Inexpensive thermal image cameras.

[plinker]

https://www.tooltopia.com/fluke-amprobeirc-110.aspx

Thinking about picking up this one. Not really a need per say, more of a curiosity to see what it'll do/how useful it would be.

Any thoughts on this one or in thermal cameras general?

 

[VocaTexas]

The price of some of today's tech just blows my mind. Less than 20 years ago we had a salesman bring a thermal imaging camera to our fire station for a demo. At that time it cost more than $25,000. And, it was a monochrome display.

 

[lbhsbz]

I have one of the SEEK thermal cam that plugs into my iphone...works badass, and it was cheaper than that. The FLIR ONE is supposed to be better, but I was on a budget.

We moved 5 months ago and it's lost.

 

[engineer2]

more specs
Infrared Camera IRC-110
14° to 626° F, Focus 0.10m to Infinity
Field of View 33.0 Degrees Horizontal x 24.0 Degrees Vertical
Detector Resolution - Infrared 120 x 120 Pixels
Country of Origin Taiwan

Low resolution, but it may be fine for general purpose use.

I heard this capability may be common on future cell phones. Of course Apple will charge and extra $500.

 

[rlitman]

I'd say that 120x120 is medium resolution. There are many out there that are far lower than that.

 

[bustedcrawler]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C2FATQ0/?tag=atomicindus08-20

This is what I use when I travel for work to diag or commission equipment. Mainly use it for bearings, drives, etc out on mine sites and other less than pleasant places for tools.

It works very well for diag and during start-up commissioning work. Image quality is good enough to use in reports, has a SD card to download images. Accurate too, checked it a few times with my Fluke IR thermometer. Battery life is solid too. I can get a full 10-14 hour commissioning day out of it, not running full time but using it 2-4 times an hour during that period.

Comes with every imaginable power plug and the charger lets you change out the plug type. Not a big deal for most, but for me that is a life saver to not need another adapter or leaving room on the small travel power strip.

 

[VinceG]

Flir Thermal imaging multimeter. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076H1N941/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[RPH]

From my flir on iPhone 7. Cost a little over one hundred.

 

[LXCam]

From my flir on iPhone 7. Cost a little over one hundred.

That's insanely impressive for a hundred bucks.

 

[ItsNemo]

That's insanely impressive for a hundred bucks.

They have some MSX thing that overlays the thermal image on a visible light image (regular camera) to give it better resolution.

 

[Backwodsurvivor]

We've got the Argus 4 (completely different price range) at work that we use to chase clogs in the vacuum toilet lines all the time. Dump some ice or hot water in and see where it stops.

 

[IdahoMan]

The people who manufacture these devices still won't bring them down to proper price. Too many lucrative costumers (Gov't/security/Corp.), $$$.

 

[rlitman]

The people who manufacture these devices still won't bring them down to proper price. Too many lucrative costumers (Gov't/security/Corp.), $$$.

There are limited manufacturers, because the technology was illegal to export for far too long.

I'm looking at a Flir E4 sitting on my desk in front of me right now. I'd say it is moderately priced (low $1000 range) for these sort of things, yet as a business user, it has easily paid for itself several times over.

The market is ripe for competition, and the lower priced stuff is slowly appearing. Just give it some time.

My first thermal imager was a mere 16x16 resolution, which I bought (and quickly resold) on ebay for almost $2000, to do a quick thermal audit of my house back in late 2007. And that was a super cheap model that required a palm pilot to have a display. Things have progressed a lot since then.

 

[cptn_zippy]

From my flir on iPhone 7. Cost a little over one hundred.

I’m curious where you got the attachment for $100.

J

 

[AndeiH]

i bought 2 of the seek thermal cameras when lowes was clearing them out a couple of years ago for $60. they don't come out of the drawer much but they're fun to play around with from time to time.

 

[bpankratz]

Flir E4, crack it to an E8. Done.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

I have the Flir One for my iPhone SE. It was $180 and it's come in handy several times for troubleshooting electrical components and failing parts, and for checking insulation and such.

 

[ItsNemo]

I have the Flir One for my iPhone SE. It was $180 and it's come in handy several times for troubleshooting electrical components and failing parts, and for checking insulation and such.

All the reviews of those say lots of bad things about battery life...how true?

 

[hawkerxj]

My old CAT S60 phone had one build in. It seemed to work pretty good, and if you are in the market for a phone anyway, could just get a different phone and have a thermal camera. The thing I liked about it was, it took a regular picture at the same time. The thermal image was overlay on the regular image, and you could just swipe the thermal image to the side to reveal what you are actually looking at underneath.

 

[MikeF2316]

I got this one from Princess Auto. It goes on sale occasionally for $400. So far I'm pleased with the way it works.

https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/thermal-imager/A-p8616484e

 

[RPH]

Microcenter had them. We have a local store a mile from the office.