my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Digital Cinema Forum   » ICP Fan Stop on NC2000C

Author Topic: ICP Fan Stop on NC2000C Kristian Hillman Film Handler Posts: 5 From: Henderson, NV, USA Registered: Sep 2019 posted 12-19-2019 11:16 PM                     Hello all, Having a little bother with one of my projectors. And wouldn't you know it, it happens to be opening night of Star Wars.... When trying to take the projector out of standby mode I am greeted with this error "ICP Fan Stop" then the projector returns itself to standby mode. Nothing seems to be able to bring the projector to life. And when looking for more information on the error in the communicator it only tells me the same thing. NEC support is closed for the evening, so I was just taking a shot in the dark here to see if anyone has a magic spell they can lend me to get this thing working. Albeit if only temporary. Until I get a new part or whatever I may need to do. I'm using a NEC NC2000C projector, it has just past the 3 year old mark. Thank you in advance.  |  IP: Logged Dave Macaulay Film God Posts: 2321 From: Toronto, Canada Registered: Apr 2001 posted 12-20-2019 08:56 AM                     Well, either the fan has failed (either stopped/seized or the RPM sensor failed), its tiny power connector has popped out, the fan driver on some board has failed, the RPM monitoring bit of a board has failed, or it's just a connection issue somewhere between the fan and the circuits that provide power and measure RPM. NEC manuals are, well... better than useless? (slightly) I think the fan is on a circuit board above or below the ICP board (there is nowhere to mount a fan on the ICP itself). Some projectors (Barco for sure) mount them on a plate between boards. I have changed one on an NC2000 but don't remember exactly where it is. First step would be to pull the boards and see if the fan spins freely (quite a small fan that blows directly on the ICP FPGA chip heatsink, 50mm maybe?)... if it's stiff then that's your problem. If it spins, the motor driver could still be bad though. Reseat the tiny fan power plug while you're in there if it does spin freely. Reseat the boards in their slot connectors a few times each to scrub off any corrosion on the connector and board edge. The RPM sensor signal is very low current so corrosion on the fan plug or board connectors can interfere with it easily. Power up, clear the tamper error, and see if it's OK now. If not, first step is to replace the fan. If that doesn't resolve it you will be looking for the cause. Do you have another projector to swap boards with? Note - that's pretty serious and you need to know what you're doing to get both projectors working again, it's really a job for an experienced tech. There is no way to bypass this error, and if the fan is really not spinning the ICP board's FPGA will overheat and fail. A replacement ICP is in the "sit down" price range.  |  IP: Logged Greg Routenburg Expert Film Handler Posts: 178 From: Toronto, ON, Canada Registered: May 2003 posted 12-20-2019 01:14 PM                     I can confirm that the ICP Fan is mounted to the CPU board in a little metal frame and sits directly above the ICP board in the card cage. It's a proprietary three wire fan that I've only ever been able to source from NEC. Your dealer can help you find it in the parts list for the projector. I've rarely had them seize up. It's more often the tach fails in them or the motor just gives out. Either way, it means ordering a replacement from your NEC dealer. I keep a spare on the shelf at each of my locations as it's such a mission critical little fan.  |  IP: Logged Kristian Hillman Film Handler Posts: 5 From: Henderson, NV, USA Registered: Sep 2019 posted 12-20-2019 02:46 PM                     Hello Guys, Thank you for your very detailed replies. I kind of thought I was going to have to replace the fan, hopefully it is just the fan and not the ICP board itself I need to replace. I'm almost sure this is the fan that will need to be replaced but if you can concur that would be great.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 12-20-2019 04:26 PM                        Nope; that looks like one of the light engine cooling fans. The ICP fan is actually on control board above the ICP, and forces air down onto the ICP. Shameless plug: we (Moving Image Technologies of Fountain Valley, CA) keep them in stock, should you wish to buy one. Give Jim Stewart a call on 714-751-7998, ext. 228, if you'd like to. I'm sure that many of the other NEC dealers represented on F-T could help as well. Swapping them out is very easy, the only real gotcha being that you'll need to clear a card cage tamper when all is done, and if you disturbed the microswitch against the IMB (or Enigma board) faceplate, you'll also need to remarry it. I don't think they go out very often, though. In the two and a half years that I've worked as a service tech for an NEC dealer, I've only had to replace one. And that was courtesy of someone who temporarily took care of an overheating projector by removing all the (clogged, gross and disgusting) air filters, and never getting around to replacing them. Once we finally got there, the clogged ICP fan was among the more minor and less expensive issues that we had to address.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-20-2019 05:27 PM                     I replace the ICP Fan, Power On, and AC On fans about every 5 to 6 years automatically since they are system critical fans. The good thing is that all the fans in an NEC are ball bearing. You may even be able to buy the equivalent fan OEM fromn an electronics supplier rather than through NEC and then move the leads over to get the show back up. I have never personally done that but I have looked those fans up before. The ICP fan looks like a small CPU fan on the very top module, it blows down on to an FPGA chip on the ICP. Be sure to have and know how to reset the projector after removing the side panel and the modules!!! Mark  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 12-20-2019 05:50 PM                        Good point - on the 900 at any rate, that fan gets swapped out pre-emptively every 20,000 hours when they all do. That is probably why them dying on the battlefield is unusual. Actually, I have replaced a few that way: my earlier post should read, "I have only replaced one due to failure once."  |  IP: Logged Kristian Hillman Film Handler Posts: 5 From: Henderson, NV, USA Registered: Sep 2019 posted 12-21-2019 12:08 AM                     Hello all, Again I would like to thank you all for your assistance. I managed to get the fan running again by blasting the blades with compressed air, I wonder if something just got stuck? The fan itself seemed pretty clean. I did have the problem of clearing Tampers and re-marrying the Enigma and IMB after pulling the cards. I luckily found the user and password for re-marrying the Enigma through the DCC from an old 1600C manual online. It magically worked for the 2000C too. Same can't be said for the IMB user and Password. We use GDC SX-3000 servers here, and I do have the passwords for that. So eventually I just tried seeing if I can remarry through that. Low and behold under cinecanvas there was a button for the IMB status. Clicked that and then there was a button to marry. Everything worked again in less than a second. Might be a cowboy fix, so I am still going to source a new fan. I just wanted to give an update in case anyone else runs into the same problem with the same equipment. And also to thank everyone again. Over the years this board has helped me quickly and easily solve problems. I do appreciate it. So thank you again.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-21-2019 08:16 AM                     If you are at 6+ years of use then definitely replace the three fans I mentioned above as they are system critical cooling fans. No, the projector won't burn up if one fails but it will shut down and throw an error for fan speed, high temperature, or both. And keep the old fans as spares IF they were still working, but clean them up. Those spares could be used in a pinch to get going again some day. Especially if you have multiple projectors! Nevada is a dirty, dusty place and I serviced theaters all over that State for 21 years until recently. So I have seen how dusty/dirty stuff can get there. Mark  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 12-21-2019 10:45 AM                        Agreed with Mark on keeping at least one of each part that you swap out preemptively as planned maintenance, if it is still working OK when you withdraw it from service. However, to avoid ending up with a cabinet full of parts of questionable provenance, and/or not knowing precisely what you have in an emergency, I would suggest careful labeling. For small parts like this, I tend to put them in a baggie with a Post-it, saying something like, "Barco coolant pump, part # B401303K, pulled from Screen 3 DP2K-20C, 11/30/19, when part D maintenance was done per schedule. Working OK when pulled."  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.