PanelView 1400e DYING!!!!!

Hello There - We have Panelview 1400e in our production floor that have been in service for almost 4 years, and they are starting to die on us by dimming to black. The screens are HARDLY readable and you can only read white text on dark colored background. So I tried to increase the contrast and brightness and apparently its no use those Panel Views are going on me. We use RIO to communicate with our PVs. So I called AB Rep at the city and he informed me that they discontinued making PV 1400e. I WAS LIKE WHAT!!!! "WHY ME WHY DO THEY HAVE TO DO THIS WHEN MY PV1400e IS DYING" so apparently AB made an adapter kit that will replace dying/about to die PV 1400e for almost the same price as buying a new 1400e With a 10" PV1200 I think "Not sure about the PV model". So before I make the investment, I just wanted to know you guys out there what are you taking as an alternative to replacing your dying PV 1400e???? I don't really want to reset/reprograme a PV, I just want to be able to dump the old program that I am already using on my current PV and plug&play. Any thoughts would be Appreciated!...



Thank you,

Y@S!

I am sure you have checked this, but I beleive they have a light source in the back that makes the panel readable. With out this bulb, they are real hard to read. According to the user manual the backlight last 10000 hours. If you have the manual it tells how to check how long the backlight has been on. I understand this may be hard if you can not read the screen, but you could probably check one of the working ones. There is a backlight replacement kit (AB Cat# is 6189-NL2). This information is out of a 1997 user manual, so I do not know if they have discontinued the backlight kit or not. Your AB dealer should be able to tell you. Hope this helps.

I'm pretty sure the 1400e is a CRT, so there's no backlight. THIS page lists the 'migration kits' to replace it with a 1000e. Ken can probably tell you if the 1400e program can be used in the 1000e, or if there is a conversion utility available...

I found an interesting picture of a 1400e HERE that was 'touched' a bit hard...



-Eric

Eric,


You are completly correct!! Not sure where my head was, but i am mistaken (and i even went to the floor and looked at one). The backlight I found referance to is for the 1000e. Sorry for the miss information POWER_PACKED.

I replaced a PV1400e with one of the new PV+1250. I converted the old PB1400e application file using the import facility in RSView but the graphics looked very ordinary and there was still a lot of config work to be done. So I rewrote the project from scratch - it was a good opportunity to clear out all the unused stuff and add new screens and take advantage of the new graphics in RSView. The project was only medium size (32 screens). If you have a large project, or not much time I would go for the conversion option.The modular nature of the PV+ makes maintenance and repair easier.The only thing I don't like is that you can't edit the file you upload from the PV+, you have to go back to the author for the source files.

I have found that the typical life span of a CRT based panel view running 24/7 is about 3 years, then the CRT slowly dies. Our solution has been to have a local industrial electronics repair shop, replace the CRT's. The cost is usually between $500-900 USD. When the CRT dies the keypad covers and or touch screens are usually worn also. Thus, the price variance.

Ken