Chistie CP2210 - Complete Power Failure

[Henry Atkinson]

Our CP2210 has failed in a way I've never seen, and I am slightly stumped. For the last ~3 days, it was exhibiting a critical "PIB Connection Lost. Power Cycle Projector" fault after a playlist would run automation to arc off the lamp and shut itself down. Last night, that devolved further. I took a moment to back up the config to a USB drive and dump Enhanced Interrogator then power cycled as before... except this time it wouldn't come back up.

The taillights all went solid for a second, then started flickering. At the same time, the TPC backlight was flickering, the AMI POST screen wasn't coming up but it was occasionally beeping as if it was trapped in a startup -> crash loop, and side status lights were all out, save for STBY (green solid), PIB (green solid), and RUN (flashing yellow). I disconnected power immediately, let the projector sit for a while, and reconnected only the 120v and got the same behavior, now only with a single light (RUN) flashing yellow accompanied by in-sync coil whine noises from somewhere in the secure compartment. I disconnected power immediately at that point as well. Step 0 was to take the UPS out of the chain - no luck.

Next step was then to pull all of the cards (ICP, IMS3000, and PIB) to inspect for any obvious damage - I didn't see anything, so I left them out and reconnected power - same issue. For the moment I'm assuming the cards are fine, or at least not at fault, but I don't have a spare machine to test anything in (or a spare TPC). I looked through the interconnect drawing from the service manual, and was able to isolate the Standby Power Supply from everything else (just pulled the IEC from it, disconnected power from the LVPS and Ballast, and powered it from a separate source). This got the TPC to boot, but I wasn't able to get anything useful out of it. With no connection to the rest of the projector and only Standby power, all options for control were greyed out, and the Status page didn't show much of value. I was also able to verify the various green LEDs that should come on with Standby power came on.

Disconnecting the cable that ties the Standby power supply in to the LVPS (001-111351-03) solved the problem (with and without cards) but obviously, the projector cannot boot in that state. Likewise, disconnecting the LVPS from the backplane via the larger Molex connector (J7/P7) but leaving Standby tied into the harness bypasses the issue - again, still no boot. I've verified there's no shorts to ground anywhere that there shouldn't be on both the LVPS side and projector side of those connectors.

My next step is going to be getting the LVPS to kick on at a bench and checking voltages. I'm not sure if a low voltage issue could cause these symptoms? Would an EVB failure of some sort cause this - I know its tied into the LVPS as well as the backplane, albeit on a different connectot. Christie support was stumped as well, they pointed me to the interconnect diagram and sent me on my way. Curious if anyone else has encountered this - without spares to swap in and out, I'm a little cautious of getting too invasive. My best guess is either a bad LVPS or something has failed in a state that the LVPS immediately shuts itself off when power is connected.

Thanks in advance for any insight - this failure is completely new to me!

[Tony Bandiera Jr]

Most likely it is a bad LVPS, a known weak point on Christies. I'd suggest the bench test as you planned, but be warned that without loading the power supply down, you may get readings that are ok on the bench but crash when put under load.

If you know how and are comfortable with it, open the LVPS (be careful as some caps can hold a nasty charge) and look over the entire LVPS. Look for burned parts, caps that are swollen or burst open, etc. Replace anything you find that is bad and bench test it. If voltages are ok on the bench after the repair, pop it back in the projector and test.

If the LVPS is ok then try booting the projector with only one of the cards inserted..it should boot or at least call out the missing card(s). Keep powering down, insert another card, repeat. When you put a card in that crashes it, you've found the bad one. (Most likely the PIB since it was flagged before.)

If you have any connections with a local theatre with Christies that has some spares, see if you can borrow a LVPS.

[Henry Atkinson]

Most likely it is a bad LVPS, a known weak point on Christies. I'd suggest the bench test as you planned, but be warned that without loading the power supply down, you may get readings that are ok on the bench but crash when put under load.

