fluke -68 thermal imaging
- Thread starter zappy
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I use a $99 infared thermometer with a laser pointer. It works great. We have a $2000 gun with a scope for overhead lines but have almost never used it in 15 years. if you are serious about imaging get the video camera. We hire a company every year to image various switchgear for a much smaller price than the $20,000 they paid for their camera. It is really impressive and has found many problems.
brian john
Senior Member
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- Leesburg, VA
It was not a camera, just a temperature reader, it may have been closer to $3000, but either way, we never got that much use out of it. That is why we now hire a company that specializes in doing this. Their video cameras give us a photo document of the hot spots along with a scale showing the temperatures. We just do the repairs, without the investment. But I still use the $99 IR thermometer when I need to make a quick check of a breaker or connection.
charlietuna
Senior Member
What your buying for $99.00 is a "point" temperature finder. An IR camera shows surrounding conditions which allows a QUALIFIED operator to determine not that something is "hot", but why it is "hot" ! There is a difference !
I would certainly hope there is a difference between a $99 IF thermometer and an $20,000 IF camera, or there are a lot of people out there who have been ripped off. It is not difficult to tell why a component is hot, for any experienced electrician, unless it is a problem with waveform, harmonics, frequency, etc. Then a Scopemeter would be more use than a camera. But there is no reason for the average electrician to purchase one of the expensive cameras, and then pay for schooling on it, unless he will be doing testing as a full time job. It would never pay for itself. On the other hand, I would recommend all electricians to have a cheap non-contact IF thermometer to see if breakers, motors, transformers, or suspicious looking connections need further checking.
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charlietuna
Senior Member
zzzzzzzzzzzz,
You could look at a hot breaker all day long with a "point" IF thermometer and know the same thing as applying your hand to the front of the breaker! Nobody expects the average electrician to own an expensive Infrared Camera, but i find it crazy to ask an electrician to carry a $99.00 tool that he will seldom use. Motors and transformers are expected to be hot--and some operate hotter than others just due to their design under the same loads and applied voltage. Point thermometers, as well as expensive Infrared cameras can provide information to it's operator that is easily misinterpitated causing false alarms to the conditions of customer's equipment. They can also overlook serious problems.
I own three or four "point thermometers, bought them in 1989, and they are in my warehouse somewhere--in a Makita drill motor box??? I don't even carry them on my service trucks mainly because they can mislead too easily! Only one thing worse than missing or overlooking an electrical problem and that is causing a false alarm and providing my customers repairs that are not necessary.
You could look at a hot breaker all day long with a "point" IF thermometer and know the same thing as applying your hand to the front of the breaker! Nobody expects the average electrician to own an expensive Infrared Camera, but i find it crazy to ask an electrician to carry a $99.00 tool that he will seldom use. Motors and transformers are expected to be hot--and some operate hotter than others just due to their design under the same loads and applied voltage. Point thermometers, as well as expensive Infrared cameras can provide information to it's operator that is easily misinterpitated causing false alarms to the conditions of customer's equipment. They can also overlook serious problems.
I own three or four "point thermometers, bought them in 1989, and they are in my warehouse somewhere--in a Makita drill motor box??? I don't even carry them on my service trucks mainly because they can mislead too easily! Only one thing worse than missing or overlooking an electrical problem and that is causing a false alarm and providing my customers repairs that are not necessary.
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