CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

xtimebanditx · Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2020 6:09 am Post subject: Barco Graphics 801s Issue

A little back story on how I obtained this projector:
I was browsing the internet for CRT monitors when I ran across someone talking about CRT projectors (I love CRT tech). I had forgotten that such a thing existed so I went to search on eBay and found some that were far away. After saving a few to my watch list I decided to look at Facebook Marketplace. To my surprise there was someone selling two of them. A Sony G70 and a Graphics 801s. I quickly messaged him as I saw that the Sony was a great one (from the list on this site). They had been up for around two weeks so I thought he probably sold them, but he got back to me and said someone was coming to pick them both up that day. I was pretty bummed because I really wanted the Sony so that it would match my other CRT tvs (FV310 & XBR960). That night he messaged me back saying that he had found another 801s projector that was still in the box and appeared to be brand new. I was still disappointed about the Sony, but I said what the heck ill drive the two hours to get it. Found out that it was his ex son in law's projectors that he left in the basement. I went ahead and grabbed it for $50 and it came with the manual/remote/power cable/ 9v battery in an additional unopened box. I am assuming I did pretty good for the price. Maybe?

The problem:
I pulled the projector out of the box and turned it on after going through the manual as this is my first crt projector. It says that it has 102 hours (NEW?) on it so I continued to try to set the convergence. After a few hours it developed a jitter in the image and I can hear what sounds like popcorn(arching?) in the quadrupler or around the EHT board. The sounds seem to line up with what is happening on the screen. The image loses focus and it's similar to zooming in and out in a quick motion. None of the caps appear to be bulging and I have no experience with troubleshooting HV. I am still trying to learn as much as I can.

Anyone else have this happen or any ideas on how to troubleshoot this? I figured this forum would be a great place to ask as it seems this is a niche market. Also opinions on if I should keep this projector or try and find a better one? Wink

P.S. maybe I could post a video on youtube and link it to show what is happening.

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2020 3:23 pm Post subject:

BAd HV splitter. I've got those here if you need one.

102 hours is the run time roughly that Barco puts on the sets before selling them, so yes, you dun good! Smile

xtimebanditx · Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2020 5:48 pm Post subject:

I do need one and where/how do I go about buying one?

I wonder why it would go bad if it's been in a box since 94'. What's your recommendation for future proofing this thing or should I put it back in the box for another 20 years and find a 9" model? Also, is there a particular upscaler that works best for laserdisc over s-video? It was the first thing I tried and it looked terrible, but my Sega Saturn looked great.

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 4:01 pm Post subject:

Email me at curt@curtpalme.com.

Your question is like asking why a 25 year old car has a cracked radiator hose when it's been parked in a garage since it was new.

Age happens, and at 25-30 years old, anything can happen. The HV section of the Barco (and many other CRT brands) is the weak spot due to the 34Kv involved.

With the low hours on the 801, it should look almost as good as a higher end 8" EM focusing set.

Keep in mind now that we are super spoiled with HD, which really didn't exist when the 801 was out. Compared to a flat screen, any CRT will look a bit fuzzy, but back in the day, Svideo via a Faroudja scaler was fantastic. the Faroudjas were state of the art at $25K back in the mid 90s, but at this point, look for a used Lumagen HDP or HDQ.

If the projector looks 'terrible' to you, then either it's a lack of setup (a good projector setup for a newbie can easily take 6 hours), or you're expecting too much. If you haven't set up a CRT before, then I'd say it's a setup issue. Read everything on the main site, go through the Barco manual (also on the main site if you didn't get one), and read, read, read, and play with the deck.

Many clients called back when I was selling a projector a day complaining about the poor image quality, but once they read the manual, they called back saying how blown away they were.

good luck!

xtimebanditx · Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2020 6:10 am Post subject:

It make sense about the age and that anything could happen over 25 years; especially with temperatures in a basement causing things to fluctuate in size.

Thanks for the recommendation and I will be on the lookout for one as I enjoy my older stuff that only has s-video!

It looks crisp through port 3, but I didn't get the adapter built before it started acting up. The colors are amazing compared to my epson projector so I'm looking forward to see what this thing can do when properly setup.

Also sent you an email about trying to obtain a splitter.

Thanks.

garyfritz · Joined: 08 Apr 2006 Posts: 12026 Location: Fort Collins, CO

xtimebanditx · Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2020 6:01 pm Post subject:

Thanks Gary for the info. I know that the arcade scene deals a lot with recapping old monitors, but they have kits with all the required capacitors and components. Do you know if anyone is doing that for these old projectors? I'm decent at soldering, but terrible at desoldering and would have to buy a Hakko desoldering gun for a job like that.

I feel bad putting hours on a new old stock projector....the problem is that they're big and I don't know if people will want them in the future. Ultimately I Would like to get my hands on a G90 or Barco 909 if someone on here live in the south east or if I could find one on my local classifieds. Thumbs Up

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2020 6:39 pm Post subject:

Just run it until it dies. These tanks aren't worth putting a lot of money into, and there's 100s of caps in the unit. Once in a while the power supply caps (one of them) on the output of the switching transformer will short out, and then the set will pulse with power about once a second. Usually easy to find the shorted cap.

Then buy replacements on Mouser. The caps used in the Barcos aren't known for leaking, but the Philips ones can short out. I'd say it's been at least 10 years since I've seen a shorted cap though, although the last time I repaired a Barco power supply was probably 5 years ago.