EAF

jsg

The EAF uses 5V USB for both power and data. I don't have any free USB ports on my ASIAIR Plus, all 4 are being used by the AM5 mount, the ASI2600 camera, the ASI220mm guide camera and one for a USB stick for data transfer. I could unplug the USB stick and transfer files after imaging, but here's my question:

If I begin using an EAF for my Edge 8, will the ASIAIR Plus provide enough power? The ASIAIR Plus is being powered from the AM5, which in turn is being powered in the field by a 12V 10 amp portable battery pack.
In addition, there are 2 dew heaters (main & guide scopes) being powered by the DC power outputs on the ASIAIR Plus.

Thanks,
Jerry

Tech@ZWO

jsg Directly power the ASIAIR Plus via battery pack, then power AM5 via ASIAIR Plus will be better.
Because the max output current of the DC port on the AM5 is 3A, it's not enough for ASIAIR PLUS + other devices.

jsg

Tech@ZWO
OK, that sounds doable. Or, because my 12V power pack has 2 DC input ports, I can power both the ASIAIR Plus and the AM5 directly from the power pack. That should work as well, yes?

Tech@ZWO

jsg yep.

Corsair

jsg Please have a read of this: https://www.yuque.com/zwopkb/air_plus/aufptq

It is the online manual for the ASIAIR Plus. Have a good read about both the voltage AND amps required as an input and the voltage and amps it provides as output.

I'm not sure why the ZWO Tech is advising to power the mount from the ASIAIR Plus. That's bad advice and wrong as well. It even goes against their own manual (link above) which states:

Powering the mount is not recommended as some mounts may require more power than the 3A max available per port and become unstable or unreliable during usage even causing some USB intermittent disconnect affecting your imaging camera.

So no - do NOT power the mount from the ASIAIR Plus. Separate power should be supplied to the ASIAIR Plus and the mount. Yes, it can be from the same power source - such as your battery pack. However you state:

Or, because my 12V power pack has 2 DC input ports, I can power both the ASIAIR Plus and the AM5 directly from the power pack. That should work as well, yes?

Did you mean it has 2 DC "output" ports (i.e. ports that supply power to other devices)? If so - what is both the voltage (V) and amps (A) of both ports?

Both the AM5 mount AND the ASIAIR Plus require an input of 12V 5A so both of the DC output ports on the battery pack need to supply 12V 5A.

alaluji

I connect my guide camera to one of the main camera's USB ports, that way I would have a free port on my Asiair.

jsg

Corsair

Oops, yes you're correct. I meant to 2 DC OUTPUT ports, not input...
The battery back is rated at 12V 10amps for each of the 2 DC outputs.

Yes, I am aware that the manual states not to power the mount from the ASIAIR. I've gotten good results powering the ASIAIR Plus from the mount, but the next time I'm able to image I am going to plug the ASIAIR Plus into the 12V 10amp DC output port instead, since I'm adding the EAF, which uses a little more power.

Corsair

jsg Be careful with using a power supply providing more than 6A.

In the link I posted ZWO says:

If you use your own power supply, capable of more than 6A supply, we invite you to insert before the ASIAIR PLUS an inline fuse of 6A to protect it.

hyiger

Corsair

That doesn't make much sense. Unless you accidently create a short somehow (perhaps with the Air's power ports) it doesn't matter how much max current your supply provides (as long as it's > 5A). Most external batteries can supply up to 10A for example. In general the air only pulls as much as it needs which is seldom > 3A.

My only guess as to why ZWO would say this is perhaps the 12V output ports don't have current limiting? I'm pretty sure they do however.

jsg

hyiger

This concurs with what I have read as well. Even if your power source is DC12V, 10 amps, the device being powered only uses the number of amps it needs. I guess I'll find out soon enough but I am pretty sure plugging the ASIAIR Plus directly into a !2V 10 amp DC output is going to be OK.

Did you mean below : 12V input ports?

"My only guess as to why ZWO would say this is perhaps the 12V output ports don't have current limiting? I'm pretty sure they do however.

Corsair

jsg Did you mean below : 12V input ports?

"My only guess as to why ZWO would say this is perhaps the 12V output ports don't have current limiting? I'm pretty sure they do however.

Nope. He's referring to the four 12V output ports on the ASIAIR Plus.

hyiger

jsg

Referring to output ports.

Also, you could hypothetically plug the ASIAir into a 12VDC 1 million Amp supply and be totally fine. Just don't short anything out...

andybutt

The fuse is for safety in case of a short.

Tech@ZWO

The max output current of each DC output port on the ASIAIR is 3A, it meets the requirement of the max power of AM5, so it is ok to power AM5 via ASIAIR Plus, just need to make sure the input current should exceed 8A (2A is for ASIAIR) and total output current from ASIAIR Plus does not exceed 6A.