If you know how and are comfortable with it, open the LVPS (be careful as some caps can hold a nasty charge) and look over the entire LVPS. Look for burned parts, caps that are swollen or burst open, etc. Replace anything you find that is bad and bench test it. If voltages are ok on the bench after the repair, pop it back in the projector and test.

If the LVPS is ok then try booting the projector with only one of the cards inserted..it should boot or at least call out the missing card(s). Keep powering down, insert another card, repeat. When you put a card in that crashes it, you've found the bad one. (Most likely the PIB since it was flagged before.)

If you have any connections with a local theatre with Christies that has some spares, see if you can borrow a LVPS.

Appreciated - did already actually make a physical inspection of the inside of the LVPS - nothing seemed burnt, no caps had blown up or leaked, and the transformers didn't look burnt anywhere. Tried the rolling addition of cards as well, mixed/sporadic results. Got somewhere once with just the ICP and TPC, but only once - same behavior regardless of cards again after that. Also tried starting with the J7/P7 connector disconnected and connecting it once the thing had been on for a bit - had more luck with that, but still can't get it to complete the startup. I'm willing to bet something is wrong with the LVPS even if I can't see it. I'm going to bench test it, but I don't have a good way to simulate a load, so it probably won't yield anything I've yet to see by poking around with it in the projector. I'll try to get a spare to test with... they seem to be a ~1400 USD part even used, so that may be a gamble unless I can track one down to borrow.

[Marin Zorica]

Can you measurement LVPS while connected to projector, so you can check what power projector gets.

[Matt Fields]

Disconnect power, unplug a cable from the evb, power back on, repeat until you see what is shorting out the projector...for example I have seen bad coolant pumps short out the whole projector

[Henry Atkinson]

Can you measurement LVPS while connected to projector, so you can check what power projector gets.

Unfortunately not... but I am now certain that its the issue. I got it out of the machine again, hooked it up to mains, and before I even gave it 5v to enable, it let the magic smoke out. Took it apart, looks like a small transformer on the main board blew up melted a little bit. It stinks like electrical fire and burnt plastic but isn't shorted. Not sure whats up with that, but I'm certainly not putting it back into the machine at this point. Bizarrely, with the harness off of the LVPS and just hooked up to the Standby PSU, I don't get the dim/flickering tail lights anymore, so if there was a short somewhere, I'm all but certain the issue was in the LVPS and not somewhere in the projector.

Can you measurement LVPS while connected to projector, so you can check what power projector gets.

Unfortunately not going to be able due to the aforementioned death of the LVPS, but having poked around the EVB and Backplane with a meter, I'm not seeing any shorts. I'm going to try to get a spare LVPS and go from there.

[Henry Atkinson]

Decided to try adding cards back in with just the STBY power supply, and have found an odd pattern. The ICP shows 0 signs of life (which from memory is expected), and when its just the PIB, PIB + ICP, or PIB + ICP + IMS, the PIB seems to boot into STBY fine (solid green standby, flashing yellow run, slow-flashing green PIB lights). IMS also shows no signs of life, but again, expected.

Adding the TPC to any combination of cards not including the PIB is fine - it will POST, boot, and come up fine. HOWEVER any combination where the PIB and the TPC are both present leads to the flickering tail lights, coil whine, and bootlooping TPC issue. EVB being powered or unpowered has no impact on any of this.

Correct me if I'm wrong - this should not be the case even without the LVPS. When you put the projector into standby mode, the LVPS should be off, and the PIB and TPC should both be able to coexist. I don't have a good way to measure current on the STBY PSU right now, but is this normal behavior without an LVPS, or is this a sign of something else being wrong? The PIB and TPC seem happy enough, but could they be causing the problem? Or is this indicative of a dying STBY PSU? Curious if anyone has seen this before.

