Thermal imaging?

4GenPlumber · January 28

Has anyone purchased or used a thermal imaging camera? Seems like a great way to quickly diagnose failed steam traps, locate risers, etc. Suggestions?

Gabriel82 · January 28

FLIR ONE Gen 3 might be what you want 😁

Unless you want to spend $2000 us dollars or more instead of $200 us dollars...

Our smart"phones" are actually high tech computers capable of much more.

Star trek is here 😂

Picard and Geordi were fond of these small tablets.

Now about 30-40 years later we actually have them...

https://www.flir.com/products/flir-one-gen-3/

hot_rod · January 28

How often will you be using it. There is a wide range of cameras available now, many brands. I like the Flir brand and they have entry level to pro versions.

Most all hydronic pros have IR cameras. The companies around me that focus on service work have cameras on all their service vehicles.

ratio · January 28

Years ago, I got a Fluke VT04 https://www.fluke.com/en-us/product/temperature-measurement/ir-thermometers/vt04 when I was chasing a leaking underground return, it located it on the first walkthrough. Some time later, I got a Flir One Pro fro my phone. It worked fine, but it wasn't as convenient as I had planned. Most recently, the company purchased a Hikmicro B20 https://www.hikmicrotech.com/en_us/industrial-products/b-series-handheld-thermal-imager/ , which works great.

All three of those together don't add up to $1,000. The price has really come down—but I guess you can still spend $60k on one if you really need to https://www.tequipment.net/FLIR/T1020-KIT-12-45/Building-and-Industrial-Thermal-Imagers/?v=7463

HydronicMike · January 28

Been using them for years. If for general, occasional checking, you're probably better off with a cell phone attachment one. For more use, a standard stand alone like the flir E5 or Hikmicro B20 (which I have and works really well).
If you need full legal documentation of things…you going to have to spend the big bucks.

Larry Weingarten · January 28

Hi, I like the Flir One Pro. For fun here's an image of my cat, walking on carpet. It's a pretty sensitive camera.

Yours, Larry

pumpcontrolguy · January 28

I've carried around a Hikmicro pocket 2 with me for a couple years now, great little independent point and shoot that combines thermal and visual cameras. . I didn't want to have to rely on my phone battery, so I specifically wanted an independent unit. Was $600 at the time of purchase, which was about 2 years ago and I've been more than happy except for when I forgot to charge it for a while and the battery was dead on it when I wanted to use it. Photos aren't super high res, but fine for the what I need

pumpcontrolguy · January 28

Here's a couple photos for reference

4GenPlumber · January 28

Thanks for the input. I will check out the flir stand alone models.

RayWohlfarth · January 29

I picked up one from Thermal Master and it works great. My son has the Flir and swears by it

offdutytech · January 29

With thermal imagers it's about all about the processing speed and resolution. FLIR makes a quality unit with several price points and would recommend a standalone model. I also have a HiMicro pocket 2 as a second one. It's helpful to hand one to the customer if you are walking around when they say things aren't working. It's a great tool to show them. A picture is worth a thousand words sometimes.

4GenPlumber · January 29

I ordered the Flir c3-x because it was on sale and im a cheap ****. I will let you know how it goes.

Thermal imaging?

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