Thermal camera for pcb repair - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: cecco
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 01, 2022, 12:34:36 am
content: Hello,i'm looking for a thermal camera for electronics repair. I digged around the forum for a while, but the more i read the more undecided i am.A lot of the reviews that i found on the internet don't address my particular use caseThe main goal would be to diagnose pcbs and other electronics.I'm leaning towards the phone dongles options, since it would give me more flexibilty - i could use it both outdoors or on a stand when working at a desk, but i don't know if an all-in-one model would be more practical to use or have better quality for the same price.I would also be ok with something that works hooked to a pc, so that i could have a big screen to check out the imageOf course i'd like to spend as little as possible (3-400€ would be ideal), but i'm willing to go up almost to 1k if it does really make a difference when trying to diagnose a fault.I also read about home-made lenses holders to adjust the focus. The adapter itself wouldn't be a problem (i have both a lathe and a 3dprinter), but i have no clue about what lenses should i get, if i need to get them at allSome of the models i've been reading about are the ht301 and the te-q1. I also saw infiray t2s mentioned here and thereIf i understand correctly they work better than more common brands like seek and flir?Please help, i'd like to build a nice setup but i've been stuck for 2 weeks reading random stuff from the internet

author: cecco
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 02, 2022, 12:22:38 am
content: Thanks!Are there any alternative? The camera looks good, but none of the local resellers have it. Worst case scenario i have to order directly from china

author: thermalengineer
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2022, 01:20:12 am
content: I got P2 from the same brand on their aliexpress online store, it's directly shipped to me (US) within just 3 days. Good experience until now. But I wish their products were compatible with iPhone as well in the near future, their Facebook official account responds this will be available very soon.

author: DaneLaw
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2022, 09:36:46 am
content: Check the apps.the "app aspect"' sadly plays a huge role in these thermal dongles.If your planning to use it for PCB repair.. a manual focus and a decent framerate..are quite handy, but so is temperature span control..The problem with some of Infirays models... like most of the T2-series (256x192) and most of the T3-series (288x384) is Infirays native and quite limited app, called Infiray Xtherm.This app is sadly fronting the rock bottom. amongst most of the thermal dongles on the market and also reflects on the Google playstore-rating with 1.5 out of 5.0, and missing features that are fundamental on third-party dongles - that even are rebranded Infirays thermal-dongles & sensors.The biggest critique on the native Infiray App "Xtherm" is the lack of temperature span control, and you have quite a few color palettes vs fx alternatives and also quite buggy.There are privately made apps for both PC and Android and kudos for that.Even Infirays budget device the P2 series seems to have a better & more polished app, and the same goes for Uni-T dongles, SNDway dongles, Victor, dongles, Guide dongles, Seek dongles, and many more, and it also looks like DytSpectrum is having certain mobile-dongles..where the one listed as TYPe256 does seem to be an Infiray T2L and their H2F is what I'm referring to as a Victor Dongle, and it sadly looks to be the same app that is on the Victor-dongles..https://www.dyt-ir.com/type-256-infrared-thermal-camera-product/https://www.dyt-ir.com/mobile-infrared-thermal-imager/- a shame as DytSpectrum PC software for their board-inspection products' on the fw/software side' looked quite decent, so a small hope they would have made a better app if they carried rebranded Infiray T2-series dongles, but that doesn't look to be the case, and Adel from DytSpectrum is referring to the same app that we see on fx Victor dongles.. (328-series).For board repairs.. get one with manual focus, a high framerate (as in - not a sub 9hz thermal camera) and I would personally prefer units that give you control of the temperature-span, so you can adjust the temperature/palette-span-view on the PCB according to your needs.