ASI294 MC PRO cooling

galactique

All winter my 294 pro has reached and maintained -20C without problem.

This weekend it will only attain -16C with cooler at 100%. Ambient is about 15C.

Is this normal ? Do I need to do something ?

ZWO please advise.

moson

We test the cooler system at 25℃ ambient, at this temperature, the best effect of ASI294MC is cooled to below the ambient temperature of 35 ℃.If the ambient temperature decreases, cooling effect will be reduced.

You can try another power adapter or use the USB cable which we provided to check. Also, try staged cooling, never let cooling system reach 100% power. If the ASI294MC runs at 100% power, it will inevitably heat up, so it is recommended that you do not use it at full power.

Attach the link for your reference.https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/faq

galactique

Thanks for the reply,

I am powering the camera via splitter which goes to anti-dew heater.

This comes from a Pegasus Astro box which also powers a ZWO EAF and an ASIAir.

USB data from EAF and from ZWO 120MM guide camera are routed through the 294 Pro USB hub.

I can disconnect the dew heater and I can run the camera from a different power source, not using the Pegasus, to see if anything changes.

The cooler was running at 100% for sure and I think this is the most likely reason.

I will experiment more.

thanks again

galactique

Also,

The camera control screen, with sliders for temp, gain etc

It would be very helpful to display at the foot fo the screen the same information as the preview screen, current temperature, current cooler load.

:-)

galactique

To conclude,

there is no power problem, the camera cools the same independent of which power source I use.

Disconnect of dew heater does increase fan speed a very little.

I have solved the problem by keeping cooling around 80-85% from start up to final state. I adjust the target temperature down bit by bit; this achieves the best stable final temperature even though it may not get to -20C.

moson

Thank you for your sharing and feedback.