Pictures of my Cooling Fan Project

[iceman (Mike)]

Hi all.

I'll do a full writeup when I get some spare time (!), but for now, here's a few pictures.

My temperature monitoring + cooling fan project is finally complete, quite happy with how it's all setup. Now just need some opportunities to use it!

1. The construction of the variable speed unit, and the fan with the mounting plate
2. The "outdoor" sensor on the (newly cleaned) mirror.
3. The temperature sensor on the tube, and the fan on the back!
4. All hooked up and ready
5. A couple of days before it was all tidied up. In use at night.
6. Ditto, different angle.

Thanks.

[matt]

Looks good Mike.

Stand it next to mine and we'd have long-lost twins!!!!

Be interesting to see how yours goes.

I've noticed with mine it's great at bringing the mirror close to ambient (say to within 1.25 and 2 degrees) .... in a hurry.

Then something strange happens. No matter how long I leave it running it doesn't seem to get the temp any closer???? In fact, on some occasions, I've even noticed that if I turn the fan off for a while the mirror warms slightly after turning it back on.

So for me it's run the fan full blast, then turn off and let things happen naturally.

Perhaps the mirror cools (radiates its heat) on its own that last degree or so and ends up cooler than ambient, and when you turn the fan on that actually has a "warming" efffect since the outside temp is higher?

Just speculating.

[asimov (John)]

Bolt a peltier cooling system to a fan..BTW back in my newt reflector days, I used to setup a big pedestal fan behind the mirror, turn it on, come back in 3 hours. A little computer fan trying to cool a 12.5"/2" thick mirror had no hope!

Nice one Mike, hope it does the trick for you.

[davidpretorius]

top class job mike, surprised you were allowed to use the food scissors on the kitchen table, or was mrs ice away for the weekend???

Can't wait for the weather to comply so you can test it.

That mirror looks so nice and clean. i must clean mine!

[ving (David)]

looks cool mike (no pun intended)
where did the srcatch on your mirror come from?

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Is that ebony star on the altitude hubs? Does it work well Mike?

[astronut (John)]

Great setup Mike Is that an inclinometer on the back

[iceman (Mike)]

Thanks guys

Originally Posted by starkler

Is that ebony star on the altitude hubs? Does it work well Mike?

Yeh, it's ebony star strips that have been specially machined thin so that they can wrap around the altitude hubs without snapping. They're the ones that John B organised from that place in the US. I thought you were going to get some too?

It does work well, nice and smooth in the alt motion. Have to be careful when it gets wet though, sometimes it's too smooth and if it's not balanced correctly it can tip one way or the other.

Originally Posted by astronut

Is that an inclinometer on the back

Yep, I bought it from Mitre10 for $10. It has a magnet so it just sits on the tube.

[Orion]

Nice work Mike.