Thermal Camera Advice Please

[John-]

Hi

Looking at getting a basic thermal imagining camera to look for tell tale hot spots on electrical equipment.

Anyone know of a better one for the money than this please: -

220 x 160 IR Resolution Infrared Thermal Imager, Handheld 35200 Pixels Thermal Imaging Camera,Infrared Thermometer with 3.2" Color Display Screen(Battery Included): Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science

220 x 160 IR Resolution Infrared Thermal Imager, Handheld 35200 Pixels Thermal Imaging Camera,Infrared Thermometer with 3.2" Color Display Screen(Battery Included): Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science

www.amazon.co.uk

Cheers

John

 

[catdog1121]

I cannot understand the hype of this... Check that the connections are tight with a screwdriver... When I have seen people use them you always end up with a hot spot on higher capacity breakers with loads on... Duh...

 

[John-]

I cannot understand the hype of this... Check that the connections are tight with a screwdriver... When I have seen people use them you always end up with a hot spot on higher capacity breakers with loads on... Duh...

Not just going to be used for electrical, hot water leeks underfloor, insulation issues etc.

 

[JD6400]

Brought a Flir E5 several years ago for one specific warranty claim on a solar farm ,against ABB.
It was worth it for proving their liability and without it I would not of had a leg to stand on.
But since then , mates have used it more than us , for things from Bat surveying to looking for poorly insulated buildings and one thing it is good at is identifying underfloor heating circuits.
I think if you want to get the best out of it , training on how to use it and how to interpret the data , is a must.

 

[loz2754]

I bought one just to trace under floor heating faults. It has been very useful.
It wasn't cheap though. It is made by Bosch. I think it was close to £1000.


The one linked to by the OP from Amazon does look like a fairly good buy. It gets good reviews.

 

[UNG]

I cannot understand the hype of this... Check that the connections are tight with a screwdriver...

I can't understand the point of your comment there is nothing to hype about them, they are a very useful addition to the tool box.

When I have seen people use them you always end up with a hot spot on higher capacity breakers with loads on... Duh...

Just demonstrates how much effort you have put into understanding how to interpret what it is seeing. I have had a thermal imager for a few years now and it shows that equipment is operating within it's normal parameters or not and whether any further investigation is needed, just because the screw is tight it is not the only point of failure.
Unfortunately it is difficult to assess what level you are at from your hidden profile to give a better response to your negative comment

 

[BXB]

I use a FLIR unit that plugs in to your smartphone - FLIR ONE Pro Thermal Imaging Camera for Smartphones | Teledyne FLIR - https://www.flir.co.uk/products/flir-one-pro/. Price wise not far off what you are looking at, but in my experience the FLIR warranty is quite good. My battery went duff about 6 months in, and they replaced the whole unit with minimal fuss.

Quality of the imaging is quite good, I have used a £30k hand held in the past and whilst it is nowhere near as good as that, for day to day stuff it works just as well. It can pick up spot heating issues with ease, map UFH systems well, and highlight thermal bridging in buildings with enough information to narrow down the issue. The FLIR app sketches around objects when you view them in IR by overlaying part of a live non IR picture, which makes identifying things much easier.

 

[John-]

I have ordered the one in the link. Seemed like a good compromise in relation to resolution, features and cost.

Thanks.

John

220 x 160 IR Resolution Infrared Thermal Imager, Handheld 35200 Pixels Thermal Imaging Camera,Infrared Thermometer with 3.2" Color Display Screen(Battery Included): Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science

220 x 160 IR Resolution Infrared Thermal Imager, Handheld 35200 Pixels Thermal Imaging Camera,Infrared Thermometer with 3.2" Color Display Screen(Battery Included): Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[sub-80]

I have ordered the one in the link. Seemed like a good compromise in relation to resolution, features and cost.

Thanks.

John

220 x 160 IR Resolution Infrared Thermal Imager, Handheld 35200 Pixels Thermal Imaging Camera,Infrared Thermometer with 3.2" Color Display Screen(Battery Included): Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science

220 x 160 IR Resolution Infrared Thermal Imager, Handheld 35200 Pixels Thermal Imaging Camera,Infrared Thermometer with 3.2" Color Display Screen(Battery Included): Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science

www.amazon.co.uk

How is it? Any complaints?