modded video camera

[shirva]

Carl seen what you mean 1600 odd views ...wow....would be better if we get camera finished. Lol.Davy

[johnno]

Looking at that watec mod, you could cut the length of the casing and put 2 Fans on top.

If i'm not busy tomorrow I'll do a couple of temp checks with and without casing to see what the difference is.

was thinking again,lol....put one of these onto the rear of the ccd chip and saw off the 4 tubes off one of the others and solder them onto the cooler so they go outwards towards to the sides and top and bottom of the front casing so the heat disperses that way. you can buy thermal tape to stick it to the chip and sides....

[johnno]

forgot to put size down.

6.5mm.. L

6.5mm..W

12mm ..H

if its to long and touches one of the PCB boards you can cut it down to fit... looks the right size to fit nicely onto the back of the ccd.

[shirva]

One large one with a high cfm appeals to me...Davy

[johnno]

Did a couple of tests, Room temp was 14.0c..with the cam switched off took the casing off and then did a temp on the ccd.. 11.5c and if you look at the board there's a chip in the top left hand corner and that was 11.5c ....case[front cover] was 11.6..

the cam was still connected to flip mirror and scope.

30 min run switched on and everything maxed out sens up and all the rest of it.but the casing was off as I had no way of checking temp with the casing in place , had one of those infrared temp guns.

ccd.....24.9c

chip at the top left was 28.c

front cover....18.1c

underside casing ..17.6

then tried it with casing on and did a temp check at the fan , placed a little temp gauge on top of the fan so air was blowing onto the gauge and that was 18.9c.

really couldn't get a accurate reading, well it was + or - 1.c difference. but was surprised that the chip on the top left was much hotter.

[shirva]

Front board needs blasts of cold air then. ..Davy

[Carl Reade]

Did a couple of tests, Room temp was 14.0c..with the cam switched off took the casing off and then did a temp on the ccd.. 11.5c and if you look at the board there's a chip in the top left hand corner and that was 11.5c ....case[front cover] was 11.6..

the cam was still connected to flip mirror and scope.

30 min run switched on and everything maxed out sens up and all the rest of it.but the casing was off as I had no way of checking temp with the casing in place , had one of those infrared temp guns.

ccd.....24.9c

chip at the top left was 28.c

front cover....18.1c

underside casing ..17.6

then tried it with casing on and did a temp check at the fan , placed a little temp gauge on top of the fan so air was blowing onto the gauge and that was 18.9c.

really couldn't get a accurate reading, well it was + or - 1.c difference. but was surprised that the chip on the top left was much hotter.

From looking at the circuit diagram that large chip is the main processor. I can't see why a sink couldn't be placed on it.

Carl

[shirva]

Anybody fitted Peltier yet....waiting on mine being delivered from maplins. Davy

[johnno]

No not thought about it yet. But I've done another couple of tests..

same as before ,cam up and running at full belt... room temp 18.3c but did this lot with casing on, just wanted to see the difference it would make with a higher room temp.....90 mins test

cold start

front casing...17c

side casing.. 17.4c

after 90mins running

front casing....19.4c

side casing....18.2c

air blown out from fan ...20.1

then i removed cam and placed it on the eye piece tray and ran it there for 90mins

front casing ...22c

side casing...23.8

air blown from fan...19.3

it does seem that with it all fitted together it does run a bit cooler

[shirva]

Got the Peltier cooling kit from maplins in today...time for new build ...Davy.

[shirva]

Results are worse than two fan mod coldfinger running at six volts ain't any good need to just go to twelve ..Peltier rated 14 volts...Davy

[Carl Reade]

Results are worse than two fan mod coldfinger running at six volts ain't any good need to just go to twelve ..Peltier rated 14 volts...Davy

What way have you set up and employed it?

Cheers Carl

[shirva]

Findings....does not matter if run at 6 or 12 volts the temp diff remains the same between hot n cold side...removed cold finger and run outer casing their is seven degree difference between hot and cold casing on it will drop camera temp to ambient. ..cooling fan fitted to cold side no diff..

