FLIR / Thermal Imager

[kidturbo]

Played with one of these Snap-On thermal imaging units a year ago, and fell in love with it. So kept watching eBay for a good deal, and picked up one used for under $400 last week.

Several affordable FLIR camera styles on the market now, some that just connect to a cell phone. And for under $50 you can snag a decent IR thermometer, like this AMES unit I carry in the truck specifically for checking tires and wheel bearings. Those also seems very popular for checking body temps these days.. But in the end, nothing beats a true thermal imager for finding the hot or cold spots...

There is actually two Snap-On versions that look pretty much alike out our there. The one I bought is the EETH300. Older of the two. The EETH310 has some better res and new features like Wi-Fi. But brings a couple $$$ more on the used market.

Either one will likely pay for itself in a couple jobs once you get used to it. I haven't put this down since it arrived. Here is some pics I took today. First thing out of the box was check my truck seat heaters.

 

[Burn Down]

They are nice, I picked one up on promo from my local Dealer. Was a tick more than 400 bucks though

 

[NC-smokinlmm]

I install them all the time on boats, I was actually playing with a m232 offshore this afternoon that I just installed on a 34 Seavee. They are pretty cool, my mechanic has a handheld to look for exhaust leaks and such, it helps a lot on a boat. The models I install are for navigating boats at night or in the fog, they are a 1000x better than radar bc you know what's in front of you instead of just looking at a blob on the radar screen...

 

[AZlml]

I've used a few different fluke thermal imagers over the past couple years at work for our predictive maintenance program. Our newest model is a Fluke Ti480 pro, close to $10k but it is pretty slick. Built in wifi uploads pictures directly into their software to create reports on bearings, motors, gearboxes, etc. It's a fun technology to play around with even with budget imagers if you understand what you're looking at.

 

[Mike L.]

They are good for finding ghosts in your house. Think I'm kidding?

 

[KyleC4]

They are good for finding ghosts in your house. Think I'm kidding?

Great......now I want one just to see lol

 

[2004LB7]

Nice. I've always wanted one but could never justify the cost for how little it would actually get used

PS: your Ames IR thermometer emissivity setting is wrong for measuring wood. Probably why the two don't match

 

[AZlml]

They are good for finding ghosts in your house. Think I'm kidding?

What about skeletons in your closet??

 

[Dozerboy]

I want one, but can’t justify it just to play with. I’ll continue to just put my hands on things and see if it burns or not....


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[Mike L.]

What about skeletons in your closet??

Skeletons don't create heat.

 

[cdbright]

i installed a few on some our customers bigger boats when i had the dealership and it was fun to zoom across the marina and see the hot spots on the ladies when they come walking :roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:

 

[kidturbo]

They are good for finding ghosts in your house. Think I'm kidding?

Dang it now I'm gonna be up all night stalking around in the dark.. Any suggestions once I locate her???

The gray scale / white hot on this one actually has some decent range outside. My pond light's up nice in the dark at 100yards.

Being a boater I agree, if you can afford a FLIR they are bad ass addition for running at night. At the boat show I was picking out heat signature of footprints on the concrete at 50yards indoors.

Those Fluke units with it built into the multi-meter were my second choice. But I have a perfectly good meter I like.. And as newer units get released, some decent buys on the second hand stuff make these more appealing.

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[Mike L.]

I've had one for a couple of years. i've found shorts and all kinds of things. I have found heat where there should not have been heat. I've followed heat when it should not be moving. Just saying.

 

[kidturbo]

Nice. I've always wanted one but could never justify the cost for how little it would actually get used

PS: your Ames IR thermometer emissivity setting is wrong for measuring wood. Probably why the two don't match

Holey Shit Batmam, there is a crapload of emissivity values to remember.. Good thing I don't have any polished parts to read... :smart:

https://www.thermoworks.com/emissivity-table

 

[2004LB7]

Yep. Makes me wonder if all the people using them to read people's forehead to see if they are infected before entering a facility, etc have any clue about being calibrated properly for accurate readings from skin

Edit: I just took another look at the chart. The fact that skin has a range should automatically exclude them from being able to use them for this. 0.95-0.98 can shift the reading enough to let a sick person in while excluding a healthy just by skin variably alone

 

[AZlml]

Yep. Makes me wonder if all the people using them to read people's forehead to see if they are infected before entering a facility, etc have any clue about being calibrated properly for accurate readings from skin

Edit: I just took another look at the chart. The fact that skin has a range should automatically exclude them from being able to use them for this. 0.95-0.98 can shift the reading enough to let a sick person in while excluding a healthy just by skin variably alone

Every employee is IR scanned before entering the production floor at our warehouses. They are on tripods directed at your head and give a reading out for the highest temp spotted so someone can view the number. It's not perfect but it's pretty close when comparing to a reading taken from one of our Flukes and getting the values adjusted correctly. I think it's done more good than harm and something is better than nothing in this case.

 

[2004LB7]

Every employee is IR scanned before entering the production floor at our warehouses. They are on tripods directed at your head and give a reading out for the highest temp spotted so someone can view the number. It's not perfect but it's pretty close when comparing to a reading taken from one of our Flukes and getting the values adjusted correctly. I think it's done more good than harm and something is better than nothing in this case.

The point I'm trying to make is unless they calibrate it on each and every person, you may not get a proper reading. Old skin vs young. Fair complexion vs dark. Makeup vs no makeup. There are numerous ways to throw off the readings.

What is your cut off temp for exclusion from entering?

 

[Doms]

The point I'm trying to make is unless they calibrate it on each and every person, you may not get a proper reading. Old skin vs young. Fair complexion vs dark. Makeup vs no makeup. There are numerous ways to throw off the readings.

What is your cut off temp for exclusion from entering?

They are actually looking for a variation between tear duct temperature and skin temperature (with proper training anyways). Like you mention there are too many variables to take into account to go off of skin temperature alone.

 

[Doms]

I've used a few different fluke thermal imagers over the past couple years at work for our predictive maintenance program. Our newest model is a Fluke Ti480 pro, close to $10k but it is pretty slick. Built in wifi uploads pictures directly into their software to create reports on bearings, motors, gearboxes, etc. It's a fun technology to play around with even with budget imagers if you understand what you're looking at.

What made you guys go with Fluke over Flir? I was looking for a new camera at work in that price range and it seems like Flir is still a bit ahead of the pack. Software seems a little bit better with some more options like the route planning.

 

[AZlml]

The point I'm trying to make is unless they calibrate it on each and every person, you may not get a proper reading. Old skin vs young. Fair complexion vs dark. Makeup vs no makeup. There are numerous ways to throw off the readings.

What is your cut off temp for exclusion from entering?

100.7 I believe. It was whatever the CDC advised a month or 2 ago. I agree with your point, way too many variables when dealing with skin.

What made you guys go with Fluke over Flir? I was looking for a new camera at work in that price range and it seems like Flir is still a bit ahead of the pack. Software seems a little bit better with some more options like the route planning.

Corporate contract years ago would be my guess. I used a Flir when I took my level 1 thermography cert but other than that always been Fluke. I made all my routes for the building with our asset management system and have other techs run them and dump the pics into flukes software. I'd be interested to see Flir software and routes. We spend more time and money on our ultrasound program so I doubt I'll ever get a Flir IR gun.