Atik Cameras

Author Topic: Power drop outs 314L+ Mono  (Read 8910 times)

DarkStarAstro

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Power drop outs 314L+ Mono
« on: March 13, 2013, 05:22:15 am »
Hi everyone,
I have had my 314L+ for about 9 months now and since I do not use a power tank ( run everything from and outlet off the house ) I use an AC adapter. I got what the manual said, ie- 12v 1.5amps 2.1mm plug. Everything was working great until this horrible winter, which pretty much killed imaging and viewing for that matter until a few nights ago. Well making a long story short, I set up and noticed that the power would keep dropping out ( freezing my acquisition software ). At first I thought it was the adapter going bad, and tried another one I had and for a few hours it work ok. Then it started happening again, going off and on repeatedly.

Now I had to have my wife call the dealer I bought it from today to see what could be done and he told her that where the adapter plugs into the camera there is 2 pins. That if they start to touch it can cause this issue, well unless I am completely blind I only see the one male pin. A friend of mine suggested I ever so slightly offset the pin to make sure it is making a solid connection. I am not sure if this is a smart idea, I don't want to break it.

Have any of you ever heard of this second pin, or possible run into this problem? If you let it sit completely still it runs fine, if you so much as touch the power cable it drops out for a split second.  Even the slow movement of guiding causes the drop outs, needless to say I am extremely  stressed out over this. It literally went from working perfect from June-Oct. ( then the 4 month bad weather, with it in it's box here in the house ) to this problem the first clear night out. Nothing changed from one time frame to the next, only that this issue started.

TIA for any input!
Chris
Atlas EQ-G/SkyView Pro EQ w/ Dual Axis TrueTrack
SV80ST-25SV/Orion 50mm Mini Guide Scope
Atik 314L+/Orion SSAG
Astrodon Gen2 E-Series LRGB / Baader HaOIIISII
Orion 5 Slot MFW x2

vince

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Re: Power drop outs 314L+ Mono
« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2013, 01:30:58 pm »
Hi Chris,

Sorry to hear you are having problems. There are two connections on the 12 volt sockets but I've never heard of them touching and causing a problem. The negative connection is made to the outer casing of the plug and the positive to the pin you can see in the socket. The first thing to check is the plug on the power supply is the correct size for the socket. The plug needs to have 2.1 mm inner and 5.5 mm outer connections or you will experience problems similar to what you have. Feel free to email me direct on vince@atik-cameras.com if the problem persists.

Best regards
Vince
Atik Cameras

DarkStarAstro

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Re: Power drop outs 314L+ Mono
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2013, 05:21:40 am »
Thanks Vince,
Like I mentioned, both adapters used were the specs required. I talked with the Vendor today and am sending it back for them to look at, since it is still under warranty. They said their tech would look at it ( they believe it is a lose connection camera side ) which is not all that uncommon. If it isn't and they can't find the issue and or fix it, they will send it back to Atik for repair.

Appreciate the help!
Chris
« Last Edit: March 14, 2013, 05:25:14 am by DarkStarAstro »
Atlas EQ-G/SkyView Pro EQ w/ Dual Axis TrueTrack
SV80ST-25SV/Orion 50mm Mini Guide Scope
Atik 314L+/Orion SSAG
Astrodon Gen2 E-Series LRGB / Baader HaOIIISII
Orion 5 Slot MFW x2