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Improving Safety in the Industrial Workplace with Infrared Technology
Elliot Shem-Tov | Level I Certified Thermographer and Northeast Sales Manager at FLIR
In this webinar, Elliot Shem-Tov, Level I certified thermographer & Northeast Sales Manager at FLIR, details the process for Improving Safety in the Industrial Workplace with Infrared Technology. Elliot prefaces his presentation with a brief discussion about the history of Thermal Imaging Technology, the types of infrared cameras available along with the various applications. He then provides information about infrared guided measurements and ends the presentation with the benefits of investing in a Thermal Imager.
Nicole: Okay so it's 2 o'clock, so I think we'll get started and I'm sure some other listeners will be trickling in. My name is Nicole VanWert-Quinzi, and I'm from Transcat, and I’ll be your moderator this afternoon. Our webinar topic today is "Improving Safety in the Industrial Workplace with Infrared Technology." The topic is being presented by Elliott Shem-Tov from FLIR. Elliott has been in test and measurement industry for 13 years. He is a Level I certified thermographer, and he works as FLIR's northeast sales manager. He has been with FLIR for 4 years.
We expect today's presentation to last roughly 30-40 minutes and then we'll answer any questions that have been submitted during the presentation. During - anytime during the presentation, you can submit questions through the question box to the right in your webinar controls. I also want to mention that this webinar is being recording. Each of you will receive a follow-up email with a link to the recorded webinar and the slides of today's presentation.
Now, I'm going to turn the presentation over to Elliott.
Improving Safety in the Industrial Workplace with Infrared Technology: Agenda
Elliot: Thank you very much, Nicole. And thank you everybody for being on the webinar. I appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to attend So my name's Elliott Shem-Tov as Nicole said. I am the sales manager in the northeast for FLIR Thermal Imaging Systems. And it's a real pleasure to be here today for Transcat doing this. We're going to talk about improving safety in the industrial workplace with infrared technology.
So, when you look inside your tool bag, you also want - let me back up here. Looking inside - looking inside your tool bag is on the agenda as number one. Introduction to Infrared Technology, two. We’re going to then be looking at three, Thermal Imaging Cameras, a tool you need. Application overview. Safer and faster troubleshooting with FLIR. Choosing the right camera for the right job. And what is infrared guided measurement? And I want you to remember that term or that acronym, IGM. Because that's going to be important. We're going to segway at the very end on what IGM truly is and where the industry is kind of going with IGM.
Looking Inside Your Tool Bag
So, you look inside your tool bag and you see lots of things. Pliers, screwdrivers, the tools that are needed for the job. These are all things we have and we must have to get the job done. But what's missing? What's the one thing that we need that's going to tell us something that we don't already have? Information is power. The tools are used to fix the problem, so we need as much data as we can to:
A. Cut down the time that we are used for diagnosis and for fixing.
B. Be more cost-effective.
So, we're talking about a thermal imager. What is a thermal imager? It's a tool that allows you to see temperature differential. So, in the world of electric, it's the hot spots. In the world of HVAC, it could be the cold spots. It's basically surface temperature change.
So why do we want to see heat? We're looking for anomalies. So, if you look at a motor and you see the bearings heating up. You're able to tell just by looking at the image in a snap second if those bearings are an issue. And then you're able to look at your temperature on the screen as well. At your specific target or pixel point, and find out how hot that target potentially is or i.e. how bad is the problem? And if we're looking at the left-hand side, we can see that on those three plugs on those three phases, I'm not sure if that's Phase A or Phase C, but we could see the top phase is much hotter than the other two phases. Which indicates a problem. Without a thermal imager, we wouldn't know if that's an issue.
What about absence of heat? So, is not having the heat the only thing that thermal imagers do? And that's not true. So, the absence of heat is still temperature change, but it may be cold spots. So, what we see here, is some missing insulation up on the top left. The bottom we're looking at leaky windows. And on the top right, we're looking at an AC vent, some duct work, that didn't hold up where it was taped, where the wall meets, and now we have some cool air on a nice hot day, some cool air from the AC kind of bleeding through the wall. Once again, have we all sat in rooms and felt a draft, but the windows were closed? I could tell you this, I've probably felt that many, many times in my life, but without a thermal imager, almost impossible to diagnose.
