Anyone have any information to share on these?

What are good ones, what bells and whistles you don't need, who has the most(not cheapest) affordable ones...ect?

And has anyone regulary used these?

Dnk...

Haven't done it in years, and know nothing about this company other than they seem to be developing more affordable models.
www.flirthermography.com

Cracking safes with thremal imaging:
http://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/tsafe/

Said to work on door keypads and ATM buttons too.

I have a thermal imaging camera from a company called Irisys. The unit plugs into my PDA so you don't have to spend a fortune on a unit which has a screen and built in software etc.

Don't know if they ship them outside the UK but the website is www.irisys.co.uk

Cheers

Ian

I used a NFTI (Naval Firefighter Thermal Imager) in my Navy days. I will have to see if I can find out who makes it. It was awesome.

It looks like the US Navy is switching from the older English Electric Valve Model P4428 to the ISG, Inc. Talisman Model K-90-SS 2000-NFTI Model 2.

EEV is now e2V Technologies at http://e2vtechnologies.com

ISG is at http://www.isgthermalsystems.co.uk


[This message has been edited by rad74ss (edited 03-24-2006).]

[This message has been edited by rad74ss (edited 03-24-2006).]

Dnk, what info would you like? I use a Flir P45 IR Camera regularly. I am a Level II Certified Infrared Thermographer & Master Electrician.
Flir makes very good IR Cameras. What you are going to use an IR Camera for should determine model & price. Do you have a general idea of what you want to use an IR Camera for?
I'll do my best to answer any questions you have.
Al

Capt al, just being curious....

I don't know much about them.

I am curious on how and why they would be needed. I did a google and some range from 2K-15K..15K is a big investment for something I may only use 3 or 4 times. I thought of renting one for a week or two.

My general need would be small right now, maybe doing some plant preventive maintenance with transformers and panels and stuff. Nothing too involved. Maybe scan my house to look for leaks...more or less just playing around.

I don't think I need a 15K one, but something not grey scale, but in color would be nice..

Dnk...


[This message has been edited by Dnkldorf (edited 03-26-2006).]

Dnk, renting one would meet your needs (3 or 4 times) the most financial way. The EC I work for spent 40K - 50K for the camera I use. We do not use it daily yet, but are close to that goal.

We do predictive preventative maintenance with IR. I am still amazed at some of the problems we have found before a plant has an unplanned outage. We will look at all the electrical equipment in a plant or office facility. A report of our findings is giving to the customer including IR & Digital images of problem areas. At that point the customer can have his in house staff make repairs or hire the EC I work for make them.

Flir makes a nice camera using color around 15K, Fluke makes one around 9.5K color also. Check out a number of cameras before you purchase one. Also ask the salesman if you can try it for a set time period before making a purchase.

Al

Al sent me some pictures for this thread.


Picture One

A breaker removed from the panel, it does not look to bad. If it was still in the panel with conductors in the terminals we would not even notice one lug is a little dark.


Picture Two.

A Flir Image of the breaker when it was operating.


Picture Three

A little closer look at the terminals.


Picture Four

Still not looking to bad.


Picture Five

Now we are getting somewhere, this is not good.

I got to see in person the busbars Al removed from this area of the breaker, they where quite warped due to the extreme heat they had been subject to.

Bob

Al, if you don't mind...

What is level II certified, and how many levels are there?

Dnk..

Thats a big boy breaker
Cool pics and a real savings to some production facility that doesn't want to go down.

Dnk, there are 3 Levels of certification. Go to www.infraredtraining.com you can get all the info about each level of certification their. Click on certification and courses.

Basically each level is more training in the use of infrared. You could make a comparison of IR Levels to Electrical licenses ( Journeyman, Master). You put in the time, take the class and pass an exam. Complete a field assignment and receive your certification. This is a very brief answer to your question.

Walrus, That was a 350 amp 480 volt breaker drawing 80 amps.

Al


[This message has been edited by capt al (edited 03-26-2006).]

[This message has been edited by capt al (edited 03-26-2006).]

We have a FLIR P65. FLIR.com has a lot of info on it. We got the camera, and about 6 of us went to level 1 training provided by FLIR. Our place is huge, and we have 100's of panels. I've found several potential problems doing prev. maint. with this.

I've been having a look online and the camera I mentioned on my earlier post can be obtained in the US for about $3000. That gives you a colour readout as well.

I'll try and get some images sent through for posting so you can compare them to the others.

Cheers

Ian

Al, thanks for the photos!! A great illustration of IR cameras saving the day (and maybe some lives/property.)

I'd hate to have seen the outcome of that breaker cooking long enough to develop a phase-to-phase fault!!

Thats kind of funny, Al and I where talking via Nextel just yesterday morning about that very possibility and we where wondering how much damage would have happened.

No doubt in my mind A1 saved this facility a lot of downtime and expense.

Bob



[This message has been edited by iwire (edited 03-28-2006).]

Ian, what type and modle number camera is that?

And what does that picture tell you?
Was there a problem with the TXMR on the pole, or was it taken just for curiosity sake?

Does the field of view vary much with these, or do they all generally pan in and out quite a bit?

Dnk....

The camera I use is the Irisys IRI1011.

I was taking a photo of the pole as it also has some section fuses on it which have a habit of blowing. I wasn't expecting it to tell me much, but it was a new toy so it was worth a try. The image only tells you that the transformer is a bit warmer than the pole.

There is no zoom in/out facility on this camera, but I haven't found it to be a problem when I'm using it out on site.

Cheers

Ian

Ian:
In your picture, It looks like the transformer's temperature is around 10 somethings. 10 what? What's the unit of temperature used?