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Author Topic: NEC Series 2 Projectors (NC1600C, NC2000C, NC3200S) Issues, Tips, and Tricks Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 01-04-2012 04:21 PM                     The recommended procedure varies by circuit and what they want powered on. My rule of thumb on what switch to use when powering down things is based on the ease of finding its replacement. That is, most breakers are available at places like Home Depot for cheap...they are the logical switch point. That said, MOST breakers are NOT switch rated so NEVER use a breaker as a switch unless the load is off or substantially off...OR it is switch rated. If your breaker on the console is not a Square-D or like easy to source breaker, have on handy for when it wears out. Whatever you use as a switch WILL WEAR OUT. Odds are though, a common breaker or switch or contactor will be less expensive than a specialized, imported switch. The white switch is indeed the common fail switch and it is pretty expensive, as switches go. Note too, if people get in the habit of not using those switches, they won't be as likely to leave the power supply breaker (double pole) off (it has happened many times...I get the call...LPS failure...only to find the stupid LPS breaker is off). I give Strong a lot of credit to going to Square-D QO breakers in their power distribution panels...they are the best breakers to begin with...last as long as any in the biz and are easily sourced if they are needed. -Steve  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-04-2012 04:22 PM                     Strong no longer makes bases or anything. The manufacturing end of Strong has completely ceased. They will be distributing the Eprad bases and they also use all Square-D electrics... Mark  |  IP: Logged Adam Fraser Master Film Handler Posts: 499 From: Houghton Lake, MI, USA Registered: Dec 2001 posted 01-04-2012 04:50 PM                        Thanks for the replies guys. I will not use the white switch unless needed. The only people in the booth are myself and one other qualified person. The other question would be should I completely power off the projector nightly or less frequently? I thought someone mentioned on this board of a glitch that happened more often when the projector was powered off nightly, but I could be wrong.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-04-2012 04:54 PM                        The thing I wonder whether to power off is the server. As everybody knows, the hardest thing a computer does is boot-up, and that's when failures usually occur. I have an office computer from 2004 or so that's been running continually since we put it in (well except a couple times a year during our frequent stupid power failures), and I have 2 Dell PCs at my day job from about the same era that run all the time too. Never a lick of trouble out of any of them. So I'm thinking about just leaving the server running. Do others do this or is it the conventional wisdom to power them off?  |  IP: Logged Kevin Fairchild Expert Film Handler Posts: 125 From: Kennewick, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2008 posted 01-04-2012 05:59 PM                     We turn off all equipment at the end of the night by putting the projector into standby and then flipping the breakers on the pedestal. The breakers are cheap enough to keep on hand. In fact, they are probably the cheapest part of the whole system. Same with the servers. They are turned off nightly. Yes booting is probably hard on the hard drives, but what else? Again, hard drives are the cheapest and easiest part to replace in a server. Enterprise drives also come with a five year warranty. The best surge protector is a turned off breaker. Not to mention dust prevention. I choose to keep the proprietary equipment turned off as much as possible. Less usage means less breakage... theoretically Edit.... PS. Never use the breaker on the side of the projector. Too expensive to replace. PPS. We just got a couple of NEC 3240s. BEAUTIFUL! Thanks to Bevan at MIT  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-04-2012 09:04 PM                     @ Mike... You can leave them on if you desire to but most people turn them off unless it's a large complex with lots of TCC transfers going on after hours. There are air filters in "the other" server so they will stay clean. And your's is on rack slides so cleaning it is very easy. The UPS will protect it from any AC related problems and yes, the drives will last longer if it's left on. @ Kevin... I agree, the 3240 is very nice. I've installed a number of them including some of the very first ones. Would like to see more 4K content comming down the pipe line though...  |  IP: Logged Steven J Hart Master Film Handler Posts: 282 From: WALES, ND, USA Registered: Mar 2004 posted 01-04-2012 10:24 PM                        Mike, we are closed tues-weds-thurs so I generally shut the server down during that period. I leave it on the rest of the week. My only reason for shutting it down is I'm pretty sure that thing is a serious power hog, even when its idling. Our electric usage has gone up about 15% since switching over to digital.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 01-05-2012 12:56 AM                     What I can't get over why the hot air coming out of the back end of these Series 2 units where the Series 1 was drawing air in and had a filter back there in the same place... Why not simply exhaust up all the heat up the stack?  |  IP: Logged Philip Jones Film Handler Posts: 90 From: England Registered: Dec 2011 posted 01-15-2012 02:40 PM                     We had an NEC2000 put in our main screen and an NEC1200 in our second screen in November with Dolby DSS200 servers in each. For the most part they've been great, although we have had a few small problems. A couple of weeks ago the NEC2000 wouldn't connect with the server and eventually only a complete server reboot sorted it and after it came on it downloaded projector logs for about 5 minutes (it normally does this at the end of each show and take like 10 seconds). Then tonight it had been running fine all day until the last show when there no picture came on. The NEC had red lights on the back and on the side pannel it said "System Error - Green Satellite". A reboot of the projector solved that. Are these issues likely to be anything serious to worry about or are they just software glitches or whatever?  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 01-15-2012 03:24 PM                     When you start a feature in a NEC2000 and the screen goes all wacky-like a bad DVD playback (what happens is that it didn't get the right format cued in for the feature and it's using a different format macro of sorts), go back and forth between the flat and scope format and it should clear. Otherwise, prior to a glitch like this, build a playlist titled "reset", which would contain just two cues - an "end" and "douser close" and save it as 'reset'. That way, when you get stuck, just stop your feature, dump it out, then load in this 'reset' program and run it. This will return the system back to the beginning and will not shut down the bulb.  |  IP: Logged David Favel Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 764 From: Ashburton, New Zealand Registered: Feb 2002 posted 01-16-2012 04:34 AM                     re "System Error - Green Satellite" Talking to a tech today who said that used to be quite common, just needs a cable tie somewhere in the top of the projector to stop a connection coming loose.  |  IP: Logged Philip Jones Film Handler Posts: 90 From: England Registered: Dec 2011 posted 01-16-2012 05:57 AM                     Thanks David. I did actually just spoke to the people who put it in and they said basically the same thing. They to just carry on as normal but if it happens again they'll send someone out to reseat the card  |  IP: Logged Adam Fraser Master Film Handler Posts: 499 From: Houghton Lake, MI, USA Registered: Dec 2001 posted 01-16-2012 10:58 AM                        I was reading the owners manual for my NC2000 and it specifically says not to power the projector on or off at the breaker without using the switches on the side of the projector first or serious damage would occur, anyone know why? Looks like I'll be ordering a spare just in case. Also, I wish we could leave the server on 24/7 and the projector off during the time when we are closed. When done that way the GDC wants the projector on first saying IMB not found and to power up the projector before turning on the server.  |  IP: Logged Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 01-16-2012 01:42 PM                        Adam, we power down the projector every night and leave the GDC running. In the morning we power down the GDC, turn on the projector, then reboot the GDC.  |  IP: Logged Adam Fraser Master Film Handler Posts: 499 From: Houghton Lake, MI, USA Registered: Dec 2001 posted 01-16-2012 02:02 PM                        Justin, thanks for the info, I will try it out.  |  IP: Logged

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