Conclusion. ...would need a very large Peltier and fan mod to work...colfinger ???? I don't know on a bigger Peltier maybe ..on maplins one ...no chance........I think it has to be a very high cfm fan to remove the heat to a level that would make a diff. .maybe a fan blowing cold air into bottom and a fan removing hot air from top....Davy...

[Carl Reade]

What sort of heatsink were you using on the hot side Davy?

[shirva]

Got the cooling kit from maplins. ..about 40mm..with 40mm fan.colfinger made from copper pipe split /flattened to a sheet and trimmed to fit..went from wide to narrow....

[shirva]

Design as in drawing I done in earlier post ..only used two fans one on top heatsink ..one blowing cold air from colfinger to front board. ..removed colfinger and fan from front board and fitted it under Peltier blowing cold air from Peltier to inside camera. ..no diff on any changes made..

Big cfm fans available from eBay USA...thinking of that way...bigger Peltier would pull some amount of juice out a battery. So no even going their. ..Davy

[shirva]

Maybe fitting Peltier cold side next to front board. .heatsink on hotside with fan...just try n cool board instead of full camera. .....large fan on casing to draw hotair produced by Peltier hot side..Davy

[Carl Reade]

From what I know about Peltiers the cooler you can make the hot side the better the cold side will be.

I suspect the Maplin one is like most of their stuff over priced and substandard. I dont see any specs on the site regarding temp etc.

I would think one drawing Amps and hot side with good cooling would achieve the desired effect.

Thanks for the update Davy

[johnno]

davy try and get a old cpu fan and heatsink and thermal paste it to the hot side of Petlier, you need the heatsink to disperse the heat. fan alone wont disperse the heat from the Petlier. If your putting it inside you will have to use black liquid insulator on the board, because when you switch off all the ice on the petlier will melt and might go onto the board..or get that petlier controller what i posted and set it just above 0c, that might stop ice building up

[shirva]

Was using heatsink And fan with the thermal grease on the hot side...the Peltier does get cold just not to freezing temp....suggestions. ...Davy

[shirva]

Emailed maplins last night and enquired about whether the 38 x 38 x 38 was a high cfm fan and what I required it for and told it would be ok....Davy

[Carl Reade]

All is not lost Davy. I picked up one of the Peltiers while passing Maplin today and just ran a test on it. I attached it to a CPU heatsink with its 40 x 40 fan with thermal compond. The Peltier was running on the 4 AA batteries for about 10 minutes.

I have discovered a new a new compond I will call it Ice!!

The cold side temp remained steady at -3 deg and the heatsink around 23 deg. A blob of water turned to ice in about a minute.

Looking at the moisture which developed on the cold side I think it will have to remain outside the camera as when its switched off, the cold turns to heat very rapidly.

Thought I would give you some good news.

Cheers Carl

[shirva]

I must have a bad one ...done same as you...ambient temp 17c hot side 24 ...cold 11c.....wifey four doors up is going to find a handful of electronics in her back garden tomorrow when I volley this right over back fence.....Davy

[johnno]

That's good news Carl, LOL @ Davy....is that the second one you've had Davy? .. I was thinking the same as you Carl about it going on the outside using a cpu heatsink and fan but cant think of a way of getting a cold finger from casing to back of ccd sensor when you have the casing removed or are you just going to chill the casing?

[Carl Reade]

That's good news Carl, LOL @ Davy....is that the second one you've had Davy? .. I was thinking the same as you Carl about it going on the outside using a cpu heatsink and fan but cant think of a way of getting a cold finger from casing to back of ccd sensor when you have the casing removed or are you just going to chill the casing?

Hi Johnno, after watching the moisture gather on the cold plate I dont think it would be a good idea on the inside. The other problem is when the power is cut the ice melts in seconds and has to go somewhere IE the boards

I am thinking as Davy a cold copper finger (copper can be shaped easily) entering from the top near the front to the rear of the chip but also a strip connecting with the front metal casing so that the cold is behind the CCD and around it if this makes sense.

I have to say I was surprised at the result at 6 Volts. I will measure the current draw tomorrow then try 12 Volts. the more ideas the better.

Cheers Carl