Auto technician thermal imager

[Dan_s_young]

I’ve been considering getting a thermal imager for my tool box as an additional diagnostic item for my arsenal. I am mainly thinking it would be useful for helping diagnose misfires, heated seat issues, and high resistance wiring issues. I don’t know tons about thermal imager features and am looking for suggestions/advice on what units to focus on for my needs.

Snap on has an attractive model, and is focused towards technicians and has “known good images preloaded onto it. But is very expensive.

Flir is the big name when it comes to thermal imagers, I’m just not sure if they offer a comparable model with the proper thermal range and features? I see a local store has a TG165 for a good price, but I’m not sure if that’s a good option.

I also know flir has an add on device to use my iPhone as a thermal imager? But is it worth it?

My final option I’ve seen is a Milwaukee m12 thermal imager. I don’t have any hands on experience with these so I’m not really sure if this is even an option? I would imagine it is more so focused towards Home thermal imaging.

 

[Air21]

http://toolguyd.com/thermal-imaging-camera-image-quality-comparison/

Or the whole enchilada:
http://toolguyd.com/?s=Thermal

 

[Kaizen]

The iPhone one does work but not sure if it will be able to distinguish say a middle cylinder. I know it works well on a house but a lot lower heat range and bigger delineation between materials


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[thatguysb]

personally its a expensive option. i have had some good luck with IR temps for non firing cylinders, sticking brake calipers ect.

if you could afford it, i heard snap on makes a killer one.

 

[phor53]

I have a Snap On thermal imager one for sale......I'm not a mechanic so its practically new

 

[stercorarius]

I have the flir one built into my cat phone. I would imagine it's similar in quality and capability to the one that clips on. I use it for diagnosing hub bearings, fuses and general purpose dicking around. Nice camera. Shoddy phone. Might give you a good idea of the image quality from the cheap flirs though.

 

[GTA Matt]

I've had the snap on imager for a few months, the longer I have it, the more and more uses I find for it. I initially wasn't going to buy the snap on, with the price being my only issue. I spent hours watching youtube comparisons of sub $1000 units trying to decide what would work best for me. Incidentally, the snap on is actually pretty good, my dealer made me a better deal then anticipated, and that was that. I actually haven't even looked at the known good images on it, so I wouldn't make that any sort of factor when deciding what to get. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to spot a cold exhaust port on a manifold, hot spot in wiring, broken grid on a defrost, etc.

 

[Dan_s_young]

Thanks GTA Matt, I think that was my biggest reason for asking. Sometimes you pay quite the premium for the snap-on name. But in this case it might be the one I will focus on, I suppose I just want to avoid having a better option for a cheaper price. I kind of figured the known good pictures would be useless, but it’s just interesting that the unit is built focusing on automobile usage.

 

[R-mm]

Those pics are so cool. I wish HF sold a $75 version... minus 20%...


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[GTA Matt]

Only pic I have saved on my phone. I have a ton more saved on my work computer and in the imager. One advantage some of the flir's have is showing the outlines of objects, something I think is a desirable feature.



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[unslow1]

Those pics are so cool. I wish HF sold a $75 version... minus 20%...


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Give them time. They will make a version that's 75% as good as a tool truck for 20% of the price. That seems to be their norm. I recently picked up their digital inspection camera. I just couldn't bring myself to spend the money for years. They finally came up with a decent one for cheap.

 

[mbshop]

Dang, sure wish I had that option when I was working. Instead I just had a temp gun. It still helped but not on wires and bearings, etc.

 

[Sycan]

Can also be used to determine if ***** are OEM or aftermarket, so I've been told.

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[Dingleburry]

Mjlorton o youtube does a couple good videos explaining thermal imaging cameras. Id also say youll prob get more for your money buying flir or fluke...
Id say get the flie E4 and do the hack

 

[VinceG]

Take a looks at this by FLIR. It is a thermal imager multimeter also.
http://www.flir.com/instruments/dm284/

 

[crf450x]

The snap on one works great. I bought mine used for $300. They come up cheap from time to time if you watch facebook and letgo.

 

[lbhsbz]

I have the $200 seek unit for my iPhone...works reasonably well.

Here's a shot of a clogged up heater core through the heater box assembly



And another capture of the front of a 4runner.



This was before I really had a chance to play with it. There are a bunch of different color combos that can really give you a very clear image if you pick the right one for what you're looking at.

I'm happy with it for $200

 

[rsanter]

the issue with thermal imagers is that most the people that use them don't really know how to use them.
I took a class on it and wow, that was informative.
for those of you that use them (or try to) I recommend that you take a class on it or look at some of the online teaching tools.
not using them correctly can lead to misleading results, using the properly they are awesome at finding issues.
here at work I require any electrical panel that gets any type or work done to it to be thermal imaged before closing up

 

[stercorarius]

the issue with thermal imagers is that most the people that use them don't really know how to use them.
I took a class on it and wow, that was informative.
for those of you that use them (or try to) I recommend that you take a class on it or look at some of the online teaching tools.
not using them correctly can lead to misleading results, using the properly they are awesome at finding issues.
here at work I require any electrical panel that gets any type or work done to it to be thermal imaged before closing up

You have me intrigued. Who'd you get your class through? I doubt I can find anything near by so anyone have any YouTube or other links. I definitely am no electrician or even an auto tech so it's more for shits n giggles.

