question about cooling the scanners

[thesk8nmidget]

would running a heat sink with a fan built in on it cause any interference?

the heatsink i have is this one on the video card, it should fit perfectly over the scanners


it has a flat bottom.

thanks in advanced

[James Lehman]

The only possible issue I could think of would be vibration. But that would mean that it's out of balance and wouldn't work anyway. Just be ready to get a new fan when it starts going grrrrrr rnrnrnrnrnr ggrrrrrr. Like those cheapos always do!

You also have to think about how much thermal mass there is to cool. If your scanner block is way bigger than this hunk of cut up Aluminum, then you're probably not cooling it much.

James.

[allthatwhichis]

Does the scanner mount for your scanners get overly warm? If not, then why worry about cooling them?

[thesk8nmidget]

i dont even have my scanners yet or anything really for my project just planning and with the measurements i have. this heat sink is the same size (minus about 5 mm) as the scanners im getting so i figured it would fit nicely.

i have also seen some other people running a heat sink on their scanners
ie.


is that being sorta overkill? or would it be a good safety measure?

[James Lehman]

One thing you might want to think about is moving some filtered air through the whole case and out through the hole where the scanner's beam exits. That way you can have an air tight cover over it while not in use and take it off when the fan is running. To positive air flow out will keep the dust from getting in!

James.

[Pitts]

Hi Josh,

That pix you have there is my green laser (copyright issues !!!!).
It runs about 1.7 watts.

The heatsink on the scanner block came with the scanner. They are DT-40 Pros (Jian725 here on PL) . My later DT40-Pros no longer have that.

It does do one thing though.. it is excellent protection for falling objects on the mirrors.(dont ask me how I know this but the anser was another $500.00 )..

With hindsight I would not do the fans everywher thing I did on the two greens.. it simply does not need it. If you are using a lot of metal like I have then heatsinking simply isn't an issue.
My laer has an in built fan and the piece of heavy (4mm) U channel on which it sits is also fan cooled... a bit like a heat duct.

The amps and the scanner simply dont need fans.. I gues that will come doen to what you finally get bothe for laser amd scanner but this relatively large system doesnt even get warm.

It sounds nice though.... a bit like jet taxying... maybe not a good thing ??

If you need anywmore close up shots of this PM me and i will forward to you,

Cheers

Ray
NZ

[thesk8nmidget]

i have a pelican case and it is practically air tight.

but that brings up another question.

i was thinking about 4 fans two pushing in and two pushing out like this...



what do you guys suggest for filtering? that air and keeping as much dust out as possible?

also for where the laser comes out of the box is there a good type of glass or clear plastic that doesn't effect the beam power much but still makes a good shield for dust and objects getting to the scanners?
or should i just leave it open during shows and then make a cover that slides on after for protection?

[thesk8nmidget]

Hi Josh,

That pix you have there is my green laser (copyright issues !!!!).
It runs about 1.7 watts.

The heatsink on the scanner block came with the scanner. They are DT-40 Pros (Jian725 here on PL) . My later DT40-Pros no longer have that.

It does do one thing though.. it is excellent protection for falling objects on the mirrors.(dont ask me how I know this but the anser was another $500.00 )..

With hindsight I would not do the fans everywher thing I did on the two greens.. it simply does not need it. If you are using a lot of metal like I have then heatsinking simply isn't an issue.
My laer has an in built fan and the piece of heavy (4mm) U channel on which it sits is also fan cooled... a bit like a heat duct.

The amps and the scanner simply dont need fans.. I gues that will come doen to what you finally get bothe for laser amd scanner but this relatively large system doesnt even get warm.

It sounds nice though.... a bit like jet taxying... maybe not a good thing ??

If you need anywmore close up shots of this PM me and i will forward to you,

Cheers

Ray
NZ

thanks and good to know and i will be mounting everything onto a aluminum plate so im sure that will help cooling like you said.

the laser i used to run was a 1 watt and it only had one fan pulling air out. and since this next setup will be my own i will be sure to take any precautions needed to make the system stay cool and not make me worry about over heating!

i updated my sig with the parts i plan on using

[James Lehman]

I am not an expert in moving air, but I know this: If you are dealing with ordinary fans, they loose a huge amount of their effectiveness if they have just the tiniest bit of crud on the leading edges of the fan blades. They are NO good at all in situations where you need to pressurize air in front of them. They just sit there and spin for nothing. On the other hand, if you use an impeller (as opposed to a propeller) you can make a vacuum and pump or suck air through a duct. Look at impellers and squirrel cage assemblies. Think of it this way: you need to put a lot of positive air displacement into the sealed case to fource out the heat and dust. Maybe I didn't say it quite right, but at least you have something to look up in wiki now! I could be completely wrong.

James.

[buffo]

Josh;

If you want to put the heat sink on top of the scanner mounting block, that's fine, but leave the fan off. It will only introduce unwanted vibration. As Ray mentioned, the heat sink isn't really necessary, but it will protect the fragile mirrors from falling objects.

Your airflow layout will work just fine. I suggest you shield the area between the output aperture of the laser and the scanners using either plastic or metal though. This will keep the airflow around the mirrors to a minimum, which will help keep them clean. A couple pieces of plexiglass sitting vertically on the baseplate will work as the walls, and you can cover the top with another piece of plexiglass. (I like that idea because you can still see inside, and it looks cool. But black plastic would work too. All you want to do is keep the dust off the optics.) Hold it in place with an angle bracket or two (or even hot glue) and you'll be able to remove it later to clean the mirrors.

As for the output window on your projector, a "skylight" filter for a camera lens works very well. Essentially what you want is a piece of glass that has a broadband anti-reflective coating. You can buy A/R coated glass, but it's often cheaper to simply buy a camera lens filter that already has the correct coating applied. See this thread for details.

Adam