[Marin Zorica]

It can be a problem in TPC and even it did occour in same time, it could not be direct in problem with LVPS. So if problem is TPC which is powered bt stand by psu, how that could effect LVPS?
Than, it could be maybe problem with standby psu that, when TPC is connected it cannot deliver enought power for system...
I would again measure standby psu with and without TPC to see is there is stabile power lines or not. It is mandarory to know is problem in TPC or psu, or to try out another TPC if available.

[Henry Atkinson]

Successfully fixed - STBY PSU was totally dead. Would make 24v but could sustain basically no current draw, and seemingly at random would drop from 24v to 7v with no load. Temporarily replaced it with a large 14a 24V supply and ran wires out of the projector to accommodate the move. Slightly upsetting to have to wire such an unsightly bodge, but it works just fine, so I wont complain.

In addition, the LVPS was totally dead - neither the 12v or 24v half would turn on, and with the new STBY PSU and regardless of card config, it would throw an "LVPS AC Power Failure" alert. Replaced with a spare LVPS, and the problem went away. The replacement is just as old as the one that came out, so I'm assuming its living on borrowed time, but at least we're back up and running for the moment. This is probably going to be the final straw as far as justifying a replacement projector goes.

[Ryan Gallagher]

Successfully fixed - STBY PSU was totally dead. Would make 24v but could sustain basically no current draw, and seemingly at random would drop from 24v to 7v with no load. Temporarily replaced it with a large 14a 24V supply and ran wires out of the projector to accommodate the move. Slightly upsetting to have to wire such an unsightly bodge, but it works just fine, so I wont complain.
...

This is probably going to be the final straw as far as justifying a replacement projector goes.

Borrowed time indeed, the mental image of 3rd party power supplies wired in like IV bags in a hospital ICU is quite a state. But good job getting a heartbeat again!

[John Thomas]

Both failing together may be an indication of power issues at your venue. I'd recommend looking into MiT's IS-30 Spike Arrestor to put in-line. They make a 208 version that would suit your installation.

[Gordon McLeod]

I always install a TVSS on each booth panel at every installation. We typically use the Leviton one as they seem to so far be the most reliable

[Henry Atkinson]

All good thoughts - I'll look into it. The 120v AC side of our 2210 is run off of a UPS, which should do fairly well with transients, and it is on its own circuit. We've, save for one hiccup with the ballast a while ago (solved by reseating connectors) had no issues with the 208 side.

If I had to guess, the LVPS has been on its way out for a while now, and the STBY supply finally died when the projector was power cycled routinely after being left off for a while, and the 2 aren't related. The STBY supply seems considerably under-specced, and to be a common failure point. We'd taken to shutting the machine down on days without showings after the cooling pump died in an effort to prolong its life, but it seems that may be causing other issues. I'll probably have to re-evaluate that practice unless we stick with an overbuilt external 24v supply in the long-run for STBY.

[Ryan Gallagher]

We have a 2220, also in UPS for standby and doremi, but power down to standby after scheduled film runs, which are often months apart.

i used to power down the UPS on ocasion when TPC would get laggy, but have since realized we can reboot the TPC by unplug/replug as long as we are in standby at the time.

[Henry Atkinson]

We have a 2220, also in UPS for standby and doremi, but power down to standby after scheduled film runs, which are often months apart.

i used to power down the UPS on ocasion when TPC would get laggy, but have since realized we can reboot the TPC by unplug/replug as long as we are in standby at the time.

Yep - while TPC can always be rebooted by a disconnect/reconnect, if you're not in standby, things will get unhappy. We have some notes from years ago, apparently we had similar issues with long uptime on our TPC. The thing has been dying so frequently in other ways, I've yet to see it myself.

It unfortunately looks like there's really no good option for these Series 2 projectors if they're not running constantly. Leaving it in Standby seems to kill the STBY supply (and eventually some batteries), and leaving them on seems to kill the cooling pumps. I'm going to have to weigh options for us, neither seems ideal, and we've now suffered both failures within a year.