 

[ItsNemo]

the issue with thermal imagers is that most the people that use them don't really know how to use them.
I took a class on it and wow, that was informative.
for those of you that use them (or try to) I recommend that you take a class on it or look at some of the online teaching tools.
not using them correctly can lead to misleading results, using the properly they are awesome at finding issues.
here at work I require any electrical panel that gets any type or work done to it to be thermal imaged before closing up

Which one of your friends sells this class?

Seriously, there's nothing much to them, you can see relative temperatures and absolute temperatures over a wide area of things.

 

[GTA Matt]

I can see where some training or classes may help with its use for home hvac or electrical, but as far as using it on vehicles, for me, it's simply speeding up a process I would be doing an 'old fashioned' way. Where I would be using an ir gun, dripping water on an exhaust manifold, or pulling plug wires to find a misfiring cylinder, it's now point and shoot. Instead of breaking down a wiring harness to find the spot of high resistance, just scan the harness and open it up at the hot spot. It can be used for parasitic draws; fuses flowing current will show up warmer, as well as modules or relays that are on.

Exhaust manifold on a poorly running 351 Cleveland helped i.d. some split intake gaskets.






Clogged catalytic converter on one bank is immediately obvious.



Poor contact in an ignition switch connector.



And a dog's nose is every bit as cold as it feels



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[BigNuge]

I️ own the Flir E5. I’ve used it for work (industrial boilers & burners & controls), as well as around the shop and house. It’s one of those tools that you find so many uses for once you have it.

As far as images, it takes extremely good images. It has dual cameras, and overlays (on the correct mode) the thermal image over the digital image. Once you see it that way you’ll see how much better it is than just a thermal image.

Once I️ bought mine I️ got several email offers on classes for thermal photography. I️ think I’ll look into one of those classes!


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[Heavy Metal Doctor]

I've had the snap on imager for a few months, the longer I have it, the more and more uses I find for it. I initially wasn't going to buy the snap on, with the price being my only issue. I spent hours watching youtube comparisons of sub $1000 units trying to decide what would work best for me. Incidentally, the snap on is actually pretty good, my dealer made me a better deal then anticipated, and that was that. I actually haven't even looked at the known good images on it, so I wouldn't make that any sort of factor when deciding what to get. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to spot a cold exhaust port on a manifold, hot spot in wiring, broken grid on a defrost, etc.

x2 on most of this, only I didn't do any researching / thinking because my wife just got on the SO truck and asked "what would he love to have, but probably wouldn't just buy for himself?" and got me one as a gift (she also got a smoking deal - nowhere near list price.)

 

[finn]

I have the Seek on my iPhone. I don’t think it’s as good as the Flir.

 

[Lelandwelds]

My favorite website uses one on motherboard reviews. Surprising results sometimes.

 

[yyc_ranger_4x4]

First....buy once, cry once. Buy the biggest baddest FLIR unit you can afford. Be sure to talk with the FLIR dealer as they always have deals depending on how much you spend. The courses are a little spendy,but decent discounts can be had depending on model of camera you buy.

Take the course!!!! It will tech you about emissivity, camera settings common faults and mistakes, how to tune the images properly, etc. The biggest is emissivity as it can make different materials of the same temperature look like they're 100* difference.

 

[BigNuge]

Hey guys, just got around to pulling a few images off my FLIR E5.

What’s almost the best part about going with a FLIR is what you can do with the images once you upload them to a computer. FLIR has a free software set that lets you edit almost every aspect of the image (color palette, target point measurements, thermal/digital image blending....the list goes on).

Anyway, here are a few shots.

This first one is of my Toughbook on the counter at home. I played with the color palette and set two target temperatures on the image so you can see the contrast and pinpoint temperatures.



This next one is of my “beer fridge”. I set the image blend way over the the digital side, which gives it that haze look with the thermal just barely layered over the digital.



This last one is from work, I was shooting a steam trap to check it’s operation. This is an image of a steam trap that is working as it should. Notice the darker color on the bottom half of the trap, indicating that it’s doing it job by only allowing water (condensate) to pass through.






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[engineer2]

How are these with aluminum? I know conventional IR thermometers have problems with accurate readings on aluminum.

 

[Dingleburry]

As fas as i know anything reflective. It reflects back heat "signatures?" from everything else. How light would reflect. Even though thermal imagers dont pick up light waves. If i point mine at a mirror it looks same as a light sensor would. (I can see myself even though mirror is ambient and should see just ambient) If that makes sense. Emissivity is to correct that, how well it does. I dont know.

 

[BigNuge]

How are these with aluminum? I know conventional IR thermometers have problems with accurate readings on aluminum.

Any thermal imager has difficulty reading shiny surfaces. The solution(s) are quite easy. The simplest is to cover a small section of the target area with an opaque tape/material. Example, when I shoot shiny copper piping (incredibly low emissivity) I use a few strips of electrical tape and it works great!

I shot this test image as an example. This would work exactly the same for aluminum.





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[eKretz]

Which one of your friends sells this class?

Seriously, there's nothing much to them, you can see relative temperatures and absolute temperatures over a wide area of things.

Actually it's pretty dependent on what you're doing. For some things like home inspection it does take a bit of doing to get a good image - since the camera only detects heat, there can be times that you won't get a useful image when the temperature is very stable and uniform - so you have to create a heat differential. This can be done with an air blower or fan with or without a water spritz, with a heat gun, etc. For things where your object of interest already has a high heat differential then yes it's pretty darn simple to spot problems. The better thermal cameras can detect a temperature difference of something like 0.1° F but if you can't adjust the temperature scale span manually you might never see it on the screen. Emissivity can also easily fool the inexperienced or unaware.