Thernal imaging?

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Huntxtrm

Senior Member
Location
Cleburne
Any of you guys do thermal imaging? I bought my first camera, at one of my clients request. I am thinking of getting some formal training, in imaging electrical systems. Any suggestions? I have seen some training online, just not electrical specific.
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
What do you intend to do with it?

If you just want to scan for hot spots you can figure it out. You can determine 'this thing is hotter than that thing'

On the other hand if you want to produce decent reports with temperature accuracy you will need to take a course.

I have been to a 40 hour and a 16 hour course with Flir. One thing you quickly learn is that there is much much more to it than simply turning it one and taking a picture even though it seems like a digital cam or video recorder.

The big issues are reflectivity and emissivity if you do not understand how those affect the result you will not get accurate temp readings.
 

Huntxtrm

Senior Member
Location
Cleburne
What do you intend to do with it?

If you just want to scan for hot spots you can figure it out. You can determine 'this thing is hotter than that thing'

On the other hand if you want to produce decent reports with temperature accuracy you will need to take a course.

I have been to a 40 hour and a 16 hour course with Flir. One thing you quickly learn is that there is much much more to it than simply turning it one and taking a picture even though it seems like a digital cam or video recorder.

The big issues are reflectivity and emissivity if you do not understand how those affect the result you will not get accurate temp readings.

I would like to eventually be able to render professional reports. I would like to eventually incorporate this into my business. I paid quite a bit of change for this camera...and it' not even a high end one! Right now I just did what the customer requested, I explained I was not certified. But, I do have a good understanding of how it is done. I've came in behind a few Themographers, and inspected and/or repaired their findings. From their reports. I do a lot of industrial maintenance and repair. I think it would be a good tool.
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
I would like to eventually be able to render professional reports. I would like to eventually incorporate this into my business.

That being the case I don't think there is any question you need training and obtaining your level 1 certification.

I am not certified yet, most likely I will be in the near future.

I do not know anything about the online courses but I can tell you that the live classes I went to were interesting, fun, yet very technical and I am not sure I would be able to learn what I did on line. There were labs in class with tough IR issues to solve and you had a teacher walking around to help you through them.
 

Huntxtrm

Senior Member
Location
Cleburne
That being the case I don't think there is any question you need training and obtaining your level 1 certification.

I am not certified yet, most likely I will be in the near future.

I do not know anything about the online courses but I can tell you that the live classes I went to were interesting, fun, yet very technical and I am not sure I would be able to learn what I did on line. There were labs in class with tough IR issues to solve and you had a teacher walking around to help you through them.


I found one class for like 1895 coming to the Austin area. I might check into that. Its a level one class.
 

cowboyjwc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Simi Valley, CA
Also knowing if something is hot or not, doesn't really help unless you know how hot it can or is supposed to be.

Now if you were taking a look at a wall and saw a hot spot in it, I would call that cause for concern.
 
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