Electronics help, 7.4v from 12v.

[Alien 13]

It would be nice if Canon released some figures regarding supply tolerance and the cameras current consumption rather than having to second guess them, I had similar issues determining my mounts motor min voltage and current consumption in the end I resorted to measurements.

Alan

Edited February 8, 2017 by Alien 13

[Daz69]

I agree. I tried searching but Canon specs aren't great, and other Google searches threw up anything between 6.5v and 8.5v which seemed nothing more than guesses, so originally I went with the 7.4v shown on the standard battery pack. 

I know that the camera is too heavy for the focus tube on my scope so my intention was to just use it with my 300ml lens on the tube ring mount. 

[Alien 13]

16 minutes ago, Daz69 said:

I agree. I tried searching but Canon specs aren't great, and other Google searches threw up anything between 6.5v and 8.5v which seemed nothing more than guesses, so originally I went with the 7.4v shown on the standard battery pack. 

I know that the camera is too heavy for the focus tube on my scope so my intention was to just use it with my 300ml lens on the tube ring mount. 

I found that I had to wind the voltage up to about 7.8 V to prevent premature shut downs, the Camera electronics knows if it a battery or other connected so this might be the reason for this.

Alan

[nightfisher]

Just a thought, a 2S lipo for radio control models is 7.4 v dc, fully charged they tend to put out 8.4

[Daz69]

4 minutes ago, nightfisher said:

Just a thought, a 2S lipo for radio control models is 7.4 v dc, fully charged they tend to put out 8.4

I have loads of those for my RC planes, right up to 6s 5000mah! 

The camera will be powered by my home made 12v power supply. It will have 2x 12v RCA sockets, 9v RCA for a rear fan, 2x adjustable PWM channels for heater bands, 2x adjustable voltage sockets using buck converters and LED displays (one will be for my camera which will have voltage protection as mentioned above), 5v RCA sockets and 2 cigarette sockets.  

Initially I will only use a 9Ah deep cycle battery to fit the project box that I have, more of a trial really, but if I find a larger project box then this will house 2 of them, and a PSU for home use, that I took out of an old PC. I've been looking at those heavy duty battery boxes for leisure batteries perhaps. 

I'll never use all of these sockets at the same time, well at the mo. I'll likely only use 2x heater bands for EP and secondary, fan and camera. I might include 2x USB sockets for tablet and phone, or just use one of those cigarette socket USB plugs. 

My end vision is to have a small observatory where I can use this set up. Mrs Daz has giving me permission to build one. She mentioned it once in a conversation. That's permission, isn't it?  

[Daz69]

One further question at this stage, Sorry I have asked a lot lately, but with the power for the camera, will I need one of those dummy batteries or do I use the small USB socket? I cannot find my manual, think my son has borrowed it when he used my camera for his media project. 

Edited February 8, 2017 by Daz69

[Alien 13]

You will need a dummy battery, the cheapest way and what I did was to buy a battery off the bay for a couple of quid and strip the innards out.

Alan

[Daz69]

Yep, much cheaper option!

[Daz69]

24 minutes ago, Alien 13 said:

You will need a dummy battery, the cheapest way and what I did was to buy a battery off the bay for a couple of quid and strip the innards out.

Alan

How did you break into the battery? 

[Gina]

I soldered wires directly onto the battery PCB.

[Alien 13]

27 minutes ago, Daz69 said:

How did you break into the battery? 

Sharp craft knife or similar to break the seal around the edge.

Alan

[Daz69]

27 minutes ago, Gina said:

I soldered wires directly onto the battery PCB.

Hi Gina. Thought about that but want to still be able to use it on days out etc, so it needs to be removable. 

3 minutes ago, Alien 13 said:

Sharp craft knife or similar to break the seal around the edge.

Alan

Around the manufacturers joint? Understood.

[Davey-T]

I used one of these and chucked the AC adapter innards and fitted the buck converter in the case.

Dave

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AC-Power-Adapter-DC-Coupler-for-Canon-ACK-E6-5D-Mark-III-7D-6D-LP-E6-DR-E6-/291849383609?hash=item43f3942eb9:g:32YAAOSwU9xUSCBO

 

Edited February 8, 2017 by Davey-T

[Gina]

That's a much better idea than trying to use an old battery   I speak from experience!

[Xplode]

I used one of these and made my own cable from the power hub to the plug on the battery dummy.

 

Cameras using LP-E6 batteries will usually throw an error message after turning on when running with non original batteries and battery dummies, there is a decoded battery dummy available on eBay

The error message keeps one from using the camera from a PC untill clicking OK on the camera, definitely a show stopper for remote operation.

[Daz69]

21 hours ago, Davey-T said:

I used one of these and chucked the AC adapter innards and fitted the buck converter in the case.

Dave

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AC-Power-Adapter-DC-Coupler-for-Canon-ACK-E6-5D-Mark-III-7D-6D-LP-E6-DR-E6-/291849383609?hash=item43f3942eb9:g:32YAAOSwU9xUSCBO

 

I like this idea very much. My 2 converters arrived today, and boy are they small! I'm happy to fit the bucks inside my main box as I'm also doing the crowbar circuit to protect the camera as well, and perhaps I'll just make a straight-through wire from my box to the camera using this battery dummy. As stated above, does this dummy give you the error message described? 

Many thanks!

[Davey-T]

Haven't used mine for a while but don't recall any error message.

Dave

[Daz69]

Thanks Dave, much appreciated.

My dimmers finally arrived today from China, via Saturn I think! I believe I have everything I need now, so construction will begin probably on Sunday when I'm off. I just stripped down the dimmers and boy is that a small PCB, which is great as it won't take up any room at all, very happy!

[OpusElite]

On 06/02/2017 at 16:43, Gina said:

I use ones like THESE

Many thanks for this information. Although it is 3 years old, these items are still available, so I have just ordered a set of 3 to play with for my Canon DSLR.

Seeing as they are so cheap, and for pure simplicity, I am planning to daisy 2 together as per other suggestions in this thread.

Thanks also for the information in subsequent posts relating to the voltage limits that Canons seems to operate under. That will save me a whole lot of headaches