Cooling newt mirrors - who wants one

[davidpretorius]

Hi Guys,

I am going to be costing up birds designs around peltier cooling of the mirrors http://www.acquerra.com.au/astro/cooling/version3/

I am going to try and work out the smallest version ie does not need a huge battery to run. If you need extra cooling, then bigger peltiers and fans and a bigger battery are going to be needed

I will be chatting to mick pinner re production runs in aluminium etc, so if i am getting mine done, is there anyone intersted in the future in getting one made.

I will get mine going first as a prototype and then test it etc and i want to make sure it can fit bintel, saxon & gs dobs 8", 10" & 12" dobs.

Please choose your size above and then enter you model in the comments ie saxon, gs etc

[matt]

Davo...

Count me in. Good to see you're still going with this.

I'd love some kind of basic cooling system for my Skywatcher.

Normally I wouldn't bother given it's an 8" pyrex mirror but Canberra's such a variable climate (temp-wise) it'd be very ........ cool?

Thanks

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

You forgot "Yes for a 16''" etc. I think No for an 8" but if it works well, without too much fuss (that means small black box controller with or without knobs and/or switches, no laptop!), and without introducing new problems (e.g., dew), for larger mirrors it would get a "yes please" from me.

I have installed a big (90mm, 4 watt) fan on my 8'' Dob and it works wonders!

[davidpretorius]

Originally Posted by janoskiss

I have installed a big (90mm, 4 watt) fan on my 8'' Dob and it works wonders!

side / bottom and suck / blow????

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

Originally Posted by davidpretorius

side / bottom and suck / blow????

bottom & blow.

Mounted the fan in the centre of a plywood disk. The disk covers the entire back end of the scope. I drilled holes just a little bigger than the collimation & mirror locking screws, so I would not have to use spacers for it to hug the back of the scope. I love it. No more ghost images, i.e., double, triple or quadruple planet images! Only proper bad seeing!

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by janoskiss

bottom & blow.

Mounted the fan in the centre of a plywood disk. The disk covers the entire back end of the scope. I drilled holes just a little bigger than the collimation & mirror locking screws.

Sounds the same as what I did, except I used foam weather strip to create a seal and absorb vibration. Unfortunately I have yet to get a night of decent seeing to evaluate if the fan is helping or not.

[Moonman (Michael)]

Looks interesting. I''l keep an eye on your progress Dave. Maybe one for down the track. It depends on how cooling issues will frustrate viewing efforts in the future. Its a great idea and obviously energy/battery power efficient as it uses heat exchange principles.

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

Originally Posted by Moonman

... obviously energy/battery power efficient as it uses heat exchange principles.

A Peltier has many benefits but efficiency is not one of them.