Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: GDC SX-2000AR IMB and SX-3000 repair

This is topic GDC SX-2000AR IMB and SX-3000 repair in forum Digital Cinema Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Sergey Morozov (Member # 9911) on 07-24-2018, 05:25 AM:

Hello!

Could anybody tell me about repair process of GDC IMBs which are out-of-warranty now?
How much does it cost? Where can you do this?
We have 2000AR IMB that don't turn on and no LEDs on it, and pair of SX3000 with low batteries and certs are lost.
When we asked GDC, they said that repair of hardware failures is impossible. Is it true?

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 07-24-2018, 11:14 AM:

I don't know what the situation is in Russia. In the United States, you have to renew the warranty if the cert battery goes out in a GDC media block for which the warranty has expired. My understanding is that GDC does not offer a one-time repair service.

Per the forum's conventions, I'm not going to cite actual figures (which probably wouldn't reflect prices in Russia anyways), but the cost is significant.

So I guess the question to ask your regional GDC support center is if they'll re-cert your SX-3000s if you renew the warranty on them, and if so, how much that would be. It's then a case of weighing up the cost of that versus the cost of replacing them.

I would advise anyone with SX-3000s to replace the batteries every year, regardless of usage. Yes, GDC's official line is that they'll last a lot longer, but I've seen them go after 13-15 months, especially in installations in which the projector is powered down overnight. For units that are in warranty, GDC will ship you a set of batteries at no charge, plus a helpful instruction sheet for doing the swapout. All you have to do is ask.

I would also advise that keeping your GDCs in warranty is an essential operating expense that should be budgeted for as part of the core cost of doing business, by anyone who uses GDC equipment for mission critical functions. If it's in warranty, their support is excellent: they'll give you the support you need to get your screen back up within 24 hours at most. If it isn't, you're on your own.

Posted by Sergey Morozov (Member # 9911) on 07-31-2018, 05:25 AM:

Thanks a lot, Leo!

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 08-02-2018, 08:47 AM:

quote: Leo Enticknap
My understanding is that GDC does not offer a one-time repair service.

Actually, not true. They still offer a warranty extensin, but at a higher proce is the IMB has already failed.

Mark