BATTERY on BARCO ALCHEMY "X"

[Allan Barnes]

Stupid question of the week? THE DATE ON THE 2 SEALED BATTERIES on the ALCHEMY "X"......10/10/2020..... IS THAT THE INSTALL DATE OF THE BATTERY or the EXPIRY DATE?

[Leo Enticknap]

If you mean the handwritten date on the label on the battery holder cover, it's the install date, your ICMP-X is well past the four year recommended swapout interval, and it wants a new battery ASAP.

If the ICMP-X is in a Series 4 projector, or a Series 2 projector with an up-to-date or reasonably recent software/firmware bundle, you should get a low battery warning in the web UI or Barco Communicator if it's discharged into the danger zone. But even if you don't see that warning, if I were in your shoes, I'd replace that battery as a high priority.

As an aside, I did a PM call at a 10-plex of SP4Ks with ICP-Ds and SR-1000s in them earlier this week, which we installed in the fall of 2021 (but had not been asked to service since, until now). All the ICP-Ds had battery install dates in January 2021, meaning that they were a bit over the four years. I measured three of the old batteries that came out of them, at between 2.95 and 3.02. None of the projectors were registering low battery warnings. Miraculously, I managed to swap the batteries in all the ICP-Ds and all the SR-1000s without losing any of them.

[Allan Barnes]

COPY THAT.... IT IS THE INSTALL DATE

I just watched the BARCO video on U-TUBE about changing the batteries and re-read the Barco Manual about this. My Service Guy accidentally killed an ICMP X........... but it looks so easy (famous last words)

Can you not send a dead ICMP-X back to Barco for service? RETURNED TO LIFE ?

[Leo Enticknap]

Things keep changing, but the last I knew, Barco did not offer a one time return/exchange service for ICMPs that were out of warranty, in the USA at any rate, meaning that if the battery swapout fails, you need to buy a new ICMP. No harm in checking with your local dealer in Canada, though.

I have accidentally "manslaughtered" one ICMP (thankfully, it was in warranty) out of high dozens and possibly hundreds of ICMPs and ICP-Ds that I've replaced batteries in. I don't know why I lost it. I followed the procedure I always do: placed a drinking straw over the positive terminal of the empty side, having first checked that the straw was not split or damaged; inserted new battery, removed straw, waited 30 seconds, inserted straw over the positive terminal of the old battery side, then gently prized the old battery out with a plastic spudger. The only explanation I can think of is that the new battery was NFG out of the factory: I have to confess that I didn't measure its voltage before installing it, which I have done with every one I've used since.

[Steve Guttag]

Not to be contrary...Barco has definitely offered "Swaps" on the ICMP family as well as their light engines for out of warranty systems.
Semi-unrelated...I just changed out GDC IMB batteries on the SX2000AR and even after 4-years (I change early...batteries cheap...servers expensive), the worst was in the high 3.5V out of 3.6 with most still at 3.6V. SX-3000s are more thirsty, in my experience.

As to the ICMP...Barco makes such a deal out of measuring the voltage and not changing too soon...I come back to...batteries are cheap, servers are expensive. I plan to stick to a 4-5 year life-cycle on a battery. It would be nice if everyone using batteries would do what GDC did on their SR-1000 by putting a battery indicator on the UI so you KNOW what the voltage is without having to handle it.

[Elia Orselli]

ICMP battery status is recorded in logs, but I agree that the GDC SR1000 (and Dolby IMS) solution is simpler

[Leo Enticknap]

Not to be contrary...Barco has definitely offered "Swaps" on the ICMP family as well as their light engines for out of warranty systems.

As I wrote above, things do change; and the information often doesn't filter down to me in real time when they do, because my job does not directly involve sales.

I don't know how much Barco charges for an out of warranty recertification, but the last I knew, the figure was significant, though reasonable, for Dolby and GDC models for which this service is still offered. However, real cost is not that, but rather the loss of business from a downed screen while the process takes place. So it comes down to your point about staying on top of battery replacements being by far the cheaper option. For this reason, I recommend to my customers that ICMPs, Doremi IMBs, and SR-1000s be done every three years, and earlier GDC models every two, even though that's a shorter replacement interval than the manufacturer recommends. The only exception to that rule is Dolby cat745s with the original CR2477N/CR2032 battery holders: with those, I advise customers to leave their projectors on 24/7 for the remainder of the IMB's service life, given the well known history of a high battery change failure rate.

[Carsten Kurz]

I heard something in the 3000 US$ range. Which is basically a new/refurbished ICMP.

[Dave Macaulay]

I asked Barco USA, and was told repair is not available.
For battery change Barco has a change kit with a tube for the upper contact and a plastic insulator strip for the bottom of the battery. You use them for the new battery and for removing the old one. Improvising is of course possible.
A momentary short of either battery holder immedately bricks the server.

[Elia Orselli]

It's not a repair, but a replacement with a refurbished same model unit with a specific discount.

[Steve Guttag]

The official work that Barco uses is "SWAP."

[Leo Enticknap]

For battery change Barco has a change kit with a tube for the upper contact and a plastic insulator strip for the bottom of the battery. You use them for the new battery and for removing the old one. Improvising is of course possible.

If that kit came with the promise that if you accidentally brick your ICMP while using it, you get a free return/exchange, I'd gladly recommend it to owners of warranty expired ICMPs. But it doesn't, so, given the difference in price, you might as well buy a CR2477 and some nitrile gloves on Amazon, and a box of plastic drinking straws (not the Gavin Newsom-approved paper ones, which will become conductive if even the slightest bit of moisture gets on them) from your local supermarket.

[Carsten Kurz]

ICMP battery status is recorded in logs, but I agree that the GDC SR1000 (and Dolby IMS) solution is simpler

Our last ICMP battery change was in October 2020. I haven't seen a battery warning on our ICMP/Commander GUI, so I just downloaded the logs to see wether I can find some indication.

First of all - is it normal for Barco logs that their log timestamps do not show a year? Or is it just a feature that their logs always go back exactly one year?

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++++ log from host FFBARCO extracted on Tue Apr 29 21:36:12 UTC 2025 ++++
Apr 16 16:18:23 FFBARCO user.info GIP: VideoMezzanine- HDMI controller state = 0

That seems to be April 16th, 2024, so, oldest entry comes first.

The first search for battery gives this:

Apr 16 18:17:31 FFBARCO user.info SMS: Report- |BATTERY| 3029 mV

The last entry for battery, after most of 2024 and early 2025 ran past:

Apr 29 20:57:51 FFBARCO user.info SMS: Report- |BATTERY| 2878 mV

That's obviously April 29 2025.

So, seems I am safe for a few more months. This machine has not been used a lot during it's 9 year's life..

The voltage measurement on this first-generation ICMP, however, seems to be quite coarse. The last 10 or so battery occurrences flip between 2878 and 2900, then between 2900 and 2921, and so on up.

When I'm going to change the battery, I'll try to remind me to compare the current log voltage with my own cell measurement and see if they match closely enough.

- Carsten