Introduction to Infrared Technology
So, we think about the technology and where it was in 1965. We created infrared technology in 1965. FLIR is the original thermal imaging company. FLIR standing for Forward Looking Infrared. Heck you had a - a tremendous - tremendous tool back in the '60s and '70s with a big container that you had to pour a certain type of liquid gas into, and then the detector shot something and you had this black and white image. By the way that ugly black and white image that gave you hot spots was probably $100,000-some. You look at the second image I just brought up. That's what the technology looked like in the late '70s going in through the '80s. That was a very small device. And then in the '90s and early 2000s, the device got even smaller and more compact. Less costly. And now today we have cameras that are half the size if not a fraction of the size that that gentleman there in the mid 2000's is holding. And that's what we have today. We have cutting-edge technology, unlike any other company in the market. And this is the one tool and you'll see as I go through the presentation, this is the one tool that's going to tell you the things that you need to find out when you're on the job, whether it's in a building. Whether it's in a community. Whether it's a residential/commercial/industrial - it is an incredible tool that helps pay itself back quickly. So, I know everybody that goes on these calls - they want to find out the latest and the greatest, but let's - let's bring it down to a - I should say a micro level. What's in it for me? What is this tool going to do for me and how is it going to make my facility or my bottom line tighter and better?
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Thermal Imaging Cameras – The Tool You Need
So how do we get these cameras so small? FLIR is always working hard with one of the best R&D departments in the world, and we've could take that poor detector, which you saw the first picture before. I'll kind of go back again right here, all the way to the far left, the core detector's probably about the size of my leg. And this is what the technology has been brought to within the last 2-3 years. That's called a lepton detector. That, right there, is an entire apparatus that runs a camera. That's got optics in, that's got the core and all the electronics to run the camera. So - very, very incredible.
FLIR EX Series
So FLIR also has the most comprehensive suite of cameras. We have the EX series which starts at $995 and goes to about $4000. Multiple resolutions, and we'll get into resolution in a little bit as well.
FLIR EXX Series
But then we have the mid-tier camera called the EXX. It starts at about $3750 and goes up to about $8000.
FLIR E4
Then the E4 series. That's our pro series camera. The pro- you think pro series camera probably very expensive. Pro series cameras, again, we're always thinking along the lines of what's in it for me. Pro series cameras are usually used for industrial to commercial to heavy industrial light industrial technology including residential as well. These cameras do a wonderful job of seeing farther away distances and targets. And giving you very good clarity.
FLIR E6
And then there's the E6 series. The T6 series is our most upper tier series, primarily used on heavy industrial and the refining business, universities, and so on. Where basically targets are very expensive and failures could mean tens of thousands of dollars in loss.
FLIR T1k
And then we just released the T1020. The 1020 is what I like to call our Super Camera. That's a camera that has the highest resolution on the market. And the best optics. Who would use a T1020? A T1020 would be used again, by a refinery where you're looking several hundred feet.
You know you look at the different models and the different price ranges, and you may say why are there different prices? Why are there different, you know ranges and costs? So, let me be clear. Resolution - and we'll get into this in a little bit. Resolution is the name of the game in this business. The more resolution you have in a camera generally the more sensitive it is and the more accurate it is. It gives you farther distance, the better the resolution. To me your target and get a proper indication and diagnosis of what the issue may be. So, you can imagine cameras that are 80 x 60 are only going to give you good, accurate information and clarity from a couple of feet away. Whereas when you're looking down at the bottom of the screen, that T1020 or it's dubbed the 1K camera, that camera basically can see several hundred feet away. Give you a pretty accurate temperature.
FLIR TG165 & FLIR ONE Mobile IR Camera
Now, we've also released, you'll see on the left-hand side of the screen, we've taken that lepton core that we showed you before, that real tiny, little camera core, and we're able to insert it into micro tools. So now we have very small, little thermal imagers like the TG165. These cameras are made for spot inspection. These are cameras that are more made for reactive type of maintenance. So, if you have an issue on a motor and you need to pop it out quick, this is something that replaces those age-old $100, $200 little spot guns that only give you the temperature. These cameras don't can take a picture and save it, bring it back up on the screen, change the emissivity, change the color pallet, download an image to a computer in JPEG format. And we have a C2 camera which is below that. That's a full-size camera and something that weighs about 1/3 of a pound and the size of a - a little bit bigger than a pack of cigarettes. Probably thinner. And then we go right down to the FLIR ONE. A camera core on the bottom left-hand part of the screen that plugs into any iPhone or any android device, thus turning y our cellphone into a pretty powerful thermal imager for only $250.00. So, that lepton core not only has made the technology smaller, but it's also made a more cost-effective and affordable.
