Thermal Imagers

[bcradio]

How many of you all have a thermal imager? If so, what types/brands do you prefer?

I'd like a decent quality unit, but am not a pro and won't use it all the time.

 

[Dieselbutterfly]

planning on watching the big fence at night,lol

 

[danski0224]

The two major players in the USA are Flir and Fluke. Testo also offers thermal imagers.

Big differences in reporting software between the two majors, probably Testo too. If you plan to process the images and generate reports, do not underestimate the importance of the reporting software.

Price is dictated by resolution. More resolution = more money.

Additional lenses, if available, aren't cheap and may require additional calibration before use.

It is pretty easy to burn through $3k on an "entry level" unit. "Middle of the road" stuff is ~$7k (320 x 240) and 640 x 480 resolution is roughly double. Current ~$7k cameras were $20k just a couple of years ago.

The low end of the thermal imager market has some newcomers. I'd suggest buying from a reputable source.

You definitely want to try before you buy.

 

[Fyrme]

We have MSA's and Eagles on the fire trucks. I love TIC's they are soooo cool. Makes search and rescue a breeze. The cops like calling us out when they have a suspect hiding in the woods. You can't hide from a Thermal! Unless you've been dead for a while. We have also used them to locate patients on MVA's who have been ejected from the car at night.

 

[bcradio]

Thanks for the replies on this. I was looking at Extech's imagers and those looked pretty decent and fairly ok priced.

Has anyone tried the Flir i3, i5, or i7? If so, how do you like them?

 

[rlitman]

Extech is FLIR. They're the same company. Not clear if you knew that or not.

I have used the FLIR i5. Borrowed it to inspect electrical equipment at work.
Nice enough imager. The differences between the three you asked about are all in resolution. i3 is 60x60, i5 is 100x100, i7 is 140x140. Even the i7 isn't "entry level" by danski0224's standards. I wouldn't agree with that at all though.

What are you planning on using it for?

Here are two issues you want to consider before purchasing a thermal imager:
1) If you look at reflective surfaces (shiny metal especially), you will get false hot readings, as reflections of yourself. You need to learn to recognize these for what they are, and figure out how to hide behind something to get a true image (or just not be fooled by them).
2) Looking at the thermal image of something is vastly different than looking at a visible light picture of something. So different that it can often be hard to tell what you are looking at. Current generation thermal images include a visible light camera, and technology to fuse the thermal and visible images together into something much more useful. The imagers you mentioned do not have that capability.

 

[Stuey]

What's your price range?

Dewalt and Fluke have inexpensive (<$1000) models available, but the resolution is low.

e.g.: http://toolguyd.com/this-is-what-an-image-from-dewalts-thermal-imaging-camera-looks-like/

Flir/Extech i3, i5, and i7 models range from $1200 to $2000, and Milwaukee has a model at $2500, but I'm not fond of its frequent calibrations.

 

[RKA]

I have a testo 875i-1, unfortunately I can't compare it to anything else. What I can tell you is the viewing angle on the lens was important to me because I would be scanning interior walls for heat loss. Many other units at and below this price point didn't cover the wide angle that the testo did. Sensitivity on this unit is phenomenal, resolution is okay (would always like more, but it's pricey). It does seem to pause frequently during operation and then resumes reading after 2 secs, not sure if that's normal or not (this might be the calibration Stuey is referring to).

 

[bcradio]

Thanks guys. I plan to keep it under $2000 for sure. It will be used for detecting hot/cold spots on the house mostly. It may have some automotive uses as well. The flir models look the best so far to me.