my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Film Handlers' Forum   » Projector wont run, bulb lights..it just stopped. (Page 1)

This topic comprises 3 pages: 1  2  3

Author Topic: Projector wont run, bulb lights..it just stopped. Frank Dubrois Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 896 From: Cleveland, OH Registered: Mar 2005 posted 09-27-2005 07:10 PM                    Christie P35GP Christie SLC 30 or 40 I believe 4000watt bulb house. We have an issue with one of our projectors and I'm counting on one of you really smart guys to give me some pointers. We were running a movie last night and the projector just shut down. The lamp can still be turned on, but the motor will not...motor. All the gears turn freely. I thought possibly a diode was bad, but wanted to see if that was plausible before digging in and removing them. Anything else to check? Or does a bad diode seem like the most likely problem. Thanks for any help. ps...none of the breakers seemed to turn off either, so thats what really confuses me, usually if its a diode, the breakers turn off.  |  IP: Logged Richard May Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1057 From: Floral Park, NY USA Registered: Aug 2004 posted 09-27-2005 07:32 PM                     Did you say the projector motor will not operate? If so it has nothing to do with the lamp. Does the manual motor switch work?  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-27-2005 07:34 PM                        Do Christie projectors have diodes in them? Are you running manually or with automation? If using automation, have you tried turning on the motor switch manually? If so, is the result the same? Have you checked all wiring connections (esp. switch and/or automation to motor)? It could be an issue with automation (if present), wiring, or the motor itself.  |  IP: Logged Frank Dubrois Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 896 From: Cleveland, OH Registered: Mar 2005 posted 09-27-2005 08:18 PM                    Yes, Christies have diodes and they are VERY annoying since they seem to go out a lot (or at least recently). The movie was running, then boom, it just stopped. The switch to manually start the motor does not start the motor, upon threading the projector and pushing start, it does not start. The switch was replaced JUST in case, but as I thought, still nothing. I am now suspecting the motor is burnt out. We had a strange electrical smell from that projector about 3 months ago, but had no problems....NOW we have a problem.  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 09-27-2005 08:20 PM                        Does motor turn over freely? Are there capacitors on motor? If you spin the motor with power on, will it accelerate & run? Louis  |  IP: Logged Darryl Spicer Film God Posts: 3250 From: Lexington, KY, USA Registered: Dec 2000 posted 09-27-2005 08:33 PM                    check for a bad or loose motor wiring connection. Check for wiring that may be tied together with lug caps that could have come loose.  |  IP: Logged Frank Dubrois Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 896 From: Cleveland, OH Registered: Mar 2005 posted 09-27-2005 09:16 PM                    I will check on those two items first thing tomorrow. Does anyone know if there is a diagram or manual of the motor on that particular projector? I dont know what model or make or anything about it. I was hoping to download the manual/schematics before tomorrow.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 09-27-2005 10:21 PM                     There is a huge 3 part pdf download in the manuals section here for that projector that is "the bible" to that machine.  |  IP: Logged Frank Dubrois Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 896 From: Cleveland, OH Registered: Mar 2005 posted 09-27-2005 10:42 PM                    I thought I had the whole thing, but I'll look over it again. The reason I ask is I have a motor (the EXACT same motor) for that projector, but it is wired incorrectly. I was hoping it would be easy to change the wiring. Our Christies have 2 leads coming out of the motor, where this motor was wired with 4 leads. Do you know if that would be an easy fix? UPDATE: the projector ran after cooling down. And ran for the next show. Apparently heat is the issue, but why would the LAMP still turn on, but the motor not run? Usually its the other way around. Suggestions?  