Barco 2000 - light pipe over heating !

[Allan Barnes]

This newly purchased used BARCO 2000 has two issues. The LIGHT PIPE is over heating and the new 4000watt Osram bulb is only running at 3000watts.

Lots of air flow and Barco Communicator says all internal fans are running correctly.. I changed the air filters and hopefully realigned the bulb to no effect. No leaks from cooling system but the PRESSURE GAUGE reads "0" at startup and 5 minutes later... still "0"

I installed the correct bulb information via the Barco communicator. The brass adapter for the bulb appeared to be the same as my Barco 1500 maybe that is part of the problem?

The Barco system text report offers no hints.

ANY ADVICE or HELP or ABUSE is now WELCOME.

[Steve Guttag]

You need to ensure that the cooling system is charged (actually has coolant). I'd flush it out and load it with fresh coolant. Ensure that there are no clogs or air bubbles. If there are any air bubbles in the system, the cooling pump has a horrible time passing them. Seek out a manual on the projector as it will describe the procedure for draining/filling the system and getting all of the air out of it.

It's better than a 90% chance your problem is with the coolant/pump system (presuming no other errors of a fan out of spec or the coolant pump not running). When getting the air bubbles out (creating a closed system with a coolant bottle (I use a clear one), there should be a steady stream coming out of the hose. If it just trickles out or blows bubbles, you have a clog. It won't spray out but a good system has a steady stream.

[Leo Enticknap]

Here are the instructions. As you'll see, doing anything with a Barco Series 1 pressurized liquid cooling system is not a prospect that exactly fills me with joy!

BTW, this PDF needs Acrobat (or reader) version 10 or later to open. It was the only way I could squish it enough to get it inside the upload file size limit.

[Allan Barnes]

Thanks. Making progress.

[Pete Naples]

What Steve ^^ said.

The cooling system on S1 Barcos does work but it's fickle.

If it hasn't been serviced well they can easily clog up.

I went to one in Belfast that had overheating issues. Turns out the coolant hadn't been touched in 6 years and had turned to yellow sludge.

[Leo Enticknap]

I went to one in a similar state, in which not only had what little remained of the coolant turned to sludge, but that horrible brown tubing that Barco installed at the factory on Series 1 projectors had disintegrated and sprung leaks, thereby depositing the sludge all over the light engine. Astonishingly, after totally replumbing the entire circuit with UV-resistant hose and new quick release couplings, and cleaning as much of the goo off the light engine as I could, the projector worked without any complaints.

[Tony Bandiera Jr]

This newly purchased used BARCO 2000 has two issues. The LIGHT PIPE is over heating and the new 4000watt Osram bulb is only running at 3000watts.

Lots of air flow and Barco Communicator says all internal fans are running correctly.. I changed the air filters and hopefully realigned the bulb to no effect. No leaks from cooling system but the PRESSURE GAUGE reads "0" at startup and 5 minutes later... still "0"

I installed the correct bulb information via the Barco communicator. The brass adapter for the bulb appeared to be the same as my Barco 1500 maybe that is part of the problem?

The Barco system text report offers no hints.

ANY ADVICE or HELP or ABUSE is now WELCOME.

I question why the projector is allowed to continue to operate if the cooling system is at 0 and does not change after 5 minutes. Does it at least throw a warning? Do later model projectors have this same issue?

With the trend of unmanned booths and boothless installs, this to me is a serious defect in design and/or software.

[Dave Macaulay]

The pressure is not really important. Barco has told me not to worry about it. The cooling system was designed for inverted operation and the pressure is supposed to reduce pump cavitation - but the same pump is in the unpressurized S2 projectors. There is no pressure sensor to trigger an alarm, I don't think there's a flow sensor either as I've seen flow errors a lot on DP3000s but never on a 1500/2000..
I do pressurize them on coolant refresh but usually it's down to zero after a year with no signs of leakage.
A coolant change would be my suggestion, if the lamp alignment has been optimized.

[Steve Guttag]

I pressurize them on a coolant change, primarily to ensure there are no weak hoses or fittings. I've never known of an issue running them at 0 pressure, as the pressurization was just for inverted operation. And no, there were no flow meters on the "C" series projectors.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

I know Gord McLeod used a smallish fish tank and aquarium pump on his old DP-100's till they got replaced with Series 2. I think that worked ok. All this pressurized crap is a good reason to dumpster those old Barco's. I think I only ever worked on a few S-1 that actually held pressure after just a few years of service.. Pumps are stupid expensive which is why he went that route.

[Gordon McLeod]

This is the unit it used a lawn fountain pump inside a cremation urn it was nicnamed the urnamatic urna matic.jpg

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Yep, that's the picture I remember. What a hoot...

[Leo Enticknap]

The pressure is not really important. Barco has told me not to worry about it.

That's exactly what a former Barco tech told me, too. He suggested pressurizing it so that the manometer reading is just "off the floor" to be certain that there are no leaks, or hoses or quick release couplings on the verge of giving way; but opined that trying to pressurize it to the 1 bar specified in the manual is completely unnecessary, unless you insist on trying to operate the projector upside down.

[Allan Barnes]

No YELLOW or BLACK JUNK in the feed line. Looks and feels clean. Within 5 minutes, I get a RED TAIL LIGHT and a warming "LIGHT PIPE OVER TEMPERATURE" and I shutdown asap. The preset operational limits are correct. Tests continue and "Dave M" is coming for a charming service visit after I check XENON BRASS ADAPTER #.

[Leo Enticknap]

Then, IMHO, we're down to either a bad pump or a bad temperature sensor. I have had one instance of a bad pump causing roughly the symptom you describe, on a C series projector (no error message related to the pump, but the bulb shuts off a few minutes after it's lit because of an overheat). If you put the projector into refill mode, can you feel a slight vibration on the pump itself and/or the hoses, which stops when refill mode times out and the pump is supposed to have stopped?

I guess that if you're using the wrong bulb adapter for the model of bulb, that could misdirect the heat such that it overheats the fold mirror and/or integrator rod, but have never experienced that. My guess is that the picture would be hellish dim if you're using the wrong adapter, and that the anode end of the bulb would not sit properly in the plug in the middle of the UV filter. Incidentally, on that projector with the bad pump mentioned above, the fold mirror was also cracked.