ZWO ASI 2600MC Oil leak

ibskiing

Hey group,
I up loaded a picture of my camera sensor, is this the infamous leak that I have heard other complain about? If so, is there a home fix or will I have to send this in to ZWO?

Thanks, Jim

w7ay

ibskiing is this the infamous leak that I have heard other complain about?

Unfortunately, yes.

The problem is that superficially cleaning it may be insufficient. There might be some of that grease still left on the circuit board, etc. And you ideally need to replace the thermal insulation (the one that leaked), or you will have to run the cooler even stronger in the future (and making the problem even worse later). There are folks who have cleaned their sensor and the problem reappeared.

By the way, did you ever run the cooler past 85%?

Chen

Tech@ZWO

ibskiing Sorry for the trouble.
Could you tell us when where did you buy the camera? you can ship it back to the seller for a free service.

Bonzer2u

Tech@ZWO
In the US, is there an email address for asi support to work directly with ZWO on this issue?
Thx....

Tech@ZWO

Bonzer2u
Yes, please submit a ticket here (choose product tab)
Thanks.
https://support.astronomy-imaging-camera.com/

ibskiing

Chen,
In the heat of the summer it might have broke 85% but not very often. Jim

w7ay

ibskiing In the heat of the summer it might have broke 85% but not very often.

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the info. I have been trying to ask those who had an oil leak if they had been over-stressing the cooling. This way, we might be able to collectively find ways of avoiding it, since ZWO is not forthcoming with what is causing the oil leaks. ZWO blamed it on a batch of bad thermal pads, but there have been reports of failures even on more recent cameras (and it happened only with the ASI2600, too -- large sensor, but with no larger heat sinks than an ASI071).

I have an ulterior motive -- I unfortunately own a 2600MC, a 2600MM and an 6200MC with an even larger sensor, and I prefer not to have to throw these cameras away. So far, by keeping under 85% cooling, my cameras have not leaked oil yet. In hot summer days, I simply would just cool the cameras down to 0ºC.

Thanks again for an extra data point.

Chen

ibskiing

October 2021. I tried sending an email through the ZWO website and it would never send and I could not find an email address for technical support. I purchased from High Point Scientific and do have my purchase order.

Thanks, Jim

ibskiing

Correction, I purchased the 2600 MC from Agena Astro 2/15/22. Oct. 2021 was when I purchase my 2600MM.

Should I send it to them or since it is less than a year, will ZWO just replace?

Thanks, Jim Potts

ibskiing

I did email Astro Agena and they have already responded and they are sending me a prepaid package to send my camera in so they can inspect it and then replace.

Thanks, Jim

Bonzer2u

I purchase all my stuff from agena astro, great folks to work with and always have my order in a couple days.

ibskiing

Chen,
I originally thought I bought this camera from High Point, but I bought my 2600MM there. Anyway I had emailed them and they provided instruction for cleaning the sensor and the thermal pad and they report that most people have not had issues after doing this. Here is a link to the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VbTEcL5qcY

And I do not try to cool my camera as much in the summer. I think when I did get close to 85% was if I waited too late in the morning to make my flats and the camera had to work harder getting to the temp I imaged during the night. But if it starts getting close to 85% I usually shut down.
Jim

SteveZ

I was hoping to avoid this problem with my 2600MM, but as shown in the attached image of a short exposure from my initial setup tonight, I have a bad leak. I last used this camera at the end of January and it was fine then. The camera is two years old and I have avoided pushing the cooler on it because I had heard rumors (possibly here) that the leak might be caused by excessive cooling.

I tried to submit a ticket on the ZWO support page a couple of hours ago (along with the picture), but I haven't yet received acknowledgment (and I checked my spam folder). I bought from OPT. Based on what I read in this thread, I'll reach out to them to see what my options are. Fingers crossed!

Tech@ZWO

SteveZ Normally our support team will contact you in 24 hours during workdays via email.

Kevin_A

I have not had any oil leaks on my 2600mc pro and have had cooling above 85% quite a few times when cooling to -10c, but one thing I have never used is the anti-dew feature. Could that be a contributing factor to others problems? The additional heat on the front glass? I wouldn’t think so, but I will keep running mine without turning it on since my sensor is still clean and dew free. I think in the future I too will just cool to 0c if the outside temps are hot and keep the cooling under 85% too just to be safe, but I wont worry too much if I have to clean the sensor, as that’s not a huge deal for me… just more of an annoyance!