Storing CP2220 projectors.

[Devin McNamara]

Our sister theater closed down about a month ago. They moved from it three CP2220 and one CP2000ZX. What I am worried about with these is that they are sitting in our theater booth with no power to them at all. The same thing was happening to the servers however I plugged them in and let them run to keep the dolphin boards from dying. My question is do I have to power up the projectors with the full 240 volt supply? Problem is there isn’t a way to do so or could I just use the UPS plug inside the access door? Will this power the ICP and keep the batteries from dying?

[Dave Macaulay]

The UPS plug powers the electronics so yes, powered that way (and switched ON) the Enigma or Gore board will be charged. I think some wiring changes have to be done to use that plug? And you want to confirm that 120V is OK. The 2220s will maybe beep for having the LPS unpowered.
All North American places will actually have 220V readily available... although connecting to it is rather dicey. You connect to the hot side of two outlets, it will give you either zero volts or 220/208V. Just don't have any electrical inspectors around, and I suggest you don't leave it connected in an empty building.

[Carsten Kurz]

Are these both HD-SDI systems (the CP2000 obviously is)? Running classic Doremi servers is not worth the effort, the Dolphin batteries have a spec'd lifetime and won't benefit from a running servers. You should, however make sure when they have been replaced the last time and make a sticker or note when they are due for the next change.
The most important thing to maintain is the CP2000, and especially the Enigma/Link decryptor board that is potentially sitting in the CP2220.


I suggest you look for the various papers that turned up during the pandemic lockdowns on how to shutdown and maintain DCI gear over multiple months.

https://www.christiedigital.com/glob...y-shutdown.pdf

http://www.film-tech.com/vbb/forum/main-forum/1637-keeping-the-equipment-going-during-a-shutdown

Also, when you store away two Dolphin based servers, you should apply the latest security manager patch and software update before the end of this year: http://www.film-tech.com/vbb/forum/m...ear-2024-issue

Otherwise, you may dump these two servers already now.

[Devin McNamara]

Two of the 2220s are the HDSDI input. The third has the inputs, but has an IMB installed in it as the original Doremi DCP-2K4 failed. They installed a SV3 as the new server. The 2000 is also HDSDI input. Its server had a DCI 1.2 dolphin so this certainly has the epoxy gore board in it. The manual specs 120 to 240 for the ups input. The manual also states to unplug the LVPS cable from the main power and plug it into the UPS socket as well. Doing this I assume it will power the electronics up? Do I have to have the control panel hooked up to power it on or will it turn by itself?

[Dave Macaulay]

The IMB also has a battery that needs to be replaced around 4 years in use, same as the Dolphin. System should be powered up for about 30 minutes with the cage removed then power off, pull the board, and change the battery being very careful not to let the prong touch the inside (a straw is good)... then it's good for another 4-5 years.
I don't think the Enigma gets power until the "cinema front end" is running - projector ON, not just with the UPS input plugged in. The LVPS is the standby power I believe (it runs the TPC), you can't turn the system on without it but the boards are powered from elsewhere? Usually an IMB projector has the Enigma not installed, but I've seen ones with it.

The projector will not be happy with only "UPS" power, it will flash a red light at minimum and possibly beep at you.

As Carsten said, Doremi/Dolby Dolphin and IMB servers need a patch applied to an updated SM to avoid bricking early next year, critical certificates are expiring. The patch will not work with previous SM versions. Current software also displays the cert expiry in diagnostic tool.

[Carsten Kurz]

If these systems have been powered down a month ago, it is already time to let the projectors run for a few hours every week in order too keep the enigma boards charged. That would be my first concern. Second, you have to find out when all the Dolphins/IMBs had their last battery swap. Then, one should put a sticker on the front of the server or the projector, indicating the next battery change year. If you can not find out definitely when the Dolphin boards/IMB had their batteries changed the last time, you should probably do it now. There are precise instructions from Doremi how to perform them, and it is important to follow them. They are EOL, don't know wether Dolby still reserialises these media blocks.

You could buy an IP power switcher that allows to power on equipment in regular intervals, and also to monitor these times and actual power cycles, e.g. a Shelly Plug. Once set, you can see what's going on from where ever you want.