And there's the FLIR ONE here. So, kind of backing up what I spoke about before. The pros are going to be - the cost is going to be low. Instant imaging sharing. You can take a picture and boom; you can send it right off in an email or a text message to someone. And it's very tiny. The cons - well the cons are it's a consumer electronic device, right? So, the durability. It's not made with a drop rating like our other cameras. The battery - it has its own battery. You can't put anything big in something that small. And it's not going to be super accurate, because you don't have a high resolution. It's 160 x 120. So, on the scale of resolution, it's probably on the lower to moderate end, so you really - it's good for looking at targets about - I'd say anywhere from 3-5 or 3-6 feet away. But a great device for $250. We must think about return on investment. What is this device going to yield us? Is it going to find enough things quickly to pay for itself? And you know back in the day when I - I worked for a distributor, I was a big specialist in lighting. I still know a lot about lighting and LED and so on. I know that when you're doing an incandescent lighting project, a good project time for ROI is about 18 months. Thermal imagers? Three weeks. So, it sounds incredible. But think about it. If you look at a bunch of windows in your house and you find out that they're leaking; now your home heating and air conditioning bills are jacked up by $30-40 a month. You do the math, that FLIR ONE just by putting a little bit of silicone around your windows, may have paid for itself. Right off the bat. And that you have it for the next five or ten years. Finding all kinds of issues. Whether it be in your automobile or your front door or your heating unit, or your air conditioning condenser, or your panel in your house. So, when you think about the power of that tiny little unit, $250 may have saved you a couple of thousand dollars.
Now we look at the TG165. I kind of explained a lot about it before. I have the propensity to do that, so I apologize up front. I get excited, so I like to talk about the products before they start popping up. I'm not going to go too long into this, but this is a drop-rated product. This is the next step up from the TG - from the FLIR ONE. So, if you're looking for something more durable that's industrial grade that can be knocked around, thrown around in a toolbox, this is the camera right here. It's got a little less resolution, but it's got a little more functionality for a standalone item. And it's got a long battery life that lasts about 5-10 hours. It's got a ten-year warranty on the core as well, and that starts at $349. So also, very inexpensive for what it does.
FLIR C2 Pocket Thermal Camera
And then we talked about the C2. This is a pocket portable. The images are fully radiometric, meaning you can do reports on these. You can download the images and put them into our reporting software. It's even enhanced with what we have - what's called MSX. MSX stands for multi-spectral dynamic imaging. And that's a real fancy acronym that means probably nothing to you, but what does it do? It takes the visual image and it overlays it on top of the infrared image. So, if you look at that image on the camera screen, you can clearly see a lot of finite detail that regular thermal imagers wouldn't pick up. This camera will pick it up. Thus, enhancing the resolution and the image giving you far superior image quality than any of our competitors in the field. And its touch screen as well. So, think about it. This camera, which is fully functioning and does reports, so if you're doing PMs or you have a PDM program, this is a $699 camera. So, think about it. Thermal imagers went from a hundred thousand dollars for full reporting tools 20 years ago, to $699. Incredible.
FLIR EX Series
Or EX Series Platform. I kind of also explained a little bit about. It's our first entry level into a full-sized unit. It's light weight. It also does reports. It has fixed focus so you don't have to hit a focus button or auto- or manual focus it. and there's four models with four different resolutions. Each one, subsequently has more resolution than the previous one. Thus, giving it more range, accuracy, and sensitivity.
FLIR EXX Series
Then the EXX Platform. We have an E40, E50 and E60. This has enhanced temperature range, so this camera can shoot as high as 1200 degrees, whereas the one before it the EX only shoots up to 485. So, this guy right here, shoots up to 1202. Has a larger screen. You can change optics on it. There's an auto-zoom. Digital zoom. Um, advanced analysis modes. You can link this through Wi-Fi, peer to peer to you tablet or your cellphone, and it has a whole host of other features and functions that pretty much even rival our Pro Series camera. Um, and for a great midline industrial grade camera, you can't be the price at $3750. It's a wonderful camera. It's - it's one of our flagship series.
