C500: Canon C500 Fan Noise Solution! Photos of my external fan unit for the C500!

C-Mac

C-Mac

Well-known member
I have enclosed a link to a blog post I create to pull together all my videos, photos, and work with the Canon C500 fan noise and external fan unit fabrication. This unit works great!

If you are interested in having me making a unit for you or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I'm asking $325 to fabricate one of units.

The 3rd video on the blog shows the camera running in 79+ degree temperature for over an hour, 30+ minutes of that at a temperature of 86 degrees. The canon manual says the internal fans will trigger when the internal temperature reaches 77 degrees.

http://www.pulsecinema.com/canon-c500-fan-noise-solution-external-fan-unit/

Photo of Unit on Camera:

http://www.pulsecinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/C500-Fan-Photos-50-0004.jpg

Best Regards,

Chris McGuinness
www.pulsecinema.com
 
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I would note that in the 3rd video on the blog page, the temperature near the fireplace on the thermometer reaches 86 degrees for 30 minutes or so without the internal fans triggering. The moment I pull off the fan the yellow temperature light comes on.

I would also note that I had the camera sitting next to the fire above 78 degrees before I even began the test. I thought the test would not be as accurate if I started with a cold camera that had to warm up as most of us have our cameras out and on during the lighting and set up process.

https://vimeo.com/198885076

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask.

Best Regards,

Chris
 
Would people be interested in having the fan system wired for USB so you could P-Tap to Anton Bauer via Male P-Tap to USB 2.0 Adapter?

Best Regards,

Chris
 
Nice design Chris! I've done things like this in the past with computer gear (guess it started when doing custom work on cars in college, including putting a V8 in a small lightweight car: a fun sleeper!). Reminds me I need to sell some noisy lights :)
 
jcs said:
Nice design Chris! I've done things like this in the past with computer gear (guess it started when doing custom work on cars in college, including putting a V8 in a small lightweight car: a fun sleeper!). Reminds me I need to sell some noisy lights :)
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Thank you jcs! I think many of us did a bit of engineering as we grew up, kinda fits the line of work. As a kid, I used to build remote control cars for a hobby shop and always worked on our cars with my buddies. I also built speaker boxes and installed stereos systems in mine and my friends cars. Curious, what lights are too noise for you?

The one thing I think that is really important about this design over the cheese plate solution is it puts the unit right up against the internal fan vents. I like to think about blowing up a a balloon... try blowing a balloon without putting your lips on it... I don't have the the ability to test the cheese plate solutions, but I would be interested to see how it fairs next to a fireplace at 86 degrees. The other thing that I could believe could be a benefit here is it looks to me to be much smaller and likely easier to remove than the cheese plate. I actually leave my C500 with handle, fan unit, & a lens on in an old petrol bag that I dug up.

Thanks again jcs!

Best Regards,

Chris
 
I spent two days shooting with a C500 with Chris's mod this week and it made a huge difference. We ran multiple interviews for 1 1/2 - 2 hours each and the internal fans never kicked on. It was a simple flick of a switch and our audio stayed clean. We definitely heard the internal fan at one point before switching the mod fan on so the audio would have been horrible given our close proximity to the talent.

Great job Chris!
 
Cole said:
I spent two days shooting with a C500 with Chris's mod this week and it made a huge difference. We ran multiple interviews for 1 1/2 - 2 hours each and the internal fans never kicked on. It was a simple flick of a switch and our audio stayed clean. We definitely heard the internal fan at one point before switching the mod fan on so the audio would have been horrible given our close proximity to the talent.

Great job Chris!
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Awesome, thank you Rob! The unit does what it's supposed to do!

Best Regards,

Chris
 
I feel like I am speaking alone most of the time on this thread, lol, but several of you have contacted me directly. I put the Canon C500 External Fan unit on Ebay to simplify the process of purchasing. If you have any questions, please ask before you purchase. If you are international and want to purchase, you will have to contact me directly. Thank you.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Canon-C500-...205785?hash=item41be842619:g:UpEAAOSw32lYrK2o

Best Regards,

Chris
 
cowpunk52 said:
This is great - I'll be picking one up in the next week or so! Nice job
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Thank you Brian. The unit works great and is easy to use! It's pretty straight forward, but if you have any questions, I am happy to answer.

Best Regards,

Chris
 
B.Berry said:
Nice Job Chris. This will keep the sound recordist very happy!
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Hey B.Berry,

It definitely keeps me and my sound recordist happy! The C500 with 7Q+ is really, IMHO, a huge leap over the C500 internal/C300mkI,C100 cameras.

Best Regards,

Chris
 
Hey Guys/Gals,

I pulled my eBay auction for the Canon C500 external fan units as I am currently out of a few of the needed parts to fabricate more of these units. If any of you still wish to purchase the external fan unit for your C500 please let me know and I'll order the parts needed to make more. If you use a 6 - AA 9v caddy with rechargeable batteries, these fans will run for around 6-7 hours. I will need to spend a day making the metal brackets again, so it would be good to know how many I should cut, drill, and grind.

I am asking $325 per unit and feel this is very fair considering the amount of work involved.

Best Regards,

Chris
 
Sorry to post this twice, but I just wanted C500 owners know this is the last chance to pick up one of these units:

Hey Guys,

I hope all you C500 owners are doing well! So, I sold my C500... really loved it, but I have been renting more for specific client needs and decided to make some changes to my gear.

Before selling my C500, I made used up my remaining parts and made a handful of fan systems and ran tests on them to make sure all was good....

What does this mean? I won't be able to make any more fan units beyond the few I have left in stock. Each unit needed to be molded to a C500 body and tested as they were hand made.

I feel like my C500 sold very well on eBay because I included the fan unit with the C500 removing that worry for the buyer. I can't guarantee it, but I do think it will help maintain value of a C500 if you have a solid solution for the next user.

Anyhow, I have lowered the price on eBay to $375 + $15 shipping, but if you would like to buy one directly via Paypal and skip Ebay, I can do $325 + $15 shipping.

Here's a link to my blog about this item: (They work very well and client's don't even notice it unless I tell them about it. It also won't fall off.)

http://www.pulsecinema.com/canon-c500-fan-noise-solution-external-fan-unit/


It's been fun to custom make these and I have met some cool people and made some friends from this little side venture.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Best Regards,

Chris McGuinness
www.pulsecinema.com
 
While the external fans produced by AbleCine and Chris McGuiness are no longer in production, we’re happy to offer an updated version to bring new life to the C500. Our version includes a variable speed control for fine tuning the fan speed providing the quietest noise to speed ratio depending on your needs. In our tests, 3.5V provided continuous recording times at an ambient room temperature of 77° F, with the internal fans never engaging.: http://onefilmproductions.com/canon-c500-external-fan-diy-build/
 
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