Newtonian Reflector Cooling Fan

[hutchyweb]

Newtonian Reflector Cooling Fan

This mod is also availalbe on my blog

92mm 12v fan (eBay – £5.56)

92mm fan finger guard (eBay – £1.78)

12v fan speed controller (eBay – £4.13)

3mm Black acrylic A3 sheet (eBay – £5.20)

2mtr 12v cigarette lighter extension lead (eBay – £3.88)

Sticky Velcro (eBay - £2.39)

12v in-line switch - Optional (eBay - £1.95)

Why cool a Newtonian?

The resolution of a Newtonian telescope will improve by forcing ambient airflow over the primary mirror, usually with one or more small fans. The wave front of light will be deformed as it passes through a very subtle temperature difference near the face of the primary mirror that is known as 'The Boundary Layer' and it's effects are significant. For most locations on Earth, even a small Newtonian's primary mirror will not track the falling night time temperature closely enough unless fans are used.

The fan needs to do three things :-

1. Cool the primary

2. Remove the boundary layer from the front of the primary.

3. Remove tube currents.

A rear mounted fan with a baffle does all three jobs simultaneously (providing you primary mirror is vented as below).

It can be quite interesting to turn the fan off when the mirror appears fully cooled - the views go softer after about 15 seconds - that's the boundary layer reforming.

Build Process

1. My SkyWatcher 200P has a rear diameter of 218mm (inside the external lip). Ensure you leave adequate room and drill a 3mm pilot hole in the A3 sheet of acrylic. (mine was 109mm from one edge along a center line).

2. Place a block of wood under the acrylic and put a nail (3mm preferably) through the pilot hole into the wood. Using a marker pen and some wire or string set the radius and mark the circumference of the size of the baffle reqired.

3. Using a protractor and a ruler mark three lines from the centre at 120° each, these will be for the collmation bolt cutouts.

4. Using a 38mm hole cutter cut three circles out of the acrylic where the lines from the centre point meet the outer circumference.

5. With a fine toothed blade in a jigsaw cut along the outer circumference line.

6. Test the fit and trim if needed.

7. Using a 89 mm hole cutter and using the pilot hole as a guide cut a hole out of the centre of the acrylic.

8. Snip off the cigarette socket from the extension lead and strip the ends, then snip the power connector off of the speed controller. Connect the fan and the speed controller up to a 12v supply and ensure everything is working ok. The yellow wire on the power connector is not required and can be cut short.

9. Drill 4 5mm holes in the acrylic to mount the fan and check it aligns ok.

10. Drill additional holes for the fan, power and speed controller cables to pass through.

11. Remove the film from both sides of the acrylic and pass the power cable through the hole and tie a knot in it so it wont pull through.

12. Snip the other cables to length and pass them through their corresponding holes.

13. Remove the backing on the sticky pad on the speed controller and stick it to the acrylic.

14. Strip the ends on the cables and twist the corresponding cables together and then solder.

15. Cover the soldered ends with shrink tube and shrink for a tight fit.

16. Give both sides of the fan assembly a wipe before attaching to the scope as you don't want to blow any dust into it.

17. Stick some sticky Velcro to the base of the scope and to the fan assembly (don't stick too many as it my be difficult to remove the fan assembly from the scope).

18. The finished fan assembly running and cooling the scope.

OPTIONAL:

I have ordered a switch to add into the power cable in case I want to turn the fan off for any reason with out disconnecting it from the power supply.

END OF PROCESS (Enjoy!)

[Kropster]

Nice project...... except now I have to go and make one!

[dweller25]

Nice job and it will work very well to remove the boundary layer

[laser_jock99]

Nice job. My Revelation Astro (GSO) Newts all came with fans- which I never use. The scopes are either kept in the garage or obsy- both of which are near ambient.

[Uranium235]

Nice cover youve made there, Ive got a fan and temp sensor but never got round to installing it. Perhaps during the summer shutdown I will attempt it.

I might add that I got a super-silent PC case fan, which turned out to be so quiet that its hard to tell when its switched on!

[Merlin]

That's all very neat, but is a rear fan/s really as effective as a side fan/s at removing the boundary layer? My 200m ( 8-inch ) Rev. came with a rear fan, but I've never bothered to use it.

I've found that if I leave the 'scope outdoors for an hour to cool down the optics, there doesn't seem to be a problem. Mind you, more discerning observers might not agree!

[hutchyweb]

Thanks for you nice comments guys,

Apparently reading a few articles it seems to be more affective to have a rear fan as side fans don't cool the mirror as well, where as "apparently" a rear fan does both jobs some astronomers have removed the side fans and added a rear fan. I've add the "Apparently" as I haven't used it yet but I plan to tomorrow.

The fan is a super quite low vibration fan and I added a speed controller to I could tweak the speed and keep any vibration down to a minimum.

I keep my scope in doors as I do a lot of DIY and don't want to get dust in scope, when I finish the renovations I will probably change my mind.

[gooseholla]

My rear fan just makes the picture wobble if I leave it on whilst viewing.

[SunBear]

My rear fan just makes the picture wobble if I leave it on whilst viewing.

Sounds like your fan is out of balance. You might want to replace it. They're just CPU or power pack cooling fans and are dirt cheap.

[Merlin]

In case you haven't seen this: http://www.crossflowfansystem.com/docs/SkyArticle_01-2002.pdf .