And then the Pro Series. The Pro Series goes anywhere from 1202 to 3600 degrees in temperature. The best image quality in the market. Great lens capabilities. You can change optics on these. Also, connectivity to a laptop or you can run a live stream right to a - any portable device. Simplified onscreen reporting. You can do reports right on the unit itself. This is our Pro Series camera. Eighty-five percent of what you're buying is resolution. Which, again, dictates sensitivity, accuracy. It's indicative of clarity and - and distance of target, basically. So, when you look at a camera and you see the cost of a camera and cameras - our cameras range from $250 to $42,000, you could almost guarantee that the cameras that go up the scale in cost, are going to go up the scale in resolution. But again, usually your targets that you need the larger resolution for - your return on investment is higher. We’re talking about switch gear, switches, all kinds of breakers that are very expensive.
And there's a little difference here between the T4 series and the T6 series. So, you can see the resolutions are dramatically different. The T4 series is all three 20 x 240, which I get the question quite a bit, and I just want to go through this for two seconds. People always are saying to me, Elliott where does good resolution start? Where does industrial-grade resolution start? I work at a facility. It's 200,000 square feet. I want to get good image quality. I want to keep, my budget is X and Y, and where - where does that start? I tell everybody good industrial grade resolution starts right here at 320 x 240. That T4 series is a wonderful series. It's well under $10,000. And the accuracy and the imagery is phenomenal. Again, for situations where you need the farther distance, and you need the enhanced temperature, you want a larger screen, and you want to add larger optics, the T6 series is the way to go. And again, we're talking return on investment. We're talking about using the camera and if I use it 3-5 times, will I pay for it? That - that's my favorite - that's my favorite question.
Um, quick, I'll use a quick scenario. I had a customer over in New York City at university, I don't want to mention which university, but they did say that they had some switchgear that they were concerned about. He kind of got a quote and kind of thought about it. Went back and forth. He was looking at a T420, which is an $8700 camera. He didn't buy the camera. I guess they got crunched on their budget. I didn't hear from him for 4-1/2 months. I got a call at 10:30 at night, which is odd. My customers don't call me at 10:30 at night. Usually if someone is calling at 10:30 it's a - a mis-dial or a prank call. So, I get the phone call. I need you to come in immediately tomorrow and I was like why? Well we had a blowout. One of the pieces of our switchgear melted down. Fire department came. We had no idea. The cabinet door was closed. We never did a PDM on it because we didn't have a camera. It must have exceeded 800-1000 degrees and it - it literally blew up. A $25,000 piece of switchgear and then the collateral damage around it. Total bill $90,000. Could have been avoided if he had bought the camera. Not just my camera. Could have been any thermal imager. They would have saw that. So, one usage, would have saved him the grief and a very, very bad night.
And then the 1020. The 1020 we must put that in a category of its own, even though it's a T series. This camera has amazing, amazing imagery. You can see the image on the screen right now. That's an image from about 40 feet away. And it gives you an amazing infrared image and an amazing image of visual mixed in with it. So just a great, great camera overall. I know I'm using a lot of big adjectives and I'm - I'm not putting a lot of substance behind it, but again, the proof is in the image. When you get those great images, and you get that great accuracy from a far distance, that's what you're paying for in a thermal imager.
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FLIR Selection Guide:
Transcat.com/calibration-resources/selection-guides/flir-thermal-camera-selection-guide/
Applications Overview
Thermal Imager Applications
What are we using it for? What can a thermal imager be used for? We talked about windows and electrical and motors, but there's a whole bunch of things we can use it for. So, we always - the first thing people think of with thermal imaging is the electrical. You know this is fantastic for the electrical world. I can see - and that's the low-hanging fruit. Right? Electrical gets hot. Electric - dealing with electrical is kind of like a doctor dealing with human beings. A human being gets hot and it means we've got a problem. We're sick. Okay? We're 105 degrees, we go to the - we go to the ICU in the Emergency Room. Electrical gets hot, we know we have a problem. We start checking it. Most likely it's bad connections, but it could be load as well. Or a combination. But there's much more to just electrical and thermal imaging. And you know you're probably thinking in your head. Okay, yeah, you know temperature change. Lots of things change temperature. And that's a good indicator of a problem. So now when you look here, motors, bearings, tanks, belts, machinery, panel boards, energy audits. It goes on and on. Roof inspections. Roof inspections is another huge usage for these cameras. I think we'll get into that, also, later.
