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ASI2600 oil/grease leak

david_taurus83

By david_taurus83
in Discussions - Cameras

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The Lazy Astronomer

The Lazy Astronomer

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, david_taurus83 said:

Wow. £2k worth of camera and this is supposedly a fairly common issue? Anybody on here had this yet?

 

Hmm. Not seen anything like this before, the guy there seems to make out like it practically an inevitability, which l feel may be overstating the issue a bit.

However, bit of a poor show from ZWO there if you ask me. QC/manufacturing issues aside, the least I would expect would be an offer from them to rectify the problem, not a link to an article on how to fix it yourself!

I wonder what their view is on the validity of the warranty if you open up the camera (as per their instruction) and damage the sensor somehow... Highlights the importance of using a reputable shop l guess - I bet FLO would deal with this properly and just send a replacement camera.

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Simon Pepper

Simon Pepper

Posted
Posted (edited)

I don’t have this camera but I follow a lot of people that do and they have all had it. As Russell states this pretty much an inevitable with this camera but as he shows an east fix. ZWO I feel could do a bit better though the generic response is not good enough in my opinion and I am a ZWO fan boy!

 

Edited by Simon Pepper
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Andy274

Andy274

Posted
Posted

Not sure why my post from last yr was brought up,  all I can say is that I've had my Altair astro 26C since release & it's operated flawlessly. It's so good I bought the 26M too. Not heard of a single instance of any of the Altair or QHY flavours having this issue which suggests its limited to ZWO.

The partisan Altair, QHY or ZWO doesn't interest me really. I've found my preferred brand - not based on speculation, but based on fact & experience. 

Whichever camp you're in - cool & good luck, no hate here but happy to talk about my experiences if anyone is interested.

Cheers 

Andy

 

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Len1257

Len1257

Posted
Posted

There's six pages of this issue on CN https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/739425-zwo-asi2600-mc-issues/page-6

I would guess that FLO might clean it for you if purchased from them but expecting a new camera? I don't think so.......

No issue with mine and I've had it over 12months now. I don't always follow a warm up regime especially if the rain gods call.

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Andy274

Andy274

Posted
Posted
29 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

Because page 3 talks about oil leak on the 2600, calm down!

I did respond pre coffee 😬

I just can't be bothered with the partisan brand nonsense - that's my point. I'm not bothered if you're an Altarian, a ZWOmbie, or whatever the QHY lot call themselves. Just pick a camera that suits your needs.

If you're worried about the potential of it leaking oil - don't get the zwo,  if you're not bothered, pick what you like.

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tooth_dr

tooth_dr

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Andy274 said:

I did respond pre coffee 😬

I just can't be bothered with the partisan brand nonsense - that's my point. I'm not bothered if you're an Altarian, a ZWOmbie, or whatever the QHY lot call themselves. Just pick a camera that suits your needs.

If you're worried about the potential of it leaking oil - don't get the zwo,  if you're not bothered, pick what you like.

Lol I’m not bothered. I’ve been using mine all year without issues. 

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Whirlwind

Whirlwind

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, david_taurus83 said:

Is it a sensor issue? Ie could happen to other brands or just something to do with how ZWO have placed it on the board? What causes it? 

I believe it is due to the thermal pad on the back of the sensor itself and as it is heated and cooled it releases this grease which then 'leaks' onto the sensor probably by capillary action or similar.  It's not the sensor itself and maybe related to the aggressiveness of the cooling.  IIRC they are aware of the issue and have changed the pad so newer versions (hopefully) won't have this issue and is also why similar cameras don't see the same thing.  I believe that if you have this type of thermal pad it can happen at any time so it could be within a month vs several years - it perhaps could be more prevalent in warmer climates where more aggressive cooling is needed because the ambient temperature is higher (but is speculation).  Though I do thing it is a bit off from ZWO that they don't recall the affected cameras and replace the pad. 

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Stefek

Stefek

Posted
Posted

I have  QHY 268M  and Omegon veTEC 571 (which is in fact Touptek , like Altair and several others) . Both have the same Sony IMX571 sensor like ASI2600. 

I did not have any issues with such leakage or anything similar.

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oymd

oymd

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 05/11/2021 at 21:54, david_taurus83 said:

Wow. £2k worth of camera and this is supposedly a fairly common issue? Anybody on here had this yet?

 

It’s actually an increasingly common issue with the Color version of this ZWO camera. 
 

There are two very long threads regarding this issue on CNs. 
 

Maybe the batch we got here in the UK has less of an issue? Not sure. 
 

This is the main reason I’ve been holding off buying this camera, as the reviews and results overall are very positive. 
 

Don’t quote me on this, as I’m not sure, but I think that the QHY, Altair and other versions do not suffer of this silicon/oil leak. 
 

I believe also that the ZWO MONO version does not have this issue. 

Edited by oymd
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tomato

tomato

Posted
Posted

When this issue was raised previously @FLO reported that they had received no returns with this fluid leak issue.
 

Regardless of which brand of camera I would definitely not recommend aggressive cool down or warm up rates on any of them. Having some experience of retro fitting Peltier coolers to Astro cameras, they are powerful devices and could impart some serious thermal stresses to the instrument if not used in a gradual, controlled operation.
 

Just my 5 Pen’orth on the subject.

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oymd

oymd

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, tooth_dr said:

Did you buy an alternative of the OSC from QHY?  

No, it just kind of made me pause and think about it a little more.

Considering its a big investment, I've decided to save a bit more and get the Mono version at some point.

I have not seen or read about any issues with the 2600MM version. 

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  • 2 months later...
whand

whand

Posted
Posted

I have same issue as well as a fall off on cooling performance, it now struggles to cool lower than -10 C. But being in Wisconsin the weather takes care of that issue. There's is a flaw in the thermal pad.

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