Source for replacement 17mm nuts/washers for Barco C-series lamphouses

[Steve Guttag]

Barco has always been more about assembly replacement rather than down to discrete parts, for better or worse. The realities are, often a problem isn't just one component part, it is a collection and changing an assembly fixes not just the symptom but the entire problem. Now, over time, Barco does seem to make component parts available. For instance, in the light pipe, it started with "Change the Light Engine. Then the integrator rod itself became a repair part and now you can get the glass (lenses) as well as the rod and one can pretty much rebuild it. I've seen cable assemblies about the light engine also become parts, finally.

As for the lamp connections, I'm in favor of change out the entire connector as those go bad too and with each lamphouse insertion/removal, you are wearing it some. The parts to fix up a lamphouse are less than the cost of a lamp and they seem to go 5-10 years on a set. The problem with nuts rounding off is how they are being abused, not the nut. Use half-way decent tools. You don't need Snap-On type tools, just the correct size of most any quality. And, if you are using torque wrenches with sockets on the lamp connections, you are not as likely to damage the hardware in the first place.

Oddly, NEC, who is more known for supplying parts down the component level, does not offer the cathode clamping screw for the their NC1200C/NC2000C projectors, despite it being a wear item (and it does wear out). It's length tends to make it not as easy to source locally either.

[Marcel Birgelen]

By far, the biggest problem I've seen on the Barco electrical failure (presuming people are tightening things to spec, first) is the "Nut" that Barco uses to mate with the lamp adapter. There is a nut attaching the cable to that that is suppose to be torqued to 17 Nm but nobody ever checks it because it is hidden. Compounded is that Barco chose to use a star washer instead of something like a split washer or, better, a wave washer. That junction is going to thermal cycle and once it does it enough such that the star washer isn't doing anything anymore, it will just fail. At least a wave washer or even a split washer will keep tension on the threads through the thermal cycles.

I've never really understood this design, but I guess they must have thought about it...

Still, I'm not sure if this is "valid doctrine", but I've been told by people who design high voltage and high power systems, so theyought to know: Never to use star washers for couplings that need to be electrically conductive at high voltage levels, as their sharp edges may lead to arcing. The only viable option in case of a high-voltage, conductive coupling that goes through thermal cycles is a wave washer. Even split washers aren't a correct choice, as they also have sharp edges that could lead to arcing...

[Steve Guttag]

A split wash is only split once it loses tension...and then you're into the same problem. A split washer doesn't, after it starts to be compressed, dig in. The idea on a star washer, electrically, is that it does dig in and causes an electrical connection...which is great for low/no current applications, like grounding. But for high current, they restrict contact area and they lose their ability to keep a connection tight, mechanically, the moment they lose any tension.

I use a lot of kep-nuts (nuts with star washers built-in) in mechanical fastening. I would never depend on that for high current or even against vibrations. They're good where you'd like an electrical connection for things like grounding, as already stated, and as a general lock washer in low/no-vibration applications. Spinning a kep-nut on is as fast as a standard nut. I've never had one loosen in that application.

[Leo Enticknap]

the really sad part is why cineonics would only offer the parts in a kit..

I suspect that their business model is now actively to discourage the maintenance of older projectors by means of one-time parts purchases. They want you either to renew the parts warranty every year, or to replace the projector. I've noticed a tendency whereby (a) as you note, parts you need are only available in a kit or bundle containing others that you don't, and (b) the price of parts, especially the big ticket ones (e.g. ICP and light engine) is rising rapidly in real terms (above the rate of inflation).

This is part of the reason why more of us are looking for aftermarket alternatives to official parts, especially those that Barco/Cinionic source from third party manufacturers such as fans, quick release coolant hose couplings, coolant liquid, and, as we're discussing here, fasteners. Although the reason I was recently looking elsewhere for a fan was that Cinionic didn't have any in stock, or an ETA for one. Though not 100% perfect, I found a solution that has gotten the projector back up and playing movies.

I also suspect that they keep a very limited supply of some parts in stock, that are only available to extended warranty holders. An example of this is traditional TI ICPs versus ICP-Ds. A couple of months ago, I was called to a broken projector down in Imperial County. I diagnosed a bad ICP (dead battery; certificate gone). This projector, though nine years old, had a 10-year warranty negotiated as part of the purchase, and so was still covered. They shipped me an ICP-D, which I found that I couldn't use, because the IMB installed was a GDC SX-2000AR, which is not supported by the ICP-D. They then shipped an old school one, with which I was eventually able to fix the projector. A few weeks after that, I was called to another projector with a bad ICP, which was no longer in warranty. Although an ICP-D would theoretically have worked (this projector had an Enigma board in it), I asked for a TI ICP to avoid the hassles of reconfiguration. I was told that none was available, and that I would have to live with an ICP-D. In the event the hassles weren't great (the main ones are having to install the .input files from an ICMP-X base clone for HDMI, change the PCFs to DCDM-auto for all the DCP macros, and supply DVI to HDMI adapters to move the alternative content inputs over) and it did work, but thanks to a previous occasion on which I simply could not get a Doremi IMB to work with an ICP-D, despite Cinionic repeatedly asserting that it should, I do not like trying to put ICP-Ds in Series 2 projectors unless I absolutely have to.

[Steve Guttag]

I suspect that, due to warranty negotiations, would need to stockpile some parts and not make them available to the general public or they could default on their warranty. Barco has always been about selling that warranty and it went into hyperdrive when Cinionic came about. The problem is, the more projectors you have, the worse the deal becomes. I have a 10 plex with SP4K projectors...we looked at the numbers...it would cost them over a light engine a year to buy the warranty. It would be far cheaper to own a spare light engine and just get them fixed or buy an ICP-D than to keep paying that high price annually.

Now, if you have 5-screens or less, you're better off getting the warranty.

If you are a chain, the dynamics shift even more in favor of not buying the warranty though I suspect that the "big-boys" have a sweetheart deal, not available to "regular people" in order to get the large quantity of sales.

As for fans...I'd love to source them like I do batteries and other off-the-shelf parts. However, when I've looked, I've never been able to find the right 3-wire fans or that cooling pump (either the original or current one).

[Leo Enticknap]

I suspect that the coolant pump is a model that Iwaki makes exclusively for Barco (like the Ushio lamps for the NEC iS8-2K). I've Googled that model number (both the old fan version and the new one) several times over the years, and can't find it for sale from any third party vendor.