So, we talked about electrical. We're also looking at electrical not just to diagnose the problem, but think about it. If you were to go and take a load reading, just a various, you know load reading; we wanted to just see what the load was on this. Or maybe the machine is malfunctioning. The first thing we're going to do is put a clamp on or put a flex clamp around that. Well, I've got news for you. If there's a bad connection that's causing that problem to heat up, chances are if you go agitate that cable or that wire connected to the phase, you may cause a back arch flash. Or it just may arch as you open the cabinet. So, you want to have the right PPE on it. You want to keep a nice distance away as well. And a thermal imager will allow you to be within a safe distance and so in most case, within NFPA 70 compliance. And this is all pretty self-explanatory.
IR Mechanical Inspection
So, we talked about bearings being misaligned and then - and hot. Lubrication issues. Simple, right? If something's not lubed up properly, you have too much friction. Friction causes heat. Heat causes distress. We've got issues. So, there you see two - two change ribbon devices. Change ribbon device on the right, fine. On the left, not so fine.
IR Tank Level Inspection & Energy Efficiency
You'd be shocked. Fluid tends to hold a different temperature depending on what the fluid is, but most fluids, everything from water to petrol, to anything, cleaning fluids, you name it. It usually holds a different temperature than ambient. So generally, an ambient, you have the temperature of the tank, and you have the actual temperature of the fluid. You can check at tank levels. So, here's a nice sunny day, we're looking at the tank. The sun is heating up the contents of the fluid, which works in our favor. And we're able to see that that tank is just about - I'd say probably about 5/8 full. You know, 6/9 whatever, 6/10 whatever you want to call it. I'm bad with my fractions, but it's full. And we could see exactly where the tank level is. So, if our gauges aren't working or if we need a quick snapshot, think about the time saved before we had to climb up that tank and look at the actual level of fluid in the tank or look in the tank.
Fluid distribution, leaky valves. I mean that's obvious the issue right there. Just by taking a peak with a thermal imager.
IR Steam Trap Inspection
Steam traps. Steam traps are one of my favorites. Simply by looking at as steam trap, you're able to see if there's a clog or an issue or if it's functioning at all. I know most hospitals that I've done inspections in, being a Level I certified thermographist, I've looked at a thousand steam tracks and have done them all in one day. If you're using a spot gun, which is what most people use, well a spot gun, you're going to be there probably for about a week. Because you must look at each track, go over every part of it, and make sure that the temperature is consistent on all portions of the trap.
Infrared Camera Building Maintenance
Then building maintenance. We talked about air sealing. You can see where some recessed lighting, there's some bleeding coming through that and so on. Attic door, electrical outlet. This is all bad insulation. So, finding bad insulation or missing insulation or spotting insulation, a lot of times you do blown insulation, which is phenomenal. But sometimes it doesn't always get blown in perfectly. You're able to spot the issues. I guarantee if you go through any home you can find these problems almost in every single home. The question is how severe is the issue? That's when temperature comes in.
So, the image on the left is interesting, too. You'll see that there was a bathroom on that top level, and the shower was leaking and the water from the shower went between the sheetrock and the flashing, and got behind the siding. And you can see where that water leaking corrosion will end up building up, causing bigtime issues that will lead to mold and all kinds of other problems. So, thermal imager detects that in seconds. Various other issues as well, leaky roof that caused a leaky ceiling on the top right.
IR Insulation Inspection
We talked about insulation. So, there's the visual image on the left. On the right, you can clearly, clearly see where there's a whole strip between two studs that never got any insulation at all. Talk about chincing out, right? Ten dollars in insulation and they missed a whole section.
So, what's a thermal imager good for? Well your kind of looking at all these pictures, now. I think that's Mr. Ed in the middle. Um, good for just about anything. And the irony is I didn't put the picture of the horse in there to call him Mr. Ed and get a little bit of a chuckle out of you all, equine usage is huge. You can check equine, the horse's legs, to see if there's issues with blood flow or a broken limb. So, you'd be shocked, and they usually by T6 series, which are the higher end series, because they want the finest, best imagery, generally those horses are going to be race horses or horses used for high dollar value.
Safer and Faster Troubleshooting with FLIR
So, what did we learn today? We learned we can trouble shoot much, much easier with a thermal imager, but look before you act. The thing is, we can't see the problem. FLIR's thermal imagers can see the problem, and here you can see an issue. A nice delta of about 30-something degrees on the left. A bad phase that will eventually lead to a very bad problem.
Safety first, right? Just not about diagnostics, it's about being safe. At the end of the day, it's fantastic to find the problem, but like any police officer would say when you ask him about his job, what's rule number one? Get home at the end of the day for dinner, safely.
