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Old 08-05-2014, 01:57 PM
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graham.hobart (Graham stevens)
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SBIG cameras and dessicant

Hi folks, still perusing the options for a new camera- I was wondering - whats the deal with "user rechargeable dessicant" in SBIG cameras?"
Is that what someone recently was baking in their oven?
Just a curious question.
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Old 08-05-2014, 02:05 PM
Dennis
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Hi Graham

With the humidity in Brisbane, I find that I have to bake my SBIG Desiccant Plugs (ST7E & ST2000XM) more or less annually to avoid frosting in the sensor chamber.

It involves unscrewing the Desiccant Plug (housing) from the rear of the camera body and placing it in an oven for 3 to 4 hours at a controlled temperature (<175 Deg C), to avoid melting the solder used in the fabrication of the housing.

This is what the Desiccant Plug looks like, approx. ¾ to 1 inch long.

http://www.optcorp.com/sbig-sb-50141-dummy-desiccant-plug-replacement.html


Cheers

Dennis
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Old 08-05-2014, 02:08 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by graham.hobart View Post
..."user rechargeable dessicant" ...
Whilst I wouldn't know an SBIG camera from a bar of soap, the term "rechargeable desiccant" came up quite a lot in my research and simply refers to any desiccant that can be re-dried (which would be most).

If desiccant is only re-dried annually, it must be a very well-sealed enclosure.
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Old 08-05-2014, 02:20 PM
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graham.hobart (Graham stevens)
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dessicant

I thought these cameras had sealed chambers filled with gases like Argon?
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Old 08-05-2014, 02:32 PM
Dennis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by graham.hobart View Post
I thought these cameras had sealed chambers filled with gases like Argon?
Not my ST7E or the ST2000XM.

Don’t know about the newer models though?

Cheers

Dennis
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Old 08-05-2014, 02:43 PM
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I believe the larger ATiK's have a similar arrangement.
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Old 08-05-2014, 06:32 PM
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By breaking the factory seal to bake the dessicant plug you lose the argon charge from the chamber. This costs you lose a couple of degrees in cooling ability according to the QSI manual. You can send them back OS to be recharged, but that's going to be a several hundred dollar exercise in freight.

DT
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Old 11-05-2014, 02:19 PM
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Peter Ward re-gasses SBIGs etc. So,shouldn't cost toomuch seeing he is in Sydney.

I only ever baked my dessicant plug ONCE for the ST-8XE.
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Old 11-05-2014, 04:41 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LewisM View Post
Peter Ward re-gasses SBIGs etc. So,shouldn't cost toomuch seeing he is in Sydney.

I only ever baked my dessicant plug ONCE for the ST-8XE.
Sorry I only do SBIG cameras (Argon fill) but also re-charge the desiccants at the same time.

Rather than go into an oven, the plugs go into a heated vacuum chamber for about an hour, this puts way less heat stress on the plugs and pulls decidedly more moisture out of them.
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Old 13-05-2014, 12:41 PM
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Yeah,I know. Dunno why David mentioned QSI when the rest of us were talking SBIG
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