comes hand in hand with less experiences shooters, quick connect/plugs require less training, and have been easier to pick up and go with new hires.

Do the ematches cost more? YES, but as a display company who operates beyond capacity around the 4th, we can setup more shows with fewer people than with traditional ematches. If you're doing 1-2 shows a year, and time is not a concern quickplugs might not be for you, if you ematch your 1.4 show ahead of time, and time isn't an issue, quick plugs might not be for you. But for many of us out there, startup costs, simplfied setup, and labor savings makes a big impact on the bottom line. Give them a strong consideration converting your firing system over.

I started out using quick connect ematches with StarFire back in 2014-2015 it hasn't been a seamless transition, but in 2021 the process has been streamlined, and the reliability has gotten much better.

[cjurczak]

I can see their advantage but not for me, I do a lot of parallel wiring with my Cobra 18Ms. Even though you could probably splicw multiple "shots" to one (1) quickplug.

Have you seen the QuickSplit boards, I've heard they work great with the 18Ms

[Scotty Rockets]

I’m fully into quick plug connections. On my personal system (fireTEK) I have just over 400 cues and have all custom made quick plug slats for all my modules.

The benefits are far less setup time and a much more secure plug in connection versus those crappy speaker terminals. Bare wires are messy and can easily lead to shorts. During continuity tests it’s often that I’ll have an issue somewhere, but with quick plugs I’ve never had a continuity problem other than maybe a bad match.

As for the slats gripping the plug, during tear down I just snip the wires then pull the next day. For wiring more than 1 ematch check out the Quick Splits series connection boards that allow 4 or 12 quick plug ematches on 1 cue.

While setting up 2 pro shows over the 3rd and 4th with standard ematch, that really made me appreciate quick plugs. One show was the companies equipment and the other show I used my system, but with standard ematch because that’s what the company supplied with the show.

Tip: never do an onboard quick plug conversion, this will really limit you depending on which ematch is available. Instead have both standard and quick plug slats.

[Engineer Cat]

I haven't used these but coming from an IT background my one concern is that the connection is just 2 pins free standing in the middle of the receptacle. Over time computer manufactures have done away with almost everything that has pins to make connections. Processors use to have hundreds of small pins on the bottom that would plug into the socket. A slight misalignment when replacing could bend or break the pins. Old IDE hard drives had the same issue. Pretty much the only thing you can can find on a motherboard now with pins are shunts and jumpers, but nothing that is regularly plugged and unplugged.

Are the QP connectors made so well that there is no possible way to bend the pins on a slat or FM?

[Birdman]

I haven't used these but coming from an IT background my one concern is that the connection is just 2 pins free standing in the middle of the receptacle. Over time computer manufactures have done away with almost everything that has pins to make connections. Processors use to have hundreds of small pins on the bottom that would plug into the socket. A slight misalignment when replacing could bend or break the pins. Old IDE hard drives had the same issue. Pretty much the only thing you can can find on a motherboard now with pins are shunts and jumpers, but nothing that is regularly plugged and unplugged.

Are the QP connectors made so well that there is no possible way to bend the pins on a slat or FM?

I think that's a fair concern but replacing a motherboard because of a broken pin is much more expensive then replacing QP cues on a mod or replacing QP slats/rails. I've bent a few IDE pins myself but of the pin type of connectors, these seem pretty solid because the pins are recessed in the cue. The one issue I could see is if someone tried forcing a connector in the cue that still had the shunt in it or tried to put something else in the cue that shouldn't be put in there. I guess there could also be the odd manufacturing defect where something obstructed the pin holes and someone tried forcing it in the cue.

With that said....my advice would be to have a spare just in case and if a pin gets bent for any reason, replace it ASAP even you can bend it back. Chances are it will never be perfectly aligned and the chance of it bending again and breaking greatly increase.

[Engineer Cat]

I gotta say, Withreport's pictures and details are truly porno for pyros. :p

[Engineer Cat]

I think that's a fair concern but replacing a motherboard because of a broken pin is much more expensive then replacing QP cues on a mod or replacing QP slats/rails. I've bent a few IDE pins myself but of the pin type of connectors, these seem pretty solid because the pins are recessed in the cue. The one issue I could see is if someone tried forcing a connector in the cue that still had the shunt in it or tried to put something else in the cue that shouldn't be put in there. I guess there could also be the odd manufacturing defect where something obstructed the pin holes and someone tried forcing it in the cue.

With that said....my advice would be to have a spare just in case and if a pin gets bent for any reason, replace it ASAP even you can bend it back. Chances are it will never be perfectly aligned and the chance of it bending again and breaking greatly increase.