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Choosing the Right Camera for the Job
Which model is right for me? Application, temperature range, reporting, field analysis, size of target and distance to target. I should have put that one on top. That's number one. Indoor or outdoor. That's the question. Well, I will tell you this, you have me as a resource. You have Transcat as a resource. Transcat has a great infrared department. They're - they are tops in the game. You have myself out there as well. So, if you ever get stuck, you know who to talk to. But it basically goes from troubleshooting to performance to professional usage. As you start to increase cost, you increase resolution and features. So, you're going to get more as you start to go up in the series. It all depends on what you need, though.
Key points to remember. With FLIR the big difference between our competitors is FLIR uses a universal type of image. When we shoot with FLIR camera, all FLIR cameras, we are shooting JPEG. All our competitors shoot in locked images. Either proprietary self for review or review them in the raw form. With FLIR you feed it right into your PC with no software. You can view a raw image. You can send it, receive it. If you want to edit it, you must put into the FLIR software. By the way, FLIR used to sell the software called FLIR Tools. Back then it was FLIR Quick Reports or FLIR Reporter. That was a $25- $2500 package. Today, the FLIR software is free. No matter what camera you buy and whether it's a C2 for $699 or a $42,000 T1020. The software comes with it and it's free. No charge.
The image enhancement, MSX, only with FLIR. Connectivity. FLIR has a proprietary Wi-Fi connectivity from our cameras to our hand-held devices. And warranty. FLIR is the only company in the industry that gives you a 10-year warranty on the detector. And I might add, also, a five-year warranty on all the lithium ion removable batteries. So, it has a battery that pops out to recharge. You get five years. And four years from now, if your battery doesn't hold a charge, FLIR will give you a brand-new battery with fresh, five-year warranty. We’re the only ones in the industry that will stand behind our equipment in that manner.
So, let's go back to that lepton core. That little, tiny core. This looks big right here, right? That core is about the size of your - look at your pinky nail right now. Take a quick peak at it. Your pinky nail is tiny. And I've got moderate sized hands, so it's still tiny. That's how big that core is. And that core still can add MSX. Which you can see the difference.
We talked about that earlier. That is the image enhancement. That's where we take the visual image and overlay it on top of the thermal image. And you can see the difference between a standard infrared image. All our competitors look like the left. We look like the right. Big difference.
We talked about JPEG, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. I'm going to skip through this because we kind of spoke about this. Like I said I like to jump out ahead of the bunch. Slowly get right down to the meat of the presentation and skip through all the other stuff.
And our FLIR meters. So FLIR was known and still is known, as the #1 infrared camera in the industry. We've got about 88% of the market. We are the Nike of infrared. The Yankees of infrared. Maybe Yankees is a bad example. Um, I guess the Cubs of infrared if you're from Chicago, since they won the World Series. So, we decided because we have such a wonderful product, we want to follow that up with wonderful meters. We can take our meters and use them with our cameras. We can connect them through Bluetooth technology. This way getting enhanced reporting capability. All our meters have limited lifetime warranties.
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What is Infrared Guided Measurement IGM™
Now, let's go back to this guy again, the lepton detector. Ever so small and so tiny. You see where I'm going with this now? We're talking about our cameras. We're talking about lepton. We're talking about meters. How about meters with IGM - infrared guided measurement, meaning how about a meter that before you clamp or do some diagnosis, you're able to look at the problem using infrared built into the meter. That's where the industry is kind of moving right now.
Meet the DM284. The DM284 has a large screen, a 3 m drop rating, it's water resistant, it's got an Otterbox type of shell around it. It's - it's the size of your hand. It's basically a handheld unit, 2-1/2-inch big color screen, and very versatile with thermal imaging built into it. You'd say to yourself a 160 x 120 thermal core, built into one of the world's strongest military grade type of meters that does everything from low-Z to volts to amps to millivolts, everything. Okay? Comes with batteries. Comes with leads. Professional leads that are silicone. You'd think probably a couple of thousand dollars. This retails at $749. We even have a trade-in program, now, you trade in your old meter that's working or non-working, even if it's a $20 crappy meter that broke on you, you get a $75 AMEX gift card back until the end of the year. So really, an amazing meter. I've got two of these that I use for demos. I got to tell you, having this thing is wonderful. Because I - I turn it on. It takes two seconds. Hit the blue button. The infrared comes up. All my diagnosis stays on the screen. It - it's the new wave.
