FLIR Technology

INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY CAMERAS

A Nifty Tool Or An Expensive Toy?

A new era of lightweight, handheld, portable infrared cameras are washing ashore and could become one of the most important diagnostic and life saving tools on board a boat, next to a life preserver and flares. For the first time, you can use the same technology previously available to only the US military & security agencies, to conduct your own low visibility reconnaissance.

Infrared thermography allows users to see clearly in complete darkness, fog or other hard-to-see situations up to several hundred feet away. Beyond the their ability to locate and detect a man overboard at night or navigate in dense fog, they’re an amazing diagnostic tool. Because infrared cameras measure the heat contrast eminated from any source, they can quickly isolate a problem or the potential for the same, such as an electrical malfunction, exhaust leak, engine overheating, or… if your spouse isn’t happy.

Because these cameras measure heat differentials, they can detect a person overboard in complete darkness by measuring the person’s body temperature in contrast to the surrounding water. In electrical diagnostics, a thermal image scan can instantly reveal and pinpoint a bad connection, such as a blown fuse, bad breaker or a shorted circuit. For engines, a scan can reveal hot-spots, i.e., exhaust leaks, plugged injectors, excess belt tension, etc.

Finding and fixing a poor electrical connection or motor problem before failure can save you from downtime, power outages, fires or catastrophic failures. Infrared cameras that incorporate temperature measurement allow predictive maintenance professionals to make well informed judgments about the operating condition of electrical and mechanical targets. Temperature measurements can be compared with historical operating temperatures, or with infrared readings of similar equipment at the same time, to determine if a significant temperature rises will compromise component reliability or safety.

Nearly everything that uses or transmits power gets hot before it fails. Infrared thermography is an effective maintenance technology available to quickly, accurately and safely locate problems prior to failure. A picture says a thousand words; infrared thermography is the only diagnostic technology that lets you instantly visualize and verify thermal performance. Infrared cameras show you thermal problems and quantify them with precise non-contact temperature measurement.

An infrared camera is a non-contact device that detects infrared energy (heat) and converts it into an electronic signal, which is then processed to produce a thermal image on a video monitor and perform temperature calculations. Recent innovations, particularly in detector technology and the incorporation of built-in visual imaging, deliver more cost-effective thermal analysis solutions than ever before.

At this time, IR cameras are relatively expensive to purchase, however rental, lease and purchase plans for infrared cameras are available.

INFRARED HISTORY:

Sir William Herschel, an astronomer, discovered infrared in 1800. He built his own telescopes and was therefore very familiar with lenses and mirrors. Knowing that sunlight was made up of all the colors of the spectrum, and that it was also a source of heat, Herschel wanted to find out which color(s) were responsible for heating objects. He devised an experiment using a prism, paperboard, and thermometers with blackened bulbs where he measured the temperatures of the different colors. Herschel observed an increase in temperature as he moved the thermometer from violet to red in the rainbow created by sunlight passing through the prism. He found that the hottest temperature was actually beyond red light. The radiation causing this heating was not visible; Herschel termed this invisible radiation "calorific rays." Today, we know it as infrared.

Carl Camper