Whether you’re on hospital staff or an engineer just unfamiliar with OEC C-arms, these five service calls are the most common issues we help people troubleshoot. Hopefully this quick guide saves you time, reduces system downtime, and keeps things moving for your patients or customers. So without further ado, here are the five most common issues we gets calls about.

#5 How Do I Find the Part Number?

#4 What to Do When Images Aren’t Sending to PACS

#3 How Do I Fix Communication Failure On A C-Arm?

#2 How Do I Fix A Pre-Charge Voltage Error?

(Honorable Mentions!)

#1 How Do I Get System To Boot Past The Five Arrows Screen?

#1 How Do I find The Part Number?

Let’s say you’ve tracked down your issue to a bad board or a faulty cable—but you don’t have a parts manual handy, and you need to place an order fast. Good news: OEC has made this simple.

Most boards have the part number printed directly on them.

Same with cables—OEC includes part number labels on the cable itself.

Just locate the label or number on the component, and you’re ready to order the correct replacement.

#2 What To do when Images Aren’t Sending to PACS

This one’s common and usually tied to your network configuration. If your images aren't making it to PACS, your first call should be to your IT department. Ask whether they’ve recently changed IP addresses or any DICOM network settings.

Once you’ve confirmed those details, go into the setup menu on your C-arm. Navigate to Network Configuration and update the host IP address your IT department provides.

Then, head over to the DICOM Store tab, select your PACS server, and make any needed changes there.

After making these updates, reboot the system to apply them.

Nine times out of ten, this resolves the issue. If the problem persists and your IT team hasn’t made any changes, give us a call at 877-733-7142 and we’ll help troubleshoot or get you any parts you may need.

#3 How do i fix Communication Failure on a C-arm?

Seeing a Communication Failure message on your C-arm or workstation monitor? The most common culprit is low voltage—usually 5V—coming from the power supply.

Check out our guide on how to fix Communication Failure on a C-arm!

#4 How do i fix a Pre-Charge Voltage Error?

This error shows up right after boot and is usually caused by one of three things:

1. Check the circuit breaker beneath the brake pedal. It may have been bumped and turned off accidentally. Pull it toward you to reset it, then reboot the system.

2. If the issue persists, your generator batteries are likely too low—or completely dead. Remove the battery cover to inspect them. There’s another cover on top that exposes the battery charger board, which should also be checked.

3. If the batteries are in decent shape but not charging, the charger board may be faulty, and you’ll need to replace it.

Check out our video below for step by step instructions that show you exactly what to look for.

(Honorable Mentions!)

Before we get to the most common issue, here are two quick honorable mentions:

• Vertical column not moving? These systems are aging, and sometimes it’s just time to replace the column.

• Image artifacts appearing? We’ve made videos on artifact troubleshooting—this is a common one, especially when covers or collimators are dirty or damaged.

#1 How do I Get System To Boot Past the Five Arrows Screen?

This is by far the most common call we get on the OEC 9800 and 9900—and fortunately, it’s usually an easy fix. Check out our video below or read our blog article for step-by-step instructions with helpful visuals.

These are the five most common issues we see on OEC 9800 and 9900 C-Arms—and with a little guidance, they’re almost always fixable on-site. If you run into one of these problems and still need help, reach out to us. We’ll connect you with someone who can get your system up and running again.