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DSLR Active cooling MOD process - Part 2


MarsG76

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The thin NTC probes have arrived and it might take some time for the spare replacement main PCB to arrive since it's coming from Portugal, also there's no guarantee that the spare PCB will work so, next free day I have, I decided to swap the main PCB from the Canon 40D which I won on eBay and replace that with the one which is coming from Portugal.

Of course this time that PCB will be insulated from moisture using the Polyurethane conform spray... hopefully this will make the Astro40D reliable.

The thin NTC probes inserted between the copper plate and the sensor will give me the actual temperature of the sensor.
 
 
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On ‎08‎/‎01‎/‎2019 at 12:59, Stub Mandrel said:

And the moral of this story is always listen to Louise's advice!

I hope it gets working again soon.

Oh, don't take too much notice of me - I've no experience of modding dslrs! It just seems to me to be fraught with risk since there's so much to go wrong!

Louise

Edited by Thalestris24
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Hello all... Today I powered on the 40D with the hope that it might come back to life after sitting and drying for a week but no such luck so I pulled apart the dead 40 and replaced the main PCB with the PCB from my other 40D. It was a pity to pull apart a perfectly good camera with the risk that it might not come back but I figured that this way (if successful) the hardware/camera will get more of a use than just sitting in the bag.

Before installing the PCB I sprayed it with the polyurethane electronics protection spray to coat it and protect it from the condensation.

Another mod I done to the original design is adding the thin NTC temperature probe between the sensor and the copper plate as I wrote about doing in a previous post, result is shown in the image. This will report the actual temperature of the sensor.

IMG_7214.thumb.JPG.50a6cb1870d1760bc3ea634fa6b6997a.JPG

When I assembled the unit I was very happy that it still worked!!! WOO HOO... so now I'm more confident that I won't have another dead camera due to condensation! ...at least not for a long time.

After the preliminary check of the function of the camera, the sensor and the USB connection, I put the cooling controller back on the camera but instead of making the same rats nest of cable ties I had before, this time I put the controller into the 40D hot-shoe, looks much neater.

IMG_7215.thumb.JPG.46a9b533f6ee170f587f55edce85bb12.JPG

I have the system setup and doing some 600 and 900 second ISO1600 Halpha sub of the Rosette Nebula to test it out right now... so far so good...

 

Edited by MarsG76
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36 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

Good news! Gives me hope for mine though I still haven't got around to looking at it!

Hope yours continues to work :)

Louise

I think that you should definitely look into your 550D, look on eBay for a replacement main PCB, they don't seem to be that expensive when are from salvaged stock.. I ordered a main PCB for my 40D for $60, so when it arrives, providing that its not faulty, I'll have all of my 40Ds up and running.. talk about plenty of redundancy....

Thank you and all for the ongoing help and input...

Edited by MarsG76
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17 minutes ago, MarsG76 said:

I think that you should definitely look into your 550D, look on eBay for a replacement main PCB, they don't seem to be that expensive when are from salvaged stock.. I ordered a main PCB for my 40D for $60, so when it arrives, providing that its not faulty, I'll have all of my 40Ds up and running.. talk about plenty of redundancy....

Thank you and all for the ongoing help and input...

Oh I have already. I just have to be in the mood to fiddle about with it!

Louise

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2 hours ago, Thalestris24 said:

Hope yours continues to work :)

I was celebrating too early. At about 3:30 I was presented with vertical lines instead of the actual image after a 600 second exposure than just black after the following 900 second sub.

The camera responds and triggers the shutter and works properly except that the images are always clean black frames and live view only shows vertical lines!!! Did my sensor fail now?

 

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1 hour ago, MarsG76 said:

I was celebrating too early. At about 3:30 I was presented with vertical lines instead of the actual image after a 600 second exposure than just black after the following 900 second sub.

The camera responds and triggers the shutter and works properly except that the images are always clean black frames and live view only shows vertical lines!!! Did my sensor fail now?

 

How did you protect the various connectors from the conformal spray?

Personally, I would be very worried about spoiling connections with it.

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1 hour ago, MarsG76 said:

I was celebrating too early. At about 3:30 I was presented with vertical lines instead of the actual image after a 600 second exposure than just black after the following 900 second sub.

The camera responds and triggers the shutter and works properly except that the images are always clean black frames and live view only shows vertical lines!!! Did my sensor fail now?

 

:( 

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7 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

How did you protect the various connectors from the conformal spray?

Personally, I would be very worried about spoiling connections with it.

 

7 hours ago, Thalestris24 said:

:( 

 

7 hours ago, Gina said:

I wondered that too.

I covered all connectors with tape and insulated them from the conform spray... that is not an issue since the camera worked flawlessly for 3.5 hours....

I had a look this afternoon again and the live view is still just purple vertical lines changing and flickering, but otherwise all other aspects respond with  no freezing.

Another thing I did notice is that one of the ribbon connectors on the sensor was slightly torn, damaged by the despldering of the aluminum plate that covered the connectors where the sensor is plugged into, so I'm thinking that it was just barely contacting by microns and now let go.

The other thing is that I didn't bother replacing the aluminum plate on the PCB since it seems like it's for heating purposes, unnecessary now, or am I mistaken? It's only a plate that covers the sensor connectors and some ICs under it.

When I replace the sensor, I'll spray the conform on the exposed pins on the back top/bottom of the sensor...

...and so it continues... something is telling me that this project will exhaust all of my 40D spares and I'll end up reverting to the order original uncooled DSLR...

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Update: Since it is cloudy tonight and looking like it'll be clear skies tomorrow, (and this was on my mind all day)... I opened up the 40D to replace the faulty sensor.

When the back was off and before pulling out the bad sensor I wanted to try and see if I can somehow create a contact between the slightly damaged ribbon cable and/or re-seat the connectors to see if that would make any difference... thanks Louise @Thalestris24

The thing that was obvious when I pulled out the sensor bottom ribbon connector is that it's covered by some thick and obvious gunk, so I cleaned it (as well as the top connecting cable) with isopropyl alcohol on a q-tip.

I put the back on and held it in place as I inserted the battery and to my ecstasy the sensor was delivering images again...

I assembled the camera and once again it's ready and waiting for the next clear night.

Talk about an astronomical roller-coaster ride...

Edited by MarsG76
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