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-27-2005 11:28 PM                     The projector motor is about to shit the bed on you! The motor and xenon lamp are two discrete systems. Neither affects the other. They only APPEAR to be related because the automation controller inside the lamphouse controls them for you. The projector motor is dying. The xenon lamp is perfectly healthy. Is it one of those Bodine (Brand name.) motors? I don't much care for those. Then have a tendancy to self-destruct. Mode of failure is just as you have seen. Motor starts out running fine. After a while it simply overheats and stops working. The motor has internal thermal protection. After the motor cools down the protection system resets itself. It will begin working again. This cycle repeats. After a few times, the failure is permanent. The symptoms you see are a precursor to the final failure. Order a replacement now. By the time the replacement arrives, your motor should be on its last legs. If the motor you have in stock appears like it has the wrong number of leads, take the cover off the old one and look inside. It is a good bet the original will have four leads as well. Upon installation, the leads have to be connected together in the correct order to achieve the correct configuration for your setup. (Voltage, rotation direction & phase, IIRC.) There should be a data sheet in the box with the new motor. It will tell you how to wire. If, not copy the wiring of the old one. If you aren't sure of what to do, best bet is to hire an electrician. Consider the $$ as insurance. Your best bet would be to get a Leeson (Brand) motor. I prefer them much better.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 09-27-2005 11:34 PM                     Yeah, it's called "using Bodine motors" - These Bodines just don't have the starup torque as does some other motors do, especially like the Leeson motors. What happens when Bodines get tired and get some age on them, they begin to heat up and the thermal inside opens up causing this shutdown. Then, you have to wait for the cooldown for the thermal closes to continue operation. If this happens too frequently, time for a motor changeout to replace that thermal fuse inside. I went through a good half dozen Bodines on P35GPS machines with this same problem. Also, this is a good warning tip to anyone who uses any Bodine motor on any projector, for I even had Bodines, mounted on Simplex 5-star heads do this shutdown. Oughta check into Leesons for reference sakes if these are manufactured for the Christie series. -Monte  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-27-2005 11:40 PM                     Sync motors use permenant magnets for there fields and over time they loose there strength and then the motor looses torque It will often then devlop slip and run below sync speed which increase the heat inside (also the fan blade s at the ned of some of the bodines are turning slower then cooling less and the motor thermals out and stops  |  IP: Logged Bruce McGee Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1776 From: Asheville, NC USA... Nowhere in Particular. Registered: Aug 1999 posted 09-28-2005 06:35 AM                     There is a fan in the end of the motor on my Christies. Look and see if it is clogged with crud. If so, this may be your answer. Also, see if the capacitor could be bloated and leaking. I've seen less kill a perfectly good motor.  |  IP: Logged Frank Dubrois Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 896 From: Cleveland, OH Registered: Mar 2005 posted 09-28-2005 07:32 AM                    The capacitor was my first thought as well based on the bad smell we breifly had from this projector a couple months ago. I will check all suggestions this morning. Thanks a million!  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-28-2005 09:33 AM                     The bad smell is part of this brand of motor's failure profile. As failure prone as Bodine motors are, they usually give you plenty of warning: 1) They start to smell like burning wires. (The smell of burning capacitors is a totally different.) 2) They go into thermal shutdown mode. 30-90 minutes later they start working again. It seems as if nothing was ever wrong. 3) They go in and out of thermal shutdown mode a few times. 4) One day they just quit working all together. After the first time the motor shuts down, it might not happen again for a couple of days. (Maybe more. Maybe less.) Then it's going to happen again and again. When it does, the time between failures will get shorter and shorter. Eventually, the thing won't work at all. This process takes anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. I have seen no less than a half dozen Bodine motors die in this exact same way. The only solution is to replace the motor. I suppose you could take it to a motor repair shop and have it rebuilt but that could take a L-O-N-G time. The motor is going to die on you. It will put that house totally out of commission until the motor is replaced. Depending on how fast your company orders replacement parts and how fast you can get it replaced, that projector could remain out of commission for several days. Get it replaced right away before you find yourself with a full house and a dead projector. If your company has a tech, this problem can be solved with just a phone call. If you can specify a Leeson motor for replacement, it will benefit you greatly in the long run. Leeson are much more reliable.  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 3 pages: 1  2  3

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.