Low cost thermal imaging camera for electronics - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: VK3DRB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2020, 12:23:12 pm
content: Hi.I am considering buying a low cost thermal imaging camera that connects to my Samsung S8, or maybe a standalone camera. I bought a Flir One Pro when I was an engineer at a company a few years ago. I got the first one in Australia, sent directly from the USA as soon as it was released there. It was a pretty camera good except other engineers borrowed my phone to use the camera and my USB type C connector was damaged in the phone. At the time, the Flir software had a few bugs in it though. Good for measuring hot spots though and temperature rise on a high density fine pitch PCB assembly. My work is mainly electronics design, working with components as small as 0402 and 0201 resistors. The Flir One was good enough for this - just.I am wondering if anyone has better recommendations for a thermal imaging camera these days based upon their own experience for use in electronics. I am prepared to spend up to $USD 600.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2020, 12:37:22 pm
content: I'm still very happy with the Flir C2. It doesn't have the highest resolution but so far it has been a good buy. One of the things I like is the ability to lock the scale so you can 'scan' a board without the scale changing all the time. Locking the scale also allows to find shorts between traces which heat up only slightly. However what doesn't work is the thermal and image overlay for close-up use because the cameras are too far apart.

author: Gandalf_Sr
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2020, 07:18:31 pm
content: I have a Seek Thermal camera for my iPhone, the resolution is pretty good and the cost is about $250 US. The only annoying thing about it is that I have to take the iPhone (7+) out of its case to fit the thermal camera, maybe they've fixed that?https://www.thermal.com/compact-series.html$180 US on Amazon

author: VK3DRB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2020, 11:02:12 am
content: Quote from: Gandalf_Sr on May 27, 2020, 07:18:31 pmTaking that camera out of the case is not a big issue for me. The camera is one of those things I would rarely use, but invaluable when I would need it. The XR costs $A 700 here. That is $USD 450 USD here. Bit of a ripoff. I might look elsewhere rather than Amazon Australia. But Amazon Australia has the Flir 1 Pro for $500 which is not a bad price. Anyway, I will have to rip open in Samsung S8 and replace that connector. Might as well replace the battery too at the same time as the telephone is 3 years old.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2020, 11:27:32 am
content: Quote from: Gandalf_Sr on May 27, 2020, 07:18:31 pmif you have old model iphone that you dont use anymore, you can commit it to the Seek thermal's soul by making a 3d printed enclosure/adapter so they can be as one a standalone-like unit.https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/support-for-ht-301-and-otg-cable-3d-printed/msg2887806/#msg2887806

author: Martin72
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 30, 2020, 08:59:42 pm
content: Quote from: VK3DRB on May 27, 2020, 12:23:12 pmI got Seek Thermal and TE-M1.The TE-M1 was clearly the better choice because not only of it´s better resolution but, much more important, of it´s manual focus.Today I got none of them, because the thing to connect it to a smartphone annoyed me much plus some software bugs.Now I´m waiting for a chance to get an used affordable all in one solution - Of course with manual focus.

author: Gandalf_Sr
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 30, 2020, 09:44:35 pm
content: My Seek Thermal has a manual focus.

author: Martin72
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 30, 2020, 09:49:57 pm
content: Maybe mine too, I don´t know it anymore.But it was, for me, the worst thing I got for inspecting PCBs.Our ( company I work for) good old flir thermal cam (2006) with only 120x120 pix was in every case ways beyond better.The only smartphone thing that could take the challenge against was the TE-M1, but as I wrote, it´s annoying to use such cams with a smartphone.

author: Gandalf_Sr
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 30, 2020, 11:05:24 pm
content: I only paid $200 for the Seek Thermal and I like that it goes down to a low -40 degrees F. At 206 x 156 it's not a bad resolution for a thermal camera.

author: Martin72
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 30, 2020, 11:17:21 pm
content: Sure, but the result was for me bad, known to use the flir at work.At work, like in private, my only goal was to inspect components on pcbs.With the old flir I could point out exactly the "bad" component.On the seek thermal, like also the HTI-A1, you could see a blurred hotspot instead indentify a single component.Therefore this was all not for me to use.The TE-M1, with unlikely more resolution and manual focus down to 15cm, you could "see" more differences, it came very close to the old flir.But not exactly close.

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 30, 2020, 11:20:06 pm
content: Their LC materials will do the job of finding whats hot and what's not, and do that job at minimum cost.https://www.lcrhallcrest.com/

author: Martin72
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 30, 2020, 11:21:59 pm
content: LOL

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2020, 06:59:48 am
content: Quote from: Gandalf_Sr on May 30, 2020, 11:05:24 pmQuote from: Gandalf_Sr on May 30, 2020, 09:44:35 pmone problem with smartphone connected TCamera is its placed on one side of the SPhone/monitor (off-center) so we usually confuse using it and difficult finding things since we expect the camera (image sensor) should be exactly behind the lcd (dead center), like all normal cameras. the solution is a 3d printed enclosure like i mentioned. the second problem is lack of "overlapping thermal + normal visible light imagery", like flir one. well the solution is a bit of manual work and no real time solution (manual editing/postprocessing in PC SW like photoshop etc combining saved thermal image with image from SPhone camera). if one is willing to pay more to get this realtime overlap effect (and lower thermal resolution), they can buy flir one (or other reputable brand). but they usually dont have manual focus. with my seek thermal compact, i can get close to components on pcb to within like 3-5 (few) cm, just as i can get far away from it like any other camera. i can distinguish legs of soic8, sot23-5 packages of heated elements. on very close distance, double camera like flir one will (i suspect) create parallax error anyway, the more distance between thermal and normal cameras, the worse the effect will be. so overlapped real time imageries only good for capturing from far away distance like normal camera (where parallax error is not clearly visible), not for densely populated smd components. ymmv.ps: looking at youtube, flir one does look good, if anyone can get it at cheaper price close to seek thermal