An Mar Film Lab, Athens

REPAIR OF AN OBSOLETE POWER SUPPLY

If you can get this to work, we might be able to say that 2020 has not been a total disaster after all!” Irini Theodoropoulou – An Mar Film Lab

The Spirit 2k Datacine is a film scanner, capable of digitising 16 and 35mm cinema film into modern day computer and TV standards. It is at the core of An Mar’s film digitisation process, so when the internal DC power supply stopped working, it looked like a disaster.

With a damaged power supply, the Spirit scanner is totally useless. ‘Googling’ the PSU manufacturer and model number drew a blank; it is obsolete. Worse than that, there are no manuals, diagrams or datasheets available, not even 2nd hand units on eBay!

One of Irini’s colleagues recommended speaking to APS about the repair of the power supply. “Our technician sent me an email saying that he has not known of any power supply related problem that APS cannot fix (obvious indication of faith and support in the company! : )”

Back in 2006 when the Spirit 2k was cutting edge technology, it cost around €900,000 to buy! It is bigger than you imagine too, weighing approx. 500 kilos.

The PSU had a complex multi-layer control PCB and with zero documentation, which proved quite challenging! There were no visible signs of damage anywhere, even though smoke from the front end had been reported.

There was boosted DC rail on the primary line caps, but it disappeared when the control IC reached its UVLO point (under voltage lockout). The UVLO is an electronic circuit that inhibits the PSU if the rail voltage drops below a set value.

APS don’t like to be beaten, so the repair was escalated to our Technical Director who set about reverse engineering much of the PCB to derive a schematic. After many hours of work, a solution was found and the repaired PSU returned to Irini. The time spent was way beyond what would normally be financially justified to repair a PSU, but we just couldn’t bear the thought of a €900,000 machine being scrapped for the sake of a €1,000 power supply! For An Mar, there really was no other option.

The Spirit 2k is now back at work at the An Mar Film Lab in Athens, Greece, digitising more of their customers films and long may it last!