Barco DP2K-32B Code 5553 “tec - voltage low”

[Andrew Thomas]

Out of the blue we started having this issue on a 32B. Shuts the lamp off typically in about 5 minutes after lamp on.

I did swap out the fan control board and SMPS from another 32B with a dead light engine. That didn’t do the trick and was one of the suggested fixes in communicator.

Anything else you can think of?

[Leo Enticknap]

This is what the service manual has to suggest for that error code:

error_5553.PNG

You've tried the easy one (which is exactly what I would have done to begin with, too), so I'm afraid that it's now time to move onto the other possibilities. You might like actually to check the voltage, as suggested, but the chance of two of the same board having the same problem is pretty low. My only other suggestion would be to clean the contacts on those two boards (Mark has evangelized about DeOxit on this forum frequently, and I agree wholeheartedly - using it on a DP2K-20C's CCB yesterday made a DVI sync loss glitch go away) and try them again, just in case there is contamination in a PCI receptacle on the backplane.

Assuming that doesn't fix it, the next step is to pull those three Peltier connections one by one, until you find the one that is causing the low voltage error. Once you've found it, clean the contacts (very carefully - do not spray anything near the light engine, but use a cloth or tissue moistened with contact cleaner instead), check the cable for signs of damage, reseat, and cross your fingers.

If you still don't have any luck, I'm afraid it looks like the Peltier element on a formatter itself has bitten the dust, in which case it looks like you need a new light engine.

The only other thing that occurs to me is the backplane, given that the fan control board plugs into it. I don't know if the actual voltage to the Peltiers goes through it or not. Presumably Barco doesn't believe it's a possible cause of this, because the service manual doesn't advise you to replace it as any of the troubleshooting steps. But as others have noted here, those backplanes do go bad, and that is often the cause if weird ass faults involving any of the cards in the cage materialize. Swapping out a backplane is a fiddly and time consuming job (it's about the only major component swap out in a Barco B series projector that takes longer than 20-30 minutes), but you do have a donor machine, so trying that would cost you nothing except time.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Do the peltiers have dedicated lines on the backplane? Otherwise they share their signalling on a bus, which I'd say, is more likely.

Unfortunately, the last time I've seen this, about a year or 5 ago, it ended up as a Light Engine swap, because the short was inside one of the three TEC itself. Still, it's a bit of a bummer to need to change an entire light engine, to replace a $5 TEC module...

[Steve Guttag]

First, the Barco signal backplanes are always suspect, in my opinion. I've had one cause a false cover tamper...the switch was fine, there was an internal trace cracked somewhere because it wouldn't ohm out either. The Tech power is all through-hole stuff so you could even have a cold solder joint. They connect via Molex type connectors so even reseating them is worth a shot. And add my name to the DeOxit believers. I, generally, have D5 and Gold with me. If a system has a problem, I will use D5 first...let it cure/dry...if there are gold fingers, like on the ICP...then I apply gold. If I'm putting in a new board, I'll use gold on the gold fingers as a preventive move.

So, onto the connectors...they are all accessible on the signal backplane:

TecPower.jpg


In the image above, they are on J250 - J255. So, to the right of the fan and next to the bulkhead and towards the bottom of the compartment (they only wires of any size, really). I'd try reseating them and possibly try some D5 on the connectors. You can also see where they end up on the light engine in Leo's copy of the service manual above but I'd go for a connector first.

[Leo Enticknap]

Thanks Steve. My DeOxit strategy is D5 followed by G100 on PCI-type contacts, too.

It could be fiddly and need two people, but if you can get multimeter probes onto both ends of the connections (J250 through 255 on the backplane, and the points at which they land at the light engine, as shown in the service manual pic) and continuity test them, that would tell you if the cables are OK or not. If that checks out, then we're down either to the backplane, or a bad Peltier.

[Andrew Thomas]

I am working with the projector right now. When I remove the connectors from the backplane one by one, I get a 12v reading in communicator on the now open connection and 0v on the two remaining connections, and this repeats itself no matter which two are connected and the third disconnected. In fact I get a 12v reading on all three in communicator when they are all disconnected at the same time.

When I measure the pins on the backplane I'm getting a consistent 12v on each

[Marcel Birgelen]

Have you tried them "one-by-one" with no other one connected? Maybe if the short is in the last one, this could explain this behavior as I expect all of them to be on the same power bus. If one TEC shorts the bus, you loose the power on the entire bus. It's hard to believe all three TECs have shorted...

[Leo Enticknap]

When I measure the pins on the backplane I'm getting a consistent 12v on each

So it ain't the backplane, fan control board, or SMPS. We're down to the cables or the Peltiers themselves.

[Andrew Thomas]

Have you tried them "one-by-one" with no other one connected? Maybe if the short is in the last one, this could explain this behavior as I expect all of them to be on the same power bus. If one TEC shorts the bus, you loose the power on the entire bus. It's hard to believe all three TECs have shorted...

Doing each one by one, so with the other two disconnected. whichever is connected reads 0v and the open two read 12v in communicator.

[Marcel Birgelen]

So, that would indicate that all three TECs have shorted... the chance of that happening is so small, I have a hard time believing that and I suspect something else is wrong, but I fail to see what it may be, since you already swapped both the SMPS and fan controller...

[Andrew Thomas]

I have this donor machine with most of it's parts intact, so if anybody has any crazy ideas I am up for trying. Going to order a replacement projector soon, but I like tinkering

[Leo Enticknap]

Swap the light engine from the donor machine. Even if one of the formatters is bad, I'm guessing that the three Peltiers are still good. Swapping the light engine does not take as long as swapping the backplane. If, with the light engine from the donor machine installed, the Peltier errors go away, then I'm afraid that it'll confirm that you have a bad Peltier, and that the original light engine needs to go back to Belgium for repair (typically takes several months), or be replaced.

If the Peltier errors are still presenting with the light engines swapped out, try the backplane next.

[Steve Guttag]

For a test, the light engine swap takes less time. For a permanent swap, it takes longer since EVERYTHING has to be recalibrated...lens, color, convergence...etc. Unfortunately, I've become too experienced at backplane swaps.

After you measured the voltages (which meant you reseated the connectors)...did you check to see if it was reliable or did it continue to have issues. If it continued to have issues, I'd think that the Peltiers/sensors are the issue.

I believe Cinionic now has an "RX" program whereby you send them yours, they sent you theirs...you pay a lot of money and you are done with just one swap.