STF-8300 freezing or even crashing Maxim

Discussion in 'STF Series CCD Cameras' started by lukepower, Nov 8, 2020.

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  1. Doug

    Doug Staff Member

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    Looks like all four fan vibration isolators got torn in two. Never seen that before! Did the camera hit something???

    It's not a difficult repair. You would have to use needle-nose pliers to unscrew the halves of the isolators that are stuck in the camera. And unscrew the fan from the other halves. Then screw in new ones.

    It's not a part you can just pick up in a hardware store, though.

    Our part number is 51771. We can sell you a set of four for $25 plus shipping. Let me know if you would like to proceed. We can send you a special link to pay by credit card.
     
    Doug, Nov 19, 2020
    #21
  2. Colin Haig

    Colin Haig Staff Member

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    One of our team has indicated it take a fair bit of force to tear the vibration isolators out of there, and we see they are still on the fan.
    You might want to check if you had a pier strike or a clumsy human crashed into the fan.
    It would also account for bizarre cooling, although am not sure why it didnt just shut down.
    I've asked for tips on how to fix.
     
    Colin Haig, Nov 19, 2020
    #22
  3. lukepower

    lukepower Cyanogen Customer

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    I think we will try for now to just hang it back, but i would still take your offer and order a set of isolators. Shall I send you a separate mail with the order?
     
    lukepower, Nov 19, 2020
    #23
  4. Doug

    Doug Staff Member

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    Place an order for one of these:

    https://diffractionlimited.com/product/special-order/

    Include in the comment field that you're actually buying a set of four 51771 for $25 plus shipping.

    This will only pre-authorize your card. Our fulfillment department will work out the correct shipping and run the transaction.
     
    Doug, Nov 19, 2020
    #24
  5. lukepower

    lukepower Cyanogen Customer

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    upload_2020-11-20_17-41-53.png
    For the records... The plastic pieces seem to be dried out or even melted :)
    upload_2020-11-20_17-42-32.png
     
    lukepower, Nov 20, 2020
    #25
  6. Colin Haig

    Colin Haig Staff Member

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    Thanks. They look almost rotted, like the plastic broke down in addition to perhaps mechanical torque on them.
     
    Colin Haig, Nov 20, 2020
    #26
  7. lukepower

    lukepower Cyanogen Customer

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    So just got this:
    upload_2020-11-20_22-6-23.png
    Once again... only difference is that I conected first via TheSkyX and later with MaximDl 6.24
     

    Attached Files:

    lukepower, Nov 20, 2020
    #27
  8. Colin Haig

    Colin Haig Staff Member

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    I would not run the camera until that repair is complete.
     
    Colin Haig, Nov 23, 2020
    #28
  9. lukepower

    lukepower Cyanogen Customer

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    Okay, they arrived yesterday and we mounted them. Still the issue with the cooler indicating -116.2°C (and sometimes -110.2°C) persists. I am unsure on what causes this, as it seems that cooldown works fine and the temperature I set (I tried with -20° as well as -10°) stays steady for a while, before suddenly dropping to that very low value. Could it be caused by the temperature probe being unreadable for some reason? Sounds like an ADC gets out of bounds...
     
    lukepower, Nov 24, 2020
    #29
  10. Colin Haig

    Colin Haig Staff Member

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    Try this:
    Power off everything, let is acclimatize to ambient temperature. Say for 30 minutes.
    Power on camera.
    Power on computer.
    Launch CCDOps and take an image.
    Check the camera temp readout.
    Turn on the cooler with a set point of +5C.
    Check it again.

    If it is not behaving, then it will need to be repaired. @Bill might be able to diagnose remotely, but I doubt it can be repaired remotely unless it is firmware related.

    If you are having this problem only in TheSkyX then I suspect that software.
     
    Colin Haig, Nov 24, 2020
    #30
  11. lukepower

    lukepower Cyanogen Customer

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    Hi Colin,

    I tried that already. Power cycling, and even leaving it off for several hours, didn't change anything. Also, using MaximDl 5, 6 or even Sequence Pro, all lead to the same error. The temperature readout is now always the same. Seems to me that it is electronics? I don't know. Maybe best would be to send it in for repairs?
     
    lukepower, Nov 24, 2020
    #31
  12. Doug

    Doug Staff Member

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    Yes it sounds like a hardware problem. Please contact bill@sbig.com
     
    Doug, Nov 24, 2020
    #32
  13. Bill

    Bill SBIG Service and Repairs Staff Member

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    This'll have to come in, it has nothing to do with the Fan. It's a failure in the cooling circuitry. I have a STF board connected to my computer at this very moment, with no thermistor installed (the component that senses temperature) and it's reading -105.67. I think something similar is going on here, but in the circuitry, not the thermistor. Send me an email, bill@sbig.com, and I'll give you the details for sending it in.

    -Bill
     
    Bill, Nov 24, 2020
    #33
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