Help, my DSLR cooling fan has expired

[almcl]

So, warmest night of the year and my home made cooler for my Canon DSLR had to be shut down!

Why?  Well despite almost unbelievably good guiding statistics in PHD2, I was getting elongated stars, even on 5 second exposures.  Eventually I put my hand on the camera and felt noticeable vibration which completely disappeared once the power to the cooler (peltier + heatsink + cooling fan clamped to the back of the DSLR) was removed.

Now it's not the greatest cooling system ever, but it does drop the EXIF reported camera temperature to anything between 12 and 15 °C below ambient. Perhaps more importantly, it keeps it constant at whatever it reaches and I'd really like to be able to reinstate it.

So, does anyone know a source of reliable, vibration free, cooling fans?  This one came (I think, it's a while ago now) with the cooling kit and heatsink and such but perhaps I should go elsewhere this time?

[Dr_Ju_ju]

For all my fan needs I buy Noctua's (https://noctua.at/en/products/fan) as I find they are the quietest\most efficient ....

[almcl]

Many thanks, Julian.  

Just the info needed!

[DaveL59]

I replace with AcoustiFan's in my PC gear and sky box these days. Dust sealed and quiet ball bearing makes them ideal, the one in the sky box has been quietly working away for 3+ years now and isn't heard at all. A little more than a regular fan but very worthwhile, might do what you need for the DSLR.

[almcl]

Thanks for that, Dave, always great to get member's field experience.

[cuivenion]

As well as a better fan you might look at experimenting on it's speed. I run the fan on my diy cooling at about 1/2 speed and it still reaches the same level of cooling as full speed. It's much quieter and there's much less vibration. I used a 12v to 5v step down converter between the power supply and the fan.

[DaveL59]

The acoustiFan I put into the sky box came with a harness that allows a speed selection which is handy, esp as this box never turns the fan on even if its cooking, so the fan is running 24x7 now at a lower speed.

[almcl]

On 11/08/2020 at 17:44, cuivenion said:

 I used a 12v to 5v step down converter between the power supply and the fan.

That's interesting, thanks! 

I've got several (slightly embarrassing ebay over order) step down converters sitting idle in the electronic spares box and was wondering about wiring a separate power supply to the fan. I'll do some experimenting.