So, you can pinpoint problems quick and easy. You can see them on the screen. And you can troubleshoot like nothing else with this.
This is what you get in the box. You get your leads, you get your batteries, you get your alligator clips, adapter, thermal couple, and you get the unit. So out of the box, ready to go.
Soon, this month, we're coming out with a rechargeable extended life battery for that. It does eat up batteries in infrared mode. In meter mode, the batteries last 16 hours and in infrared mode they last 4 hours. But with the TAO4 extended battery, you get 30 hours of life and it's rechargeable. So, it's going to save you a heck of a lot of money in batteries, and it is an excellent, excellent lithium ion device. Here are some other accessories on the bottom as well.
And then there's a - you can get it as a kit as well. They have a Flex clamp that can wrap around BUS or MCM. And you can fit the whole thing in one nice little storage case. It's called the DM-284 flex kit. It's a complete kit with the flex clamp in case everything you see for $899 - only through Transcat.
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Explore the FLIR E60 in 360°
Conclusion: Improving Safety in the Industrial Workplace with Infrared Technology
So, a couple of closing comments. Thermal imaging now has its place in that tool bag. So, we saw a tool bag before without a thermal imager, and I'm sure you could probably all agree to one degree or another that there is a place in that bag for a thermal imager, and there is going to be return on investment. What does it mean, also? Not only are we going to diagnose the issue, which of course we always think money first, but when we take a deep breath, and we slow down, and we think about our lives, we're worth more than just a diagnosis and being safe is extremely important.
And that's it, everybody. So, I wanted to say thank you. Thank you very much, and there's also going to be some offers here, which Nicole is going to talk through for a couple of secs. And then we're going to take some questions, as well. So, I'm going to hand it back over to Nicole. And again, thank you all very much. And I'm also looking forward to answering a couple of questions if you have any.
Nicole: Thank you, Elliott. Um, so as he said, that concludes our presentation portion of the webinar, and now we're going to open it up to question and answers. And as a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question, you can send it through the question box in your webinar controls.
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Questions and Answers
1. Are you going to show some examples of the reporting software?
2. Do you rent infrared cameras?
3. How do I know how far a camera will shoot to give me an accurate target temperature?
4. Can I use any infrared camera with the FLIR infrared windows?
5. Can I take contact temperature readings with the DM284?
6. What is the difference between the TG165 and 167?
8. What's the difference between a thermal imager and an infrared camera? ➩
1. Are you going to show some examples of the reporting software?
So, the software is included. It can always be downloaded, virtually, off FLIR. You can go to FLIR.com\tools - with an "s" plural. T-O-O-L-S. Um, I - also if you email me I have some live web-based training on how to use FLIR tools. Plenty of screenshots. Plenty of videos. It's about an hour and a half, two hours. It's a wonderful introduction on how to use FLIR tools. It's pretty much all drop and drag. So, if you know how to use Windows and you're decent with a PC, again, very simple to figure out. A lot of it is just importing and exporting the images. And then dropping in - dropping them in and clicking on the different points.
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2. Do you rent infrared cameras?
Um, so yes we do, and we have a rental program here at Transcat. So, if you're - you want to test one out before you buy one or - or if you don't have the budget to buy one, we do rent several FLIR cameras. We have the T1020, which is the top - top of the line, T640, and then several of the E series, E60, E8 and E40.
I want to just touch on that a second. So, everybody who's - everybody who is out there listening. If you happen to have a situation where you may only have one or two instances where you need a thermal imager. I mean again, I think that they're priced to the point where everyone can afford one, but if you happen to have that large issue, or you're doing the big PM, and you need a T1020, call Nicole or call Transcat. You can rent it for a shorter period, and pay a fraction of the cost. Because there's a lot of people out there who need the usage of a high-end thermal imager. They just don't have the budget for it or they can't justify its purchase. So, renting is an excellent way to achieve your goals and find the problems with your targets.
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3. How do I know how far a camera will shoot to give me an accurate target temperature?
That's a great question, too. So, we talked a little bit earlier about resolution being indicative of distance and accuracy. So, thermal imaging at FLIR starts at 80 x 60. 80 x 60 is going to get you a couple of feet. Two or three feet. Then you have 160 x 120. 160 x 120 is going to give you probably somewhere around 6 feet, 7 feet. Then you have that industrial grade resolution, 320 x 240. That bumps you up about 12-14 feet. That's what you're going to need for that type of distance.
