Need an NEC 900C part.

[Armand Daiguillon]

Hi all,

I need a part - its the "CPU PWB Board" for an NEC 900C.
I'm told NEC doesn't have any right now nor do they have an ETA.

Does anybody know of a company that might have stock on these ? Refurb is ok.

Pic attached -

I really need one ASAP.

Thanks !!

Armand


necbrd.jpg

[Armand Daiguillon]

Also a bit more info here - the projector stopped working with a "fan stopped" error. I do have extra fans since they actually do go out pretty regularly. Changing the fan did not work. I checked the power coming off the board and its only 3.2 volts. (should be 12) -

[Marco Giustini]

I am not such an NEC expert but is the CPU board driving the fan more or less directly? I'd imagine there is a driver board in between, I'm not sure the CPU board is the one you need?

[Armand Daiguillon]

I am not such an NEC expert but is the CPU board driving the fan more or less directly? I'd imagine there is a driver board in between, I'm not sure the CPU board is the one you need?

In the pic you'll see a square cut out - that is where the fan goes, it plugs into this board.

[Ioannis Syrogiannis]

You can use that board coming from another projector (as you can see on the different models that are shown in the pic) and change the software to fit the NC900.
The fan is not coming with the board, if the problem is indeed with the fan, it won't be solved. But my guess is that it is with the board.
Does that help at all?
Do you find the board, if you look for it as a part of NC1200 or NC2000, for instance?
Any such projectors sitting around?

[Armand Daiguillon]

You can use that board coming from another projector (as you can see on the different models that are shown in the pic) and change the software to fit the NC900.
The fan is not coming with the board, if the problem is indeed with the fan, it won't be solved. But my guess is that it is with the board.
Does that help at all?
Do you find the board, if you look for it as a part of NC1200 or NC2000, for instance?
Any such projectors sitting around?

Nope - no luck finding a board. I can order one from Strong - but its out of stock at NEC with no firm date on when it'll be in.
We really need it ASAP - but it looks like we might just be down a while ....

[Marco Giustini]

ah - gotcha, it's the CPU fan itself. Interesting.

[Leo Enticknap]

Might be worth contacting our sales department (sales [at] movingimagetech.com). We do have a few shelves of older Series 2 NEC parts in the warehouse, but I couldn't tell you if that is among them.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

There are many Chinese places that sell all brand of used parts, and they would absolutely have it... Some of them can be found in the "Digital Projector forum" on Facebook.

[Tony Bandiera Jr]

There are many Chinese places that sell all brand of used parts, and they would absolutely have it... Some of them can be found in the "Digital Projector forum" on Facebook.

Not a great idea to risk buying some Chinese junk of unknown origin (listed on Facecrook no less) on a machine critical to your business there, Markie Poo.

Armand, contact Leo's company, they'll steer you to a source if they don't have it on hand.

[Leo Enticknap]

I don't have access to our inventory database, and so can't give you an answer, but Jim in the office can.

That having been said, the last two customers I helped with NC900s needing parts both had a long wait. The first had a bad ICP, and that projector was down for five months while it was back ordered. The NC900 does not use a stock TI ICP, but a slightly modified one to manage the synchronization of the AC power going to the mercury discharge lamps (so it was explained to me). This was a college campus that was able to use a classroom-type projector temporarily while waiting for it, and so the delay was manageable (they only played DCPs a few times a year, and the classroom projector took care of the HDMI). The second had a router card go out (surprise surprise), and we were told that there was a 2-4 week back order. It ended up being more like two months, during which time one house of a 6-plex was down.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Not a great idea to risk buying some Chinese junk of unknown origin (listed on Facecrook no less) on a machine critical to your business there, Markie Poo.

Armand, contact Leo's company, they'll steer you to a source if they don't have it on hand.

That's where the NC-900 was made Tony, not to mention a lot of other parts for new projectors being sold today... I have actually ordered Series One parts from one of the sites and all was fine. It is not only fully warranted to work, but the place I ordered from will eat the shipping if a part sold has to be returned... Beats closing your theater down for 5 months while you hope the projector manufacturer does another run of the part you need...

[Leo Enticknap]

Mainly agreed with Mark. Obviously there is a risk involved with buying used or aftermarket parts. Buf if the new OEM part you need is not available or back ordered for a long time and a mission critical business asset is out of action as a result, even if that used or aftermarket part doesn't last very long, buying it puts you in a better place than having a movie theater down. The only caveat to that is if a poor quality aftermarket part causes damage to other parts in the projector - that's a risk/reward calculation that the buyer has to weigh up.

The other alternative would be to look for an entire "used but OK" NC900 to have on site as a parts donor machine. Lots of them have been retired for laser upgrades in the last few years.

[Tony Bandiera Jr]

That's where the NC-900 was made Tony, not to mention a lot of other parts for new projectors being sold today... I have actually ordered Series One parts from one of the sites and all was fine. It is not only fully warranted to work, but the place I ordered from will eat the shipping if a part sold has to be returned... Beats closing your theater down for 5 months while you hope the projector manufacturer does another run of the part you need...

As usual you fire from the hip without comprehending what you are replying to. I know where NECs are made (as well as over 90% of everything else.) My issue is with this part which I will say again, in bold type this time:

...buying some Chinese junk of unknown origin (listed on Facecrook no less).

So you say you've ordered from "one of those sites and all was fine." OK, so say which site you ordered from with that success so Armand doesn't roll the dice on the wrong one (which is a high probability on Facecrook.) THAT would be far more helpful that throwing him a bone with no meat on it.

Leo, I agree that even a cheaper part that may not last is, in some cases, better than being down altogether. BUT: my years in the cinema service biz and dealing with a particular location with equipment that had one of the four screens go down almost every day (plus working in an amusement park down there where one ride was particularly prone to frequent breakdowns) showed me that it is far better to be down ONCE for a bit longer than to have repeated breakdowns which makes you get the reputation of not being able to consistently keep a show on screen (or a ride running.) Those issues killed that 4-plex and put him out of business, and caused that ride to be taken out.

I for one hated to have to do return service calls on ANYTHING due to me trying to save the customer a buck. If they insisted on going the cheap route, I would let them know of the risks and let them decide what to do. In most cases we reached the compromise of a quick band-aid fix to get back online, with a scheduled return call to do a permanent fix with the right/new parts. (Mainly audio amps, but in rare cases some Century gears, old removed intermittents, you get the idea.)

[Leo Enticknap]

Agreed completely that as a general rule, buying OEM parts is preferable to saving a few bucks on aftermarket. The OEM's reputation is on the line if their logo is on the box, and so even if both the OEM and the no name part are made on the same production line in the same factory in Bangbong, the OEM will likely do far more comprehensive QC before boxing it up and selling it (with the parts that perform poorly in QC being sold under the no name brand). The problem in Armand's case is that the OEM does not have the part he needs and cannot give an ETA for it, meaning that he could be looking at a choice between taking the risk on an aftermarket part, or having a screen down indefinitely (not just for a bit longer). I've been in this situation with parts for older Series 2 NECs, and have seen it take months rather than weeks for the part to become available again. There's no easy, one size fits all call for this - everyone has to weigh up the totality of the circumstances before deciding what to do.