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The PIB seems to be the most sensitive part of the CP2220 projector. I had two fail last week and another about a month ago. None of these projectors are connected to UPS, which I know is hugely important, but also hugely expensive. I wanted to see what your experiences have been with failures when the projector IS on a UPS. Do PIB failures become significantly more rare, or do they still continue to occur far too frequently? As far as I'm aware, these failures have all been when the projector was power cycled intentionally, so I'm not sure a UPS would have prevented the failures anyway.

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Tell us Ken, how much is the replacement PIB? I have been buying Tripp-Lite 2200va UPS for around $600-800 per location and have NEVER had any PIB failures. The projector electronics are kept awake at all times, except for extreme outages which drain the UPS.

Also, the UPS provides surge and spike protection which IMHO is more important than the back up time. (Although having that back up time to allow the projector lamp, light engine and electronics to have fan forced cooldown is super important.)

And since I protect the server as well, any power glitch means the show can go on without a reboot of projector and server, just restrike the lamp and maybe back up show a few minutes.

For a 25,000+ projector I find it disturbing that you consider a UPS costing no more than a grand "hugely expensive."
 

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Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 02-15-2016, 11:31 AM:
 
No UPS in not the problem, the PIB design is. Many - way too many - fail whether on UPS or not.
 

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Posted by Ken Lackner (Member # 1002) on 02-15-2016, 01:04 PM:
 
Thanks, Dave, for confirming what I suspected. I had a feeling they were failing either at power off or, more likely, power on.

Tony, why did you lighlight the part about the PIB failing when the projector is power cycled in your quote? That shows that I agree with Dave and that a UPS probably would not prevent this. Believe me, I understand the benefits of having one. And the servers and automations are all on small desktop-style UPSs, but these are not adequate to power the projectors.

As for price, A.) it's not my money, and B.) add up the cost to outfit an entire complex, and "hugely expensive" starts to seem like an appropriate term. I am not questioning the benefit of having one or that the cost is justified. My comment about the price really wasn't even relevant to my question and I shouldn't have made it. I was simply asking if a UPS would prevent PIB failures.
 

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Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 02-15-2016, 01:41 PM:
 
We have not had PIB failures (yet, it would appear)...about 95% of all our projectors and servers are on a UPS.

Depending on how fancy one goes $500-$1000 for a UPS on this stuff is VERY cheap insurance. That said, UPS batteries don't last forever (typically 3-5 years) so it is an ongoing expense.

There is no way one can logically term them hugely expensive though. Yes, if you add them up in a complex they do add up...but then again so do the projectors and servers when you add them up (kind of scales together). It is certainly up to the person with the $$$ to decide but they don't get to complain at increased failures (in general, not just pointing out the PIB).

I have not had the PIB failures, as mentioned...I have many ICP failures in the ZX/M stuff in series 1 though (as well as a lot of LVPS for the ZX/M...conversely, the 2000S/SBs are tanks).

Looks like I've recently run into a case on a pair of CP2210s where if you don't power cycle the PIB occasionally, it can have distortion on the DVI inputs (streaking or little blocks next to otherwise straight lines).
 

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Posted by Marco Giustini (Member # 4544) on 02-15-2016, 02:46 PM:
 
A UPS should be part of your system. It protects your 30-50k investment, prevents lamp explosions, cancelled shows, damages... Because it does not serve an obvious, visible purpose you shouldn't label it as 'expensive'. It's much less expensive than your light engine but you wouldn't buy a projector without one
 

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Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 02-15-2016, 03:02 PM:
 
Christies and most Barco projectors can use a reasonable size UPS (~1000VA) to power the projector electronics, with only the lamp supply powered directly on mains. Doing this is wise if you have at-all dodgy power, recovering from a power flicker takes seconds rather than minutes... and you get enhanced surge protection.
 

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Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 02-16-2016, 07:42 AM:
 
In my post above regarding the CP2000ZX/M change ICP to PCM...damn alphabet soup!
 

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Posted by Buck Wilson (Member # 5885) on 02-16-2016, 05:48 PM:
 
^^^Speaking of which, what even is PIB? Power input board?
 

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Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 02-16-2016, 06:13 PM:
 
Projector Intelligence Board (seriously)
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 02-19-2016, 12:46 PM:
 
I don't have any screens that are NOT on a UPS.... Been replacing lots of batteries lately though. They are pretty inexpensive in hundred lot quantities.

Mark
 

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