ASI Air Power Limitations

[Catanonia]

Anyone else hit the power limitations of an ASI Air Pro.

I have the following

• 12v - 1 x 8 inch dew heater = 14w = 1.2a
• 12v - 1 x 1 inch dew heater = 2w = 0.2a
• 12v - NEQ6 Pro Mount = 25w = 2a max on slew
• 12v - ZWO 2600 MC Pro = 30w = 2.3a for cooler and dew heater

•  
• USB 3 - ZWO 2600 MC Pro = 4.7w = 0.4a for camera   (not sure if this counts as the 2600 has the 12v plugged in as recommended)
• USB 3 for Mount - unknown, but likely small
• USB 2 for ZWO EAF = 6w = 0.5a on max turns
• USB 2 for flash drive = unknown but will increase in watts when writing

• USB 2 for ZWO 120mm = 2w = 0.17a - plugged into 2600 USB2 port, again unknown if this will draw power from the 12v 2600 input.

I have been running this all off a 12v 5a power brick and recently I have been having disconnects from USB items. Switching out dew heaters sorts the problem = looks like a power limitation.

It was all working fine for about 2 weeks and recently it stopped working with camera drop outs and other random issues

 

From what I can get from google the ASI Air Pro supports, but no idea how this all sums up in my combination

• 12v - 4x 12v @ 3a each
• USB - 6W max across 2x USB3 and 2xUSB2  (from PI4 Specs)

I have on order a 12v 7a power brick, hoping this will help it out. I know the ASI Air Pro recommends 2a - 6a, hoping the 7a will be sufficient for when the mount slews with everything else maxed out. When the mount is tracking , it only takes 1/2 power 12.5w / 1a so a lot of saving there for 99% of the time.

I don't want to run another other power cables as I am trying to keep the cables to the scope at a minimum and hence the ASI Air Pro

Anyone else hit this problem and how did you solve it ?

 

 

Edited October 3, 2021 by Catanonia

[Mike73]

I'm pretty sure you should be supplying power to the mount directly from a battery not from your asiair.

I have similar requirements for my set up and I'm finally happy with my cable management, just two power cables dangle down one for the asiair and the other for the HEQ5.

Picture for effect (and I love my scope 😬😳😅)

 

[Catanonia]

36 minutes ago, Mike73 said:

I'm pretty sure you should be supplying power to the mount directly from a battery not from your asiair.

I have similar requirements for my set up and I'm finally happy with my cable management, just two power cables dangle down one for the asiair and the other for the HEQ5.

Picture for effect (and I love my scope 😬😳😅)

 

 

Nice scope. Yeah I had thought to power mount separately but wanted to reduce cables and it worked for a while until recently. Wondering if I overloaded the 5a brick and the 7a will solve t.

[Clarkey]

Depending on the quality of the power supply, on many of the cheaper ones the voltage drops as the power requirement increases. I had a 10A supply to my set up and I am sure this caused some of the connection problems I was having. I moved over to a 30A regulated supply and I have not had any issues since.

I would power the mount directly though. I have made my own 12v distribution boxes and I still power the mount separately. The mounts do seem to suffer from voltage drops.

[StevieDvd]

I would have suggested a 12v/10A supply wihich was split between the Asiair & the ZWO cooled camera. Also, to use some of the usb ports on the camera too.

The Asiaair tends to get hotter as you near its maximum power usage so best to keep that down as much as possible too.

[Catanonia]

Update

I got a 7amp 12vDC mains power supply and everything seems to be working fine, even with the mount plugged into the ASI Air Pro.

Will update more when I have final results, but looking good (touch wood).

I do now have an additional 5amp 12DC supply (the old one) in case I have to power the mount separately.