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Author Topic: Christie HD8K -- D.O.A. Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-10-2007 04:33 PM                     Just got a brand new digital projector: Christie HD8K. Brand new out of the box. Installed & hooked up as per instructions. Fans run. Displays light up. Buttons function. Does not strike lamp. Receive Error Code: 27 (Can not strike lamp.) Replaced lamp with spare. Repeat startup. Still does not strike lamp. Error code 27 again. Christie says they will be sending a new unit via expedited shipping but we have a critical test tomorrow morning, PLUS our first public gig is on Saturday. Was just wondering if anybody had some ideas. T.I.A.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-10-2007 10:43 PM                     Not really.... could be anything. The error code certainly WILL mean something to the service techs. I believe it is based on the new Norwegian built projector. Its a very nice unit but I think the lamps are pretty pricy. Mark  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-10-2007 11:09 PM                     Error Code #27 = "Can Not Strike Lamp" That's what the manual says. I didn't figure there was much that could be done. Just thought I'd ask. Yes, the lamps are pricy... Perkin Elmer! Says right on them! They are cute, though. Nice little module about 6" cube. Slips right in. Takes about 90 seconds to change one. (Assuming it's cool.) I'd say most of the cost is in the module. It's ALL heat sink! Well, I guess this means we're going to miss our on-line test with N.C.M. tomorrow. But, I'll be able to kludge the test and call in our number so that we're not left out of the loop. We'll just have to install the projector and test it ourselves. Our first gig is Saturday. We don't have much time. There's a movie on Wed. and another gig on Fri. That means we basically have tomorrow and Thursday to get this thing in gear! Oh, well... Christie promised they'd have another one here, tomorrow. Let's hope THAT one works!  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-10-2007 11:47 PM                     Call and get the tracking number from them so you know when it's going to arrive.... It might be early enough to save your day... Mark  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 12-11-2007 12:12 AM                        What do you think the chances of TWO lamps being dead in the water? I know I am just guessing here based on the film lamphouse world, but wouldn't there be some kind of safety interlocks that could be stuck or not properly engaged? Fan vanes and the like banged out of whack in transit? I don't know, I would be worrying about the odds it being a run of bad bulbs, no? Oh, and don't you just love all those "error" messages that tell you NOTHING. Microsoft is famous for it; hey, we can SEE the bulb won't strike...we don't need a code for to tell us that. How bout a paragraph or two with schematics pop up detailing the possible CAUSES why there is a Error 27. Well, Randy, best of luck...hope you've got a show on the screen on Saturday. Let us know what happens....meantime, look for that air flow vane!  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-11-2007 12:32 AM                     The last test they ran was from 9:00 - 10:00 AM E.T. then again for 9:00 Central. Ended up running until well after 11:00 E.T. So... Assuming the thing gets here by 9:30 AM or 10:00 at the latest, we MIGHT have it running in time to catch the end of the test. (Cross fingers!) I gave a quick look inside the cavity where the lamp goes but didn't see anything. Since that is a direct portal to the heart of the light engine I didn't want to mess with anything inside there and risk being accused of causing the problem by putting my hands in there. Plus, I figured if a visual inspection didn't reveal any obvious problems, I'll be damned if I'm letting my boss pay $40K+ just for me to fix There are error codes for "Lamp Interlock Open" (Code# 26) and for "Lamp Airflow Low" (Code #21) but there is an even MORE brain damaged error code, "Lamp Turned Off Unexpectedly" (Code #28) Now THERE's one for Mr. Obvious!  |  IP: Logged Brian Michael Weidemann Expert cat molester Posts: 944 From: Costa Mesa, CA United States Registered: Feb 2004 posted 12-11-2007 04:34 AM                        Yep, not much of a "code". It's a plain and simple, blaringly obvious, description. I've witnessed poor performance with Perkin Elmer lamps. The only 15k IMAX lamp I've seen explode was a Perkin Elmer. And we had a few bad ones in a row. Of course, that was years ago. But I remember we were displeased with P.E. and went quickly back to Ushio. Of course, these are a different type of lamp completely that you're dealin' with. Maybe it was just their 15k models that (literally) blew.  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 12-11-2007 08:05 AM                        I'm confused. How would it be obvious (to you) that the lamp turned off unexpectedly (to the projector)? Without the blaringly obvious description how would you know that the projector itself hadn't decided that it should turn the lamp off (which wouldn't be unexpectedly to the projector, which is what the error codes are about)? Perkin Elmer xenon projection lamps are craptastic.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-11-2007 08:32 AM                     Be wary... LTI has also joined in the small DLP projector lamp market as well. Supposedly they are making them here in the USA. They are right up there with the Perkin Elmer stuff too. I am surprised that Christie isn't suppling their own USHIO lamps for this projector... Mark  |  IP: Logged Richard Fowler Film God Posts: 2392 From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA Registered: Jun 2001 posted 12-11-2007 10:56 AM                     I think P&E has some patents regarding the xenon with heat sink modules....which makes them a different breed from the original cinema bulbs. Kodak engineered a cinema lamphouse using a 1600 watt module about 10 years ago that never went to market. Phillips who got out of the cinema xenon market 20+ years ago are back in.....they recently bought LTI. There has been some management shuffle and possible new products with Phillip's input..  