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Canon 350D seems to die after an hour


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Hi,

I'm slowly working my way through the learning minefield of astrophotography. My latest unexpected problem is my old Canon 350D (unmodified). Having had a few times when it just stopped working, and found it was the battery dying, I've started using a mains power supply. However I am still getting problems.

My setup is using APT to control the camera, with a separate USB-to-serial cable providing shutter control. It works fine but after around an hour of usage the camera just stops doing anything. Powering the camera off and then on again doesn't seem to help at this point. Of course, it generally takes me around an hour to do the alignment, focus (manually with Bhatinov mask) and decide on a target. At which point the camera just gives up the ghost.

I wondered if it might just be the cold and / or damp getting to it?

Any thoughts or experiences to share?

Thanks,

Phil

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What type of mains adaptor is it? I know my DSLR requires a charged battery in the camera for it to work.

If yours is the same it could be that the cold is killing the battery.

I don't have a Canon though so it may be different.

/Dan

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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If you are using live view for extended length of time during focusing/alignment/framing etc then it is possible the camera is shutting down due to internal temperature (Thermal Shutdown).

Does it come back to life after leaving it switched off for 20mins - 1/2hr?

Several of the Canon models have such thermal protection fitted... especially those which have video facilities.

Best regards.

Sandy. :grin:

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350d doesn't have live view, but still worth disabling the image preview in the options. Not sure if that would contribute to a thermal shutdown when outside in the cold but will helps reduce sensor temps/noise.

Sometimes I have had to also reconnect the USB plug on mine to get things going. Make sure your PC settings are not putting the USB ports to sleep - or anything else for that matter. Also make sure the camera auto-power off settings are not set.

Not sure what else to suggest but if it's happening after a set period of time it's worth checking those things.

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Many thanks for the suggestions. As DanL says, there is no live view on the 350D, but you are right that I do need to make sure I shut off the image preview! The AC power supply for the camera doesn't need a battery in there. I've also disabled the settings that allow for USB ports to be suspended - it might have been something like that causing the symptoms I had, although it was odd that the camera seemed to get into a confused state!

I'll try again if ever there is some suitable weather!

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Hi Phil,

Ok about the live view, I was not sure if the 350D had it or not.

I think that model also had Auto power shutdown which can be set for various timespans or switched off all together in one of the menu's... if this is active it could create possible problems with reconnecting to the USB ports when you try to power up again (the ports get hung up)... often requiring the cables to be disconnected and then reconnected.

Hope you can find the problem.

Best regards.

Sandy. :grin:

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Does the camera work for more than an hour without the USB cable fitted?

If so, what are you using the USB cable for?  Long exposure shutter release, and multiple frames?   If thst's all and nothing more, how about trying with a cheap £10 intervalometer that you can get from amazon/ebay.

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I have the same camera.  I had all sorts of problems running on the internal batteries, sub-zero temps seem to kill them fairly rapidly.  I now use a 12v adapter to power it from an 85 Ah leisure battery.  You can get these for around £40-50, but you'll also need a specific leisure battery mains charger (don't use a normal car battery charger for a leisure battery - it will kill it).   I also had similar issues with the mains adapter.  I never figured out why.  Sometimes it would be fine, sometime freeze after an hour, etc.  I would have to remove the adapter (the fake battery with the power lead in it).

Since changing to the 12v adapter I've not had any problems like you describe, but like cjdawson says, try a test without the USB as a way to troubleshoot.  I tend to turn off the auto sleep function when using it on the 12V since the long exposures mean it'll be on anyway.  Just remember to put it back on when using batteries again.

This is the adapter I use: http://astronomiser.co.uk/canonpowerpro.htm#ast350ddc

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