Infrared Theremometers

[levinus777]

My company has recently started performing temperature tests to find hot spots in circuit panels for businesses requesting this because of insurance reasons. I understand that if the temp. is higher than the rated 60 degree (copper) or 75 degree (alum.) that there is an obvious problem. I have several questions regarding this topic.
1.Should you always replace the O.C.P.D. if it has been subjected to temps. above rating for long periods of time.
2. Is there a formula to figure out what the temp. should be according to how many amps is being pulled.
3. overall rules of thumb from anyone who might be familiar with the use of infrared thermometers.

 

[charlie tuna]

first off you need to know what your asking about -- are you talking about "infrared thermography?" are you an electrician or a scanner?? is your company into something they really don't know what their doing or what to call it?? heat generated on any electrical material is directly proportional to the current flowing through it!!

 

[Pierre C Belarge]

I see that your profile says you are an electrician, so I will try to help.

All of us in our careers have come across work or work practices that is new to us. It is a normal progression of any one in our industry. Helping other electricians is what this site is all about.


Here are some links. There is a lot of info that you can link to from these pages. My advice is read some of it.


http://us.fluke.com/usen/products/CategoryTemp.htm

http://www.raytek.com/Raytek/en-r0/IREducation/


http://www.wintron.com/Infrared/guideIR.htm

As with most portions of our industry, there are many parts to learn. With the gained knowledge of more of the portion, you will progress from one with little or no knowledge to become an expert. The end result is purely based on how much effort one is willing to put forth.

you may also want to google
emissivity
thermometry

Good luck!

 

[levinus777]

first off you need to know what your asking about -- are you talking about "infrared thermography?" are you an electrician or a scanner?? is your company into something they really don't know what their doing or what to call it?? heat generated on any electrical material is directly proportional to the current flowing through it!!

Thanks for rephrasing my question. I am an electrician with a masters license and yes this is a bit new to me, but nothing I cannot handle.
My profile would have told you that. Thanks. I thought that there might be some sort of cheat chart that might be a little easier than going through the whole caloric calculation.

 

[petersonra]

first off you need to know what your asking about -- are you talking about "infrared thermography?" are you an electrician or a scanner?? is your company into something they really don't know what their doing or what to call it?? heat generated on any electrical material is directly proportional to the square of the current flowing through it!!

A minor correction.

 

[charlie tuna]

peter
it "is" directly proportional---- to what degree?? you can argue that issue..

777-------
there are direct formulas in the field of infrared thermography--and i think there are so many surrounding variables, that mainly experience is your best instructor. you mentioned "overcurrent device" heat??? we as electricians know that the "overcurrent device" is designed by the materials it is constructed of to produce heat. remember, we many times refer to them as "heaters"?? most operating "heaters" as seen by a infrared camera are out of the range setting for the camera due to their high heat. is this a problem??? no, they are doing their job! and i have witnessed infrared reports suggesting motor overloads be changed due to the high temperature they were operating at. and as i reviewed this report-- the thermographer wrote up numerous overloads as being "defective". this got very expensive, for a 1000 ton chiller unit has six of them and they cost(material only) almost $1000. each???

the duty of the infrared contractor is to provide the building owner an accurate report and this report is already flawed by the fact that as we inspect the installation we do not see everything at full load or in most cases "everything" period!! some equipment is not running or at the time of the scan, running only at half full load due to building conditions!! i believe for this reason "we", in this industry, must be very careful not to report on false issues. this service is not cheap and the customer is not qualified to question the items listed on the report. infrared thermography is an investment for a building -- and over a period of years-- continuous yearly inspections will hunt down most of the upcoming electrical problems. because it will take years to see all the equipment at one time or another functioning at near full load which exposes any problem by producing excessive or unbalanced heat.. this is all based on the assumption that the building owner will correct yearly, those issues found by the infrared thermographer...

this is why it is so important for infrared contractors to be qualified at what we see and what we report on--- a bad reputation will defeat a very usable tool in our industry!!