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-11-2007 07:39 PM                     Okay! We got the projector installed and working today! We missed the test feed only by a few minutes but there was some material at the end of the show that we did get to see. So, the projector works! The setup will be used for more than just satellite feeds so we have to hook the projector up to a seamless switcher. Guess what? The SWITCHER is DOA too! But since we don't necessarily need it for Saturday's show, we're not going to sweat it. We're just hooking it up to the satellite receiver directly. When the new one arrives in a few days, we'll install that and finish off all the rest of the system. The picture looks pretty nice... But you can still tell it's video. quote: Daryl C. W. O'Shea I'm confused. How would it be obvious (to you) that the lamp turned off unexpectedly (to the projector)? Well, if you see the lamp suddenly go out, do you need the projector to tell you that? I'm sure there's something like a current sensor or a photocell or both inside there that detects whether the lamp is lit. If the lamp suddenly went out in the middle of a show, you would notice the lack of light, obviously, but it might be more helpful to know: "Error #101: Lamp out - Can not detect current." or "Error #102: Lamp out - Photocell can not detect light." There are errors for "Overheat Warning: Lamp shutdown imminent!" and "Overheat condition on RED heat sink." (or Green or Blue) Those are more descriptive of what the problem actually might be. It's pretty obvious whether the lamp is lit, not lit or suddenly goes out. I just figured the error codes would be a bit more descriptive of what actually went wrong.  |  IP: Logged Chris Slycord Film God Posts: 2986 From: 퍼항시, 경상푹도, South Korea Registered: Mar 2007 posted 12-11-2007 09:42 PM                     quote: Randy Stankey Well, if you see the lamp suddenly go out, do you need the projector to tell you that? What he's getting at is that the error could be a stock one for something the projector doesn't even understand. Like if you're writing software you give specific error codes for things that shouldn't go wrong but your software knows what happened at that point. Then there's a generic error code for any other type of error that your software didn't expect.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-11-2007 11:26 PM                     Sorry, man! I'm really friggin' beat! Been putting in extra hours to get this gig off the ground and I haven't gotten much rest. But look at the bright side! Hauling cinder blocks up the side of the building on a rope (to weight the non-penn dish mount) sure helped me get lots of exercise!  |  IP: Logged John Walsh Film God Posts: 2490 From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way Registered: Oct 1999 posted 12-12-2007 07:26 AM                     I've heard of several digital projectors not working right out of the box. Nothing too major; a module is swapped or some other minor thing is done and then they are OK. Growing pains as manufacturer's ramp up production I suppose....  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-12-2007 08:10 AM                     As we were going through the motions of testing and troubleshooting our projector, I began to hear similar stories. The conference center at our local G.E. plant installed a projector similar to ours, only the next model smaller. I was told it took them three tries to get one that works. We have a play date already booked for the thing. Tickets have already been sold so there's NO WAY we could have afforded to take that long to get ours working. When I posted the lead message to this thread I was wondering if anybody would have some stories to tell about this projector but I didn't want to come right out and spill the question. The projector works well, now. Obviously, we won't get a chance to burn it in and brightness/color balance it before the show but I really doubt anybody but me will even notice. One thing I will say is that this thing is a monster when it comes to power. It does require its own 220 volt circuit. If you have to install one of these babies in any place that doesn't already have its own power, such as a projection booth where the breaker panel is only an average of a few feet away, don't even ask questions. Just run a new 220 volt circuit. Put it on its own separate breaker. Don't even try to dick around with the power supply. Once we got the problem with the projector sorted out, we had a few questions about the power requirements to run this beast. Our theater is actually an addition on to an older building. Technically, it's an addition to an addition. Consequently, we have some fairly screwed up wiring. The place where we were GOING to plug it in turned out to be unsuitable. There was power there but we didn't know exactly where the wires ran, nor did we know whether there was anything else on the same branch that would cause problems. (I'm sure you guys know what its like to work in old or redesigned buildings with F-ed up power.) Long story short, we decided to run a new circuit just for the projector. We figured, after all the shit we've been through, we don't need any more hassles. If you read the manual, it gives the power requirements but it makes no mention of anything else. Considering all the idiots out there who decide they want to install digital projectors, I think that there should be a notation in the manual to the effect: "We recommend this projector be connected to its own, separate power source." A few cents worth of ink and paper could potentially save a lot of people a lot of trouble later on!  |  IP: Logged

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