STF-8300M - blank images and possible cooler issue

I have an STF-8300M (sn 83F010711) that appears to have some issues. It is mounted in a laboratory imaging system as shown in the attached pics (Alplegen Omega Lum G - Gel Imaging System, manf Sep-2012). For trouble shooting I have connected a separate laptop running the CCDOps app.

The images it returns appear to be "all black" / blank. Previously, any light in the imaging chamber would be registered (eg leaving the chamber door slightly open). Perhaps this is a stuck shutter mechanism? I am also wondering if there is an issue with the TE cooler (see below).

Some notes:

1. I checked that the filter wheel/filters were not blocking the imaging path.
2. The USB communication with the camera seems fine. The SBIGDriverChecker64 app reads the camera drivers and f/w versions. I have subsequently updated both to be "current". No change in my issue(s) though.
3. CCDOps running on a separate laptop communicates with the camera ok. When explicitly opening a camera connection I hear many clicks - the same as when powering up with corresponding blinking red led on the camera. CCDOps displays the camera info ok - pic attached.
   
4. The displayed CCD temp in CCDOps is always just above the 25 degC ambient and does not change when TE cooling is enabled and setpoint is 0 degC. When exiting, the CCDOps app gives a warning that the cooling is enabled and when selecting the "warmup and wait" option it ramps the reported power from 100% to 0% and then closes. That ramping takes 2-3 secs. Pic is attached. The CCD temp is always reported as just above ambient though. I should have checked if the 12v power supply current (or voltage) changed when enabling/disabling the cooling. I will do that when I am next on site.

I am located in New Zealand and, given our remoteness, I am keen to do whatever trouble-shooting is feasible on this end before resorting to shipping the camera for evaluation. I have access to all sorts of tools and test gear.

Can you recommend any next steps?

Thanks heaps,
Andrew

 

Hi Doug, sorry it has taken me a while to get back to the camera location. Attached are two FITS captures with CCDOPS. They zipped from 16MB to just a few KB. I hope there is something in there that is useful. Thanks again for this.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

Ok. Do you think that could be related to my other issue - that the TE cooler is not cooling? When I took those FITS captures I also checked the 12v supply when toggling cooler on/off and the current did not change.

Thanks
Andrew