Power supply issues

[Armand Daiguillon]

Hi all,

Sorry to be so needy !!! But I am just having problem after problem.
I called my tech but he's booked for over a week and I need my projector up and running, he gave me a place to start on my own but now I'm not sure what to try next.

This unit is a Solaria One with GDC SR1000 IMB.

Issue is ICP not getting power, I get the critical error "LVPS AC Power". Based on what my tech told me, I changed out everything and i'm not sure what's left to swap out.
I'm not sure the exact name of each component so i'm posting a pic of everything that I swapped.
If anybody knows of any other components that could be causing this please let me know.

Thanks !!!


Armand

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

I would suspect excessive power draw of some internal component, or pad wiring... not bad wire, but bad terminations...

[Randy Stankey]

...not bad wire, but bad terminations...

Not only bad terminations but bad solder. That damned SAC-305 (lead-free) solder alloy is absolute crap! I don't care what manufacturers say. It's crap. The stuff degrades over time. It forms dendrites. (whiskers) Over a long time, it even just starts turning to powder.

If the projector was built under ROHS compliance (which I believe it was) it would have been built with lead-free solder. That model was discontinued in the year 2015, almost ten years ago. If you bought it before then it will be even older. Ten years, plus or minus, is plenty enough time for lead-free solder to go bad. With repeated heat cycling, it takes even less time.

To add insult to injury, if you ever mix leaded and lead-free solder, degradation is almost certain. Something like a 90% chance in ten years. Even if you just reheat a lead-free connection using a soldering iron that has been used with lead solder, it can still make the connection go bad.

In the place where I work, we have to take classes for this stuff. I have J-Std-001 and IPC-620 certs. (I even get to wear cute, little pins on my uniform! ) Both of those have units that cover soldering and factors in the use of leaded or lead-free solder.

So... You have an aging piece of equipment that's been subject to heat cycling for ten-plus years. As I remember, it would have been constructed with ROHS compliant materials. IF that is, indeed true, there has been plenty enough time for solder joints to start going bad.

I'm not saying that it is true. I'm simply pointing out that, while you are in there, looking around, it would pay to take a look around to be sure that all the solder joints are free from degradation.

Look for a gray, powdery surface on solder joints. Look for dendrites. (AKA: "Tin whiskers.") Look for bad solder joints, in general. If you can find any, minor, issues, you can probably just reheat them with a soldering iron or, better yet, a hot air soldering machine. Use due caution, reheat the joints, let them cool and look to be sure that they are smooth and silvery. SAC-305 lead-free solder can, sometimes look bumpy and rough but it will still be silvery. If it looks dull and gray, it needs to be fixed.

I remember seeing some pictures of circuit boards out of Christie projectors that, if I had been inspecting them on the line, would have been sent back for rework before they even made it to final QA.

I don't think that you need to inspect every damned part in detail but, like I said, while you are in there, troubleshooting, it would be beneficial for you to give a little look-see. At least, keep one eye open for it.

(I recommend concentrating efforts in areas that are more prone to heat cycling... power supply, in and around the lamp, etc. )

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Good point Randy! I have run into that stuff in older CInema gear a couple of times, not going to name the manufacturer though. It was in the early lead free ROH$ days. In both cases the equipment was replaced with newer gear, hence the $.

[Leo Enticknap]

The error Armand is getting is "LVPS AC Power," which would tend to suggest a problem with the alternating current going in to the projector, not internal low voltage DC distribution within it. If you've swapped out the LVPS (LVPS = low voltage power supply, i.e. the Christie equivalent of the SMPS board in a Barco) with a known good one, which, from your photo, it looks like you have, my suggestion would be to measure the input AC voltage. If this projector has separate power supplies for the lamp power supply and the card cage power supply, like early Series 2 NECs do (sorry: I'm not much of a Christie expert and don't know this off the top of my head), it could be that one of them has a problem but not the other.

[Dave Macaulay]

It has (I'm pretty sure) a main power input with an IEC C20 connector. Also a C14 input for using a UPS for the electronics. There's a switch to select using the main power for both lamp and electronics or to use the main for lamp power and the UPS input for electronics. Maybe that switch is causing issues, if its always been on combined power the electronics contacts may have gotten corroded and intermittent?

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Dave, I've seen those switches too. I never had one fail though...

[Randy Stankey]

It was in the early lead free ROH$ days.

Sometimes I just think they should use 100% silver solder.
(Yeah, I know... Silver solder melts at something like 1000º.)

[Armand Daiguillon]

It has (I'm pretty sure) a main power input with an IEC C20 connector. Also a C14 input for using a UPS for the electronics. There's a switch to select using the main power for both lamp and electronics or to use the main for lamp power and the UPS input for electronics. Maybe that switch is causing issues, if its always been on combined power the electronics contacts may have gotten corroded and intermittent?

Yeah, I looked at that switch as well, it is functioning properly.
One of the results of the "LVPS AC Power - Critical" error is that the ICP is not powering up either. IMB powers up - but not ICP. My tech (who unfortunately is booked until the 14th) suggested i replace the ICP board ... so i'm trying that next. He said he'd call his Christie contact for any other suggestions - but i'm really hoping I can get this thing up and running.

Thanks you all for the suggestions !

[Armand Daiguillon]

So ... I did what my tech recommended and swapped the ICP with a spare. No difference, same "LVPS AC Power" error.
So I swapped the board back and all of a sudden the old error is gone, everything booted up fine, re-married the IMB and went to see if a movie would run.
And guess what ? Now a new error instead !!
Now it says " Light door/Thermal/Fire Alarm Interlock - Critical error" and if you try to strike the bulb manually you get - "Light on request suppressed due to interlock failure, or a Communication Failure"
Why must my projectors torment me so ? I checked that everything had been put back properly but the error persists and lamp won't light. What could I have possibly done by swapping ICP to cause this ?

Ugh !!!

Thanks !

[Steve Guttag]

It's a Christie! They all are starting to point to the PIB/signal backplane board on a typical Christie or its related wiring. There is also the off-chance the the Environmental board is chiming in too. But the PIB/backplane is common to all of those areas and Christie PIBs are not known for their robustness. If you haven't yet, I'd definitely reseat it and make sure its battery is good. A little DeOxit D5/G5 on some connectors and reseat of the cables in that area are all called for since flexing the ICP portion of the signal backplane changed the conditions.