Keysight U5855A TrueIR thermal imager

[Kilrah]

If someone wonders here's the polarity of the battery connections.

Note that it draws 7mA when off  so don't leave your battery in when unused. So much for my easy "solder it in and forget it" solution 

[onesixright]

Any change putting a micro switch under it so you can turn the power off?

[Fraser]

Regarding the 'off' current. Have you checked the current draw after the camera has been off for a while ? It is not uncommon for modern thermal cameras to have three power states..... ON, Standby 1 and Standby 2.

ON is obvious, Standby 1 is a sort of warm Standby where the camera can restart very quickly as the computer is still booted. standby 2 is a cold standby where the computer is effectively off and needs to boot from cold when the camera is instructed to power ON. The FLIR E4 and several other cameras I own have this two standby state design. Cold standby should have a current draw measured in micro amps.

The camera drops into Standby 2 after a Standby 1 timer times out. The timeout period is different with each brand of camera.

Fraser

[Kilrah]

Nope, but will try. I have little hope though since it starts drawing those 7mA as soon as power is connected, before the first power on.

[chili_red]

A couple questions,
What is the brand of that power supply you are using?
And
What memory card do you have in there?, it looks orange in the picture and was wondering if that's a eyeFi card.  If it is can you check the voltage draw after removing it.

[TheSteve]

I doubt the "off" current drain goes any lower. I left the battery in my camera which was switched for a week and the battery was fully drained. I know the manual recommends storing the camera with the battery removed, and now we know why.

[HighVoltage]

If someone wonders here's the polarity of the battery connections.

Thanks for the tear down picture.
I still have to fix my trigger switch that is stuck and and it seems to be easily removed.

[Kilrah]

Yup it's an old eye-fi card, only full-size SD I found in my drawers 
Drain doesn't change without, unsurprising since there's no reason it would be powered when the whole camera is off.

Fraser TheSteve posted a bunch of teardown pics near the top of the thread.

The regulator is an RD DPS3005 in a 3D printed case I designed. Really neat little things.

I'll now be trying to print this during the night:



I printed a stub and it seems to fit reasonably well:

[chili_red]

Thanks for the info Kilrah, figured the eyeFi card wouldn't draw but you never know, have a couple of them laying around myself.

Any chance you could upload the .stl file for the battery case, I have a 3d printer also and would like to print one out also.

Thanks
Steve

[Kilrah]

I will of course post it as soon as I've verified it works Already made 2 changes...

Pisses me off when half the things I download and print end up in the trash becasue they're lousy designs, so I try to do a bit better*...

*results not guaranteed

[Kilrah]

The original gasket may be recoverable ? If you soak it in hot water it will usually return to shape. Then superglue the ends together if it has broken. I always use Loctite Power Flex flexible superglue as it is perfect for such flexible items and uses a rubber filler in its mix.

Looks like I've chucked it already... 

I think I will try to fill the groove flush with silicone. Or jsut leave it like this, the "counterpart" pushes in close to 1mm already so should make quite a bit of a seal on its own at least for dust.

[Fraser]

Just to correct a comment made here. I was not the chap who posted pictures of the cameras interior. I have not had a chance to do anything with my camera yet. The battery is en route to me from overseas and should arrive any day now.

Nice work on the 3D battery casing.

Fraser

[mrrrwhat]

Do the eyeFi card wifi function work on this camera or not?

[Kilrah]

Might not because the camera doesn't put things in a DCIM folder like a common digital camera but in an IMG folder. Anyway the card is out of support so the WiFi functions are as good as dead as it can't be reconfigured anymore (yay for server-based stuff...) so I can't check.

The case print failed, started it again...

@Fraser I've corrected, had confused indeed

[TheSteve]

If the battery case turns out I'll probably print one for fun. Have you checked to see if the camera will charge the battery for you? I would think it would need all 4 contacts for that with the sense resistor and the thermistor.

[nfmax]

I doubt the "off" current drain goes any lower. I left the battery in my camera which was switched for a week and the battery was fully drained. I know the manual recommends storing the camera with the battery removed, and now we know why.

I found this issue as well. A fully charged battery was down to two bars in three days or so. I thought my £55 battery might have been a lemon but it looks like it's the unit itself.

That means the battery holder gasket is going to take some wear, unless you leave it permanently charging

[Kilrah]

Have you checked to see if the camera will charge the battery for you? I would think it would need all 4 contacts for that with the sense resistor and the thermistor.

Gah, it indeed doesn't. Can someone measure the middle contacts at normal temp? Probably jsut a matter of putting a resistor between them.

[TheSteve]

Already done on page 1.

Here is the info again:

The "S" sense pin appears to be tied to the positive output through a 7.7 K resistor.
The "T" temperature pin is connected to negative through a NTC thermistor which has 11.5K at around 20 degrees C.

[Kilrah]

Woops sorry for that.
Installed 6k8 and 10k resistors on the respective sides and we have charge

Funny, there was a thread about wire-wrap the other day, guess I've jsut used that again after maybe 15 years or so 

[HighVoltage]

OK, I fixed the sticky trigger knob.
Both sides of the knob had some left over plastic attached.
The switch itself was alright.

Now it works perfectly.

[Kilrah]

Mine is a bit creaky as well, guess I'll check it while I'm there.

Re the case: the 2 18650 just fit (BMS will have to go on top, too short), the case fits in the camera well... but I didn't notice the end cap had a V notch at the center, so a redesign is needed

[Fraser]

Making a battery pack is often challenging as the OEM batteries often have very thin plastic cases that are not easily reproduced using a 3D printer. I have seen some that are wafer thin but use very robust plastic to counter this. One technique I have used is 3D printed end caps and thin modelers ABS plasti-card for the rest of the case. The plasti-card is very thin but tough. It also bonds easily to 3D printed ABS parts that my printer produces. I use plastic weld to melt the parts together. If you are short on length, you could use thin ABS plasti-card at the ends of the battery.

http://www.newmodellersshop.co.uk/plasticard.htm

Fraser

[Kilrah]

No need, the 1mm wall has printed surprisingly well. It's a bit fragile but once everything's sorted I'll make a cap that can be glued on and will add the rigidity.
New version printing...

[Kilrah]

OK, revised design fits. I'll make it 1mm longer becasue there's still a little margin and post the file, then work on the cover. That will be 1.5mm thick I think.

[onesixright]

@kilrah what software your using?