I feel there's a better design out there. I know I have a design in my head that would eliminate any worries about pins bending or breaking. Maybe I should talk to Dave. LOL I think this style of plug will be temporary till a better design comes out. Displayfireworks1 quick and easy plugs have a nice ring to it. LOL

[Engineer Cat]

I feel there's a better design out there. I know I have a design in my head that would eliminate any worries about pins bending or breaking. Maybe I should talk to Dave. LOL I think this style of plug will be temporary till a better design comes out. Displayfireworks1 quick and easy plugs have a nice ring to it. LOL

It actually already exists but isn't used in this industry yet.

[sethof]

Are the QP connectors made so well that there is no possible way to bend the pins on a slat or FM?

Yes, you have to purposely want to bend the pins.

[cduesman]

I really like the QP connectors. I have the 18 Cue and 6 Cue Cobra QuickPlug Slats. I also have some non-Cobra (3rd party) QuickPlug Slats.

One downside is when you want to fire multiple items on one cue. This really doesn't have to be a downside if you plan it out. If you can consolidate the items that have 2 items on one cue to one mod, you can simply connect two slats to that module. The Quickplug slats cost much less than the normal slats. 3rd party slats are even cheaper.

If you plan your double cue items so that they are on cues 1-6, you can add a 6 Cue slat in parallel with your normal slat.

I do this sometimes to just connect seperate boards to make things easier to transport/cable. I'll have Cues 12-18 on one board and an RJ45 to another board for Cues 1-6.

There are 3rd party slats out there that have D25 AND RJ45 connectors. Those come in real handy.

5913

Chris

[cjurczak]

I haven't used these but coming from an IT background my one concern is that the connection is just 2 pins free standing in the middle of the receptacle. Over time computer manufactures have done away with almost everything that has pins to make connections. Processors use to have hundreds of small pins on the bottom that would plug into the socket. A slight misalignment when replacing could bend or break the pins. Old IDE hard drives had the same issue. Pretty much the only thing you can can find on a motherboard now with pins are shunts and jumpers, but nothing that is regularly plugged and unplugged.

Are the QP connectors made so well that there is no possible way to bend the pins on a slat or FM?

I built quick connect slats for a display company back in 2014, bent pins is not the biggest issue. They lose more than they break, to be honest I ran over a few in my truck after a shoot.

The first year was a bit of a learning curve, but has been pretty good ever sense. The connectors choose are going to be hard to beat as an end to end solution, there was much thought that has gone in to it from several of the big players involved long before cobra publicly announced quick plugs

[Rick_In_Tampa]

I know of one professional company that is using them with StarFire equipment

The company that did the Tampa July 4th show used a quickclip setup. I love quickclips, but not their system. It was a 24 cue breakout board (Muxboard) that connected to a DB25 connection on the back bottom of the firing module using thumbscrews you could barely get your fingers on. Terrible design. I forget the name of the system at the moment, but I heard the owner tell one of the workers it was a $50K system. I wouldn't give him $50 for it.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

I have an inexperienced crew of helpers and using the quick-plug connectors really helped me out this year. I didn't have anything wired in series, so it was a straight one for one initiator to cue setup. All the initiators were labeled with the mod and cue. So all they had to do is plug them in. They still missed half a mod's worth of wiring that I caught as I was doing my final checks before shoot time. Took me maybe 2 min to wire them all in.

I toyed with the idea of using a bunch of comets and mines again this year, so I went and bought a pile of those breakout boards (muxboards) but I ended up not using them. I didn't have anything in my show this year that required series wiring. I don't think my show suffered as a result either.

[Arles]

Regardless if display companies are using them or not, I much prefer quickplugs for personal use for the speed and convenience. I used about 10 breakout boards made by a small company and 10 Cobra serial breakout boards and had one bad one that was identified by the 18R2 that I just replaced with another spare. Using bare wire would would have easily doubled my already long set up time.

[Greenville Pyro]

I also have an inexperienced crew (although they are learning the more they work with me). Quick plugs were insanely helpful. Yes, there is the minus of wiring multiple things together but the breakout boards should be a big help (didn't get them this year). As this side grows more, more innovations I'm sure will come. As to display companies, I doubt it. So many are still using old school firing systems or hand lighting, there is just not the incentive to blow tens of thousands of dollars to convert. Its cheaper to pay the labor 15 bucks an hour for a few more hours.

[RoosterWalt]

I just used quickplugs for the first time on a club shoot I went to. I don’t have them on my modules... so they were new to me. It turned out that I liked them. Easier to plug into the module and all you have to do is a quick strip and twist to fire more than one item. You always end up doing the strip and twist anyway... so I’m the end I liked them. It’s probably a personal preference thing, some of us will like them and others won’t.

[215less]

Idk. Quick plugs are extremely convenient for smaller products like single shot mines and strobes or anything close proximity but with some many companies on larger systems like star fire or ones who have already invested 10?s of thousands on cobra mods. I still see quickplugs more for the backyard guy. That?s still not to say pros don?t use them. I just don?t see it taking over any time soon. Shunting could potentially be another issue normally over looked but extremely important.