Thermography

FLIR announced three new products at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January: A second generation FLIR ONE for Android and iOS devices, the C2 Compact Professional Thermal Camera, and new additions to the Raymarine Dragonfly Fishfinder product line.

A lively discussion has been posted up on the LinkedIn group warning anyone carrying out thermal surveys in the UK to beware of bogus callers for domestic surveys where upon arrival, thermographers are mugged by masked men at knife-point.

The Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia is examining thermal imagery of the Indian ocean from several additional satellites to measure the temperature of the surface of the ocean in the hunt for missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370.

Using a thermal imaging camera to outline electronic components enhances electronic troubleshooting. The new FLIR E4 has proved to be a hot seller for PASS Ltd, the independent test equipment professionals. One particularly enthusiastic electronics engineer uses it to monitor the temperature of circuit boards for potential faults, by finding where heat sources are on a board.

In theory it is possible, but surface area and emissivity have to be taken into account. Then you will have different convective coefficients for vertical and horizontal surfaces. Looking at  a motor body there are many fins which will increase the surface area; accuracy is paramount here as an incorrect area measure will throw out the results in a big way.

Just dragged yourself through another torrential downpour and still mopping the water out of your hair? Yep, that’s the British summer for you – but our cousins across the pond are currently in the midst of a heatwave so warm, they’re using thermal cameras to show how hot slides are! It’s hard to imagine, staring out the window at yet another dreary July day here in Britain, but areas in West Michigan, USA are currently suffering in heat of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit!

Before you consider opening an electrical panel to carry out a survey with a thermal imaging camera you should ask yourself the following questions: 1. Is the panel high voltage above (415 volts) or low voltage? If the answer is high voltage then you should not be opening the panel under any circumstances unless you are an authorised person; for more information see who specialise in high voltage training and run authorised person courses.