And remember, too, as you go up in resolution, you go up in clarity and sensitivity. And then when you start to move up to 480 x 360, you're going up about 18-19 feet in distance. And then I always get the question. All right, about what about the big boy 640 x 480? How far can I shoot with those? Well accurately? You could shoot 35 feet with those cameras. And then the T1020 which is I think 768 x 1020 in resolution, that's going to give you somewhere in the realm of probably about 50-100 feet of good clarity and accuracy. And then there's always optics. Some of these cameras from the EXX model and up, you can add optics to them. And what does that mean? That means you could add a telephoto lens and you could see twice as far and get the same accuracy.
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4. Can I use any infrared camera with the FLIR infrared windows?
You can. Absolutely. Absolutely.
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5. Can I take contact temperature readings with the DM284?
You can. There's a thermal couple that comes with it. You can use that for contact temperature readings. It's also a data logger as well as the ability to data log - it's 10,000 points - it's either 10 or 20,000 points of temp- of data. So, the answer is yes and yes.
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6. What is the difference between the TG165 and 167?
Great question. So, the 165 has a 45-degree field of view. It has a wider field of view, so the image appears farther away. You need to stand a little bit closer. The TG167 same resolution but remember when you start changing those optics, you start playing with the distances. So now we have a smaller field of view, a 25-degree field of view. It's more narrow. When you narrow the field of view, you turn it into a telephoto lens. So, the 167 will be able to see images from as far as five or six feet away. About five away. So, you're able to go about twice the distance and the image, or if you're at two or three feet, the image will look that much closer to you. So, the 167 is a great device, and it's only $50 more or so. If optics and looking at cleaner image from farther away is important for a small micro, hand-held device, TG167 is a great toolbox tool to keep on your belt or in your toolbox.
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7. Which FLIR meter would capture an entire aircraft, Pratt & Whitney radial 985 engines besides the 6 x 6 feet and they're looking for cold cylinders?
Great question, so let's think about this, right? If we want to get an entire aircraft in, and I'll give you great example. I recently, about a year ago, I sold a camera to the U.S. Navy. They were shooting the wings of C130 Hercules transports. So, I think that's comparable to your aircraft, right? Now, we were shooting the wings in the wintertime to make sure the elements were working properly to de-ice the wings. So, we had to get the whole wingspan and basically the fuselage as well. They wanted to make sure it was also well insulated. These planes fly in every type of condition all over the world. I know that for a fact because I have McGuire Air Force Base by my house, and I see them flying just about - it looks like 10 feet over my house every day. I can pretty much see them visually.
Um, I shot that from about 50 feet away with a T660. So, a higher resolution camera is going to be needed because you're going to need to stand farther back to get the entire aircraft in the field of view. So, there's another option, too. You can stand closer. We do have an upgrade on the software. It's a small fee to give you what's called FLIR Tools Plus. FLIR Tools Plus has an option where you can stitch photos together. So, if I took six good photos with some continuity, left to right, up and down, I could take six photos of that aircraft if I was close enough and I couldn’t capture it all in the same field of view. And I could put it through the stitching mechanism. I shot the - oh what's the name of that big hotel in, uh, in Las Vegas? With the water show?
Nicole: Bellagio?
Bellagio, thank you. Shot the Bellagio. Took about 18 shots of the Bellagio. Shot it from just about where the water show is. We stitched it. I tell you what if I showed you the photo, you'd have no idea I stitched it. It's a wonderful photo. So, the stitching is a great function. But if you're going to take a detailed image and you want detailed temperature points inside of that entire image, T660 you're going to have to go the 6-series camera.
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8. What's the difference between a thermal imager and an infrared camera?
Nothing. Same thing. Thermal imager and infrared camera is the same. They're both taking - they're both taking - they're both harnessing IR technology. So really, um, we call it infrared. We call it thermal imaging. We call it IR whatever - whatever you want I mean basically it's the same thing.
Nicole: Okay. Um, the last question was to display our email again. And if you go to the next slide, Elliott, um, we have my contact information on there. Great. So, that's - that's it for questions today. And if you have further questions or would like to find out more about Transcat's products and service offerings, you can contact us at 800-800-5001. Or on the web at Transcat.com. Or you can email me directly at nvanwert@Transcat.com. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you for your time. We hope you got something out of the presentation. And that you continue to join us for future Transcat eLearning webinars. Thank you, Elliott, and thanks to all for attending.
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