Few month storing of DCP projectors

[Marek Dudzik]

I am aware this topic came up in some COVID-related threads, but I have some additional doubts - soon we'll have two of our projectors that have been rented out for summer season back and I am wondering what would be the best possible way of keeping them here for another few months.


One is Barco DP2K-10S (2013) with ICP+IMB+SV3 and the second is NEC NC1000C (2017) with ICP and IMS2000. So especially Barco's ICP 10 year battery is coming to an end (I am thinking about replacing ShowVault with ICMP one day, but not yet...)


The storage room is shared with the office, so we won't be able to keep them ON for 24/7, as the noise would be inconvenient for the ones working here (me included). So my initial idea was to plug them via a network controlled relay/switch with a power on/off schedule matching office hours. How does it sound?


Another thing is in what state should NEC be to keep ICP and IMS under voltage (as Barco - from what I know - should be powered on, not in a sleep mode, to keep ICP on).

I believe for NEC standby should be ok, as it even keeps IMS half-on, with LEDs on etc? Could anyone confirm?

[Bruce Cloutier]

Something to consider is that the cell batteries do not recharge when the system is powered. Rather they do not discharge while the system is powered. So powering the system for only brief periods will likely not keep the batteries from going dead on you.

I am not familiar with the hardware design so I may be wrong about the charging. It is possible to recharge a lithium-ion battery however that is usually avoided both for cost and safety reasons. Systems may also use a secondary backup rechargeable battery that might recharge quickly during a short application of power and help the cell batteries in the meantime. But, in general, just kicking the projectors on daily might not be of much help.

[Marek Dudzik]

Dear Bruce, the goal is actually to keep ICP non replaceable battery from discharging and keep IMS battery charged - the rest of batteries installed in the hardware I mentioned can be easily replaced. So let's say having them powered for ca 12 hours per day should help a bit?

[Leo Enticknap]

All the Series 2 NECs I've encountered power down the ICP completely when in standby mode. They do have a "half power" state for the option slot, meaning that if you have some models of IMS in there, you can power them up with the projector in standby.

The good news for you with the Barco is that the Doremi IMB uses a one-time battery that, per Dolby, should be replaced every three years: not a rechargeable one that requires you to power the projector up periodically. If you replace the IMB's battery on schedule, leaving the projector powered off for a few months shouldn't endanger it. That won't help the ICP, but there again nothing will extend its life apart from projector on hours. Agreed that putting an ICMP in when the ICP dies is a good idea: it also uses a one-time battery (with a claimed life of four years), that protects both the media block and ICP functions.

The IMS2000 has a rechargeable battery. I can't remember the official Dolby recommendation: it's something like two days of power on every six months. The NC1000C is not particularly noisy and doesn't need a special power supply (just regular single phase 230 will do), so I would suggest sticking a label on it reminding you to power the card cage up for a few days when the time comes. If even that noise is a problem in the office where it is to be stored, I would suggest doing that over a weekend.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Most places that shut them down at least run them a few hours one day a week to keep batteries charged.

[Carsten Kurz]

I don't think you can do much about the ICPs soldered-in battery currently. If I was you, I would create an Excel-Sheet and measure their voltages in order to keep track. Measuring the ICP batteries is pretty simple.

The IMB batteries need to be exchanged every 5 years, if you don't know their actual state, this would be a good time to insert a new cell (following Doremis/Dolbys precise procedures) and then add a sticker on the IMB faceplate. The IMS battery is a rechargeable one and I would probably power that system up occasionally to be on the safe side.

[Jack Ondracek]

My Barco projectors (DP2K-23B and 32B models) arrived with large labels on their shipping crates, advising against downtimes over 6 months. I don't go beyond 3 without a 24-hour run. I've had my projectors for 10 years, running under this practice.

The use of web-enabled switches CAN automate this process (I use them in other applications), but I would advise against relying on them too heavily or without verifying their operation. Those things, while reliable overall, are not infallible. I would generally not walk away, risking a multi-thousand dollar card against an automated clock, costing a couple hundred.

[Steve Guttag]

The original S2 projectors, before IMBs had enigma boards that can only withstand being powered down for 6-months. The IMS needs to be on for about 3-4 days over 6 months for a FULL charge.

As mentioned in other threads, we put in Eprad eCNAs on most all of our systems and during off-season or the periodic COVID world shutdown, we placed all systems in a power reduced but charging state according to the devices at the theatre. Those with traditional servers, they were powered once per week for an hour. For those with IMB/IMSes, they were powered once per-day. We came through C19 shutdowns pretty unscathed.

What actually bit me was a new install in 2020 where we got things fast and plentiful (remember those times?) In fact, I had to stagger my orders to not have things show up too soon. We received our servers...put them in the projectors and did the commissioning but actual day-to-day operations didn't not happen for about 3 months until their location was allowed to open up again. The problem was, the servers sat in boxes from manufacturing, before the shut down...then waited for my order and delivery...then waited for another 2-3 months for regular use. That C19 shutdown "stole" about 3 months of the shelf life. 2 servers FIPS locked on me in one day! When I realized what happened...everything was powered 24/7 for 4+ days to charge it all up. Even now, when I receive a server, I like to throw it on a dock and charge it up (and configure it), if the projector it is going into isn't ready for it. Once-burned and all.

-Steve

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Also, don't forget about the certificate batteries in your GDC servers media block. If these fail, then you lose your media block and have to get a new one. The full size servers are good for 5 years. The SX-3000 is good for 3 years, and I'll say three years to the day on the SX-3000. I had one fail that was three years and 4 days old... Media blocks are expensive!

[Steve Guttag]

The GDC box servers (SX-2100/2001) those batteries are much more long lived. They are AAA size batteries but are lithium and have a shelf life of 20-years but I'm finding that they could go the better part of 10-years installed. Naturally, there is a big penalty for going over-hours on it! The SX-3000, as Mark states...can barely go 3-years. The SX-2000AR (same mediablock but doesn't seem to consume the batteries as fast) can go the better part of 5-years.

1st thing I did on sites after theatres opened up...changed the IMB batteries! The same on the box servers.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

I mentioned it only because I have found that theaters don't track from the install date, or when the batteries were last changed. It's up to the installer or service tech to do that.

[Jon Dent]

So what different battery locations would I be looking at with a Dolby IMS3000 in an NC1200?

The servers are only a year old, but he projectors are 2011 vintage and given the owner's lack of nerd knowledge I'm just going to assume any batteries in it have never been swapped.

[Steve Guttag]

The IMS3000 is a super-capacitor. It needs 4-days of charge over 6-months...any way you want to cut that up. The NC1200 doesn't have a battery per-say. It has the ICP which has a RTC battery that should be changed every 5-years and the certificate battery that is soldered in.

[Marek Dudzik]

Thanks a lot for all of you, it have all been very helpful. We will replace all the replacable batteries, measure soldered-in ICP batteries and will keep super-capacitors charged.

[Carsten Kurz]

The soldered-in (certificate) ICP batteries seem to be good down to around 2.5 volts. I would get nervous, though, if I'd seen one approach 2.6 volts already.