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1100D cold finger sensor cooling with TEC and water cooling

Gina

By Gina
in DIY Astronomer

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Gina

Gina

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It wasn't a problem to dismantle it and get the shutter assembly out. Went in from the back - that was the way. Lots of screws taken out but no problem - all normal screws, same as the rest in the camera as far as the type of screwdriver required. Did need to do quite a lot of dismantling though as the photo shows. But no special tools required, no particular skill other than normal use of a screwdriver and tweesers with tiny screws.

When I take the other camera apart I'll make notes as I go along and photos probably too and then post a "How-To" and detail the steps.

1100D_disassembled.jpg

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Gina

Gina

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As mentioned above, I've now dismantled the almost working camera and taken out the shutter assembly. I have posted the details in a separate thread complete with photos at each stage.

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Gina

Gina

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Swapped shutter assemblies and put everything back together. Tested camera using it's own display - still the same - Err 30 :) So it wasn't the shutter assembly.

I'm using the imaging assembly that was using the long cold finger and that was working fine - I've pulled the cold finger out. I could try the other imaging assembly but I got the error with that, so there seems little point. The only other thing I can think of is to strip it down again and take out the imaging assembly and give it a really good clean, removing all the thermal paste on the circuit board with IPA. It could be that there's a trace on the connector.

Somewhat disappointing to say the least :evil6: I took everything nice and slowly with full concentration and apart from putting one screw in the wrong place (easily corrected) everything went perfectly and I was feeling confident. I know it's most likely to be something I've done but I've carried out all steps including all the cooling mods with great care and attention - but nobody is perfect :(

I'll say one thing (if I haven't already) - I've disassembled and reassembled these camera so often that I know them inside out. I've certainly gained a lot of experience :)

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Gina

Gina

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Done a clean and did find possible bad contact which I thoroughly cleaned but that wasn't the trouble.

I've now found the problem! Clearly caused by lack of care :( A broken leg on a surface mount device. A three legged one right beside the shutter connector. Probably a transistor. Question now is am I clever enough to unsolder the one from the other main board and solder it onto the otherwise working board. OTOH I'm wondering what's wrong with the other board so I'm going to microscopically examine that.

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Gina

Gina

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No a leg has broken off the chip.

I have very closely examined the other main board and can see nothing wrong. The symptom is that when the battery is inserted and the door closed a bright orange light shines on the front of the camera - the LED that flashes to show the flash is active when pressing the shutter button half way. The on/off switch has no effect and the LED remains on after the door is opened - only going off when the battery is pulled out.

I've unsoldered the damaged chip from the board. The other board is clearly duff so I have nothing to lose by trying to transfer the chip, as I see it.

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Gina

Gina

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Eureka!

Done it - replaced the broken chip with the same one from the other main board and can now take photos without getting an error :(:hello2::)

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Gina

Gina

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Now... Do I dare risk replacing the imaging assembly with the other one which has the cold finger? Maybe tomorrow :( I think I'll have a go in the obsy tonight (if it stays clear) even without a cooled camera on a hot night! Could probably do a more accurate drift alignment anyway. That would be useful. See how I feel.

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Auntystatic

Auntystatic

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A big Well Done :(:icon_salut::):headbang: to you Gina, nicely spotted and well fixed, result!

My sensor temp last night was 13C, but up here at 54deg we have now lost astronomical dark until the end of July, last nights imaging was over by 02:15 as my 5min subs were showing light backgrounds.

Hope it all goes well for you tonight 98% humidity forecast for me tonight I might give it a miss, setting it all up for so little darkness is a real effort, I need an obs.

:)

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Reggie

Reggie

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Gina, I would look at seeing if you can find a replacement part for the one with the broken leg. If it's a transistor then it's obviously there to switch things, so it would seem a sensible bet with the symptoms you're describing?

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Gina

Gina

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A big Well Done :(:icon_salut::):headbang: to you Gina, nicely spotted and well fixed, result!
Thank you :evil6:

My sensor temp last night was 13C, but up here at 54deg we have now lost astronomical dark until the end of July, last nights imaging was over by 02:15 as my 5min subs were showing light backgrounds.
Ah yes, not quite so bad here but not a lot of darkness and what there is doesn't leave much room for sleep :evil6:

Hope it all goes well for you tonight 98% humidity forecast for me tonight I might give it a miss, setting it all up for so little darkness is a real effort, I need an obs.

:)

Thank you :evil6: Yes, an obs makes a BIG difference - I really love mine :evil6:
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Gina

Gina

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Gina, I would look at seeing if you can find a replacement part for the one with the broken leg. If it's a transistor then it's obviously there to switch things, so it would seem a sensible bet with the symptoms you're describing?
Problem is that there is another fault on the board I took the chip off and I have no idea what it is. Also, there's something wrong with either the top part ribbon circuit or the power board as the other camera won't power up even with a good main board. So it looks like I need to be content with one good camera out of two. The chances of fixing up the other camera are reducing all the time! :( In one way it would be nice to have both working as I could have the second set up permanently for widefield/finder.
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Gina

Gina

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I second that ! ;-)

Well done, Gina. Glad you got at least one camera working again.

Thanks Chris :( I've not been a very happy bunny these last few days with no DSO imaging camera - and with clear nights too! So I'm very glad and much relieved :)
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Gina

Gina

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Just set up the 1100D on the scope and checked imaging on distant trees. Working fine except that I'm getting vertical stripes in live mode - normal exposures are fine - strange. Doesn't matter much. The EXIF T when running subs in APT showed 49C reducing to 41C after a few minutes so sensor temperature was probably above 50C when running in live view. May account for the stripes. This shows the need for cooling on these warm nights. Won't happen tonight - maybe tomorrow night if it's clear.

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Gina

Gina

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The camera is performing fine though I miss the cooling. With an EXIF T of 27C the noise was showing with longer exposures and higher ISOs. Anyway, I've done 70 odd lights of M13 and 21 darks to match. ISO 800 and 30s. I'm now doing M51 with ISO 1600 and 60s. Taking lights ATM and later will set up for darks and go to bed.

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Gina

Gina

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A few days ago when I thought I was camera-less with little chance of fixing it, I put a rock bottom bid in for a new 1100D body on eBay. Now I find I've won it! :( Oh well, I could do with a widefield camera permanently attached to my scope "tree". It will also serve as a long exposure capable finder for finding faint fuzzies :)

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