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**Ryan Gallagher** · 02-04-2025, 07:20 AM

Reseating the various boards and checking for shifting/damage seems like a logical place to start.

**Leo Enticknap** · 02-04-2025, 08:25 AM

I'm sorry to be the bringer of bad news, but while all the errors apart from 58 are likely fixable by reseating, it looks like the certificate battery failure means that you need a new TI interface board. From the service manual

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My guess is that the shock when the unit was dropped caused one terminal on the battery to separate from its contact on the board, and that was that.

There is nothing to lose by asking your local NEC dealer if they still have an Interface board (PWB = printed wire board). In the USA and the last I knew, NEC are still selling their remaining Series 1 parts, but are not acquiring any new ones. We were able to buy a lamphouse blower motor for an NC2000 last fall.

**James Falloon** · 02-07-2025, 06:46 PM

Hi Matt, I second Leo above, will need a new TI security board if you want to play encrypted DCP's, The rechargeable battery might have gone flat (too long without power) and sometimes they just fail (I hope you have the key for the secure cage)

Mark or Fraser might be able to help if you really really want to keep the 1600 going
(We gave our old 1600c to Westport years ago for parts - don't know what happened to it)

**Ioannis Syrogiannis** · 02-08-2025, 07:40 AM

Originally posted by Leo Enticknap View Post

[...]In the USA and the last I knew, NEC are still selling their remaining Series 1 parts, but are not acquiring any new ones. We were able to buy a lamphouse blower motor for an NC2000 last fall.

No doubt they do, since you say so, but the NC2000C is not Series 1.

**Ryan Gallagher** · 02-08-2025, 11:28 AM

Originally posted by James Falloon View Post

Hi Matt, I second Leo above, will need a new TI security board if you want to play encrypted DCP's, The rechargeable battery might have gone flat (too long without power) and sometimes they just fail (I hope you have the key for the secure cage)

Mark or Fraser might be able to help if you really really want to keep the 1600 going
(We gave our old 1600c to Westport years ago for parts - don't know what happened to it)

Yeah I was also tempted to suggest if all other problems could be resolved, perhaps ALT input functionality could be restored. Depending on your use case that might provide a "gimped" projector that is able to be put back in service in some contexts.

**Leo Enticknap** · 02-09-2025, 03:52 PM

Sorry; typo; meant 2500 (the big blue one designed in such a way that even getting a dead fan out of it is a three-hour nightmare). But there are even some parts for early Series 2s that are no longer available, Enigma cards being the main one.

It's so long since I've had to deal with the video processing side of a Series 1 NEC that I couldn't tell you if DVI and/or unencrypted SDI will still work if the TI decryption is dead - sorry.

**Tony Bandiera Jr** · 02-09-2025, 09:13 PM

Y'all are overlooking the other elephant in the booth... depending on how hard that drop was (and whether or not it was in a crate, box or other shipping container) the shock of the drop will most likely cause severe misalignment in the optical path, damage to the DMDs and other such wackiness.

Also, the lens mount may be misaligned or damaged to the point it cannot focus or zoom properly.

I would, if you do get it operating, run it under close supervision and make sure that everything is secure mechanically and electrically as some damage may cause breakdowns later.

I'd give about a 45% or less chance the projector is salvageable. (Depending on how deep your pockets are.)

**Mark Gulbrandsen** · 02-10-2025, 08:51 AM

I had a customers NC-2000 in Nevada that was subjected to some demolition work on the end of the building it was located. And it had hundreds of dead pixels after that. This was like a dozen or more years ago, and I was able to get a new prism assembly from MIT for about half price that came out of another shipping damaged projector, but worked just fine. It's still running to this day.
1600's are a real rats nest of wiring. Better you than me!

**Leo Enticknap** · 02-12-2025, 07:54 AM

Pretty much all NECs are a rats' nest inside, which is why doing surgery on them is my second least favorite part of the job (second only to a four-hour, second gear crawl through the LA metro in the teeth of the rush hour). For example, if you pull the wires out of a Barco backplane, then when the time comes to put them back again, either a connector will physically only go into one receptacle, or there will be a combination of color coded zip ties on the wire and markings on the board to guide you to putting it back in the right place. You would literally have to be color blind to get into serious difficulty. Do the same thing to an NEC slave or FMT board, however, and you need to be very careful to take photos and put Sharpie slashes across both pieces of the connector (that you then match up to reconnect) before pulling anything, because you absolutely can reconnect things in the wrong places, and cause a whole slew of difficult to fix error messages by doing so.

**Mark Gulbrandsen** · 02-12-2025, 08:57 AM

The only NEC's I actually had to dismantle quite a bit to repair was the 900's. The 1200, 2000, and both larger 2k &4k machines were quite easy to repair. Light engines are VERY easy. Except for the 900, even the LVPS is a snap to change on them. The 900 has to come pretty far apart to change a failed lamp power supply too. Certain locations were so dusty, like Jackson, WY, that I pulled all the LVPS every two years just to blow out the dust. I know the Techs after me have exchanged light engines as well in them. This location was the first to have an NC-2000 installed. Almost a full year before Mike bought his. I think the issue in Jackson may have been their HVAC system, plus everyone in town has at least one fire place, and some have more. And people flock to live there in their 5 million dollar homes in that crappy air...

**Leo Enticknap** · 02-12-2025, 10:16 AM

I've now done enough 900 prism assembly swapouts and formatter replacements that getting the prism assembly out and putting it back in again no longer makes me break out in a cold sweat, but it took a long time.

**Mark Gulbrandsen** · 02-12-2025, 10:33 AM

You can say that again!! I had to repair three projectors that were from the first batch of 900's produced. Those had a short that developed in the first six months at the vertical lens positioning motor. So the prism has to come out, and then the lens mount. Then the wire could be repaired and slightly re-routed so it didn't happen again. That's almost a three hour job! And... The shorting wire of course blew that driver IC on the lens control board as well... it is possible to keep those on screen by placing a 2 x 4 under the back of the projector, as when it blew, the image moved all the way up on screen.

Then there's that lower lamp ballast board?‍?.

**Ryan Gallagher** · 02-12-2025, 10:57 AM

Add an hour and some bodies for access if it was my booth. Chances are anything involving serious access to the right side of DCI would require moving the whole rack away from the No. 1 Century. I can just barely get in there to service/grease the drive side of her, and it involves some serious booth yoga.

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NEC N1600C series 1 issues

NEC N1600C series 1 issues

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