Re: [APML] life of a CCD

[Gene Horr <genehorr@texas.net>]

> Tony Hallas wrote:
> 
> Hello,
> 
>     Would any of the more electronically savvy people on the APML know what the expected
> lifespan of a CCD is? 

Well cared for it should be decades.  It is stored in an extremely low 
humidity environment so corrosion should not be an issue.  The biggest
problem is the temperature fluctuations.  As long as you minimize this
(especially when shutting down) the chip should last longer than the
exposed support electronics.

This is one reason why it is so important to let the camera run for 
at least a minute after shutting down the TEC and even better is to
raise the temperature in stages.  After removing power the TEC dumps
a _lot_ of heat into the "cool" side if it was running at high power.

Gene Horr
genehorr@texas.net

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