What do you use your thermal camera for? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Bruno28
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2016, 01:34:28 pm
content: Just curious on what most of you use your thermal camera for?Just fun or actual work or fixing problems?

author: kripton2035
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2016, 02:01:53 pm
content: it helped me a lot to isolate correctly my housethen it helped me to find failures in electronic devices.

author: frenky
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 09, 2016, 02:10:49 pm
content: I do a lot of electronic prototyping and I always check if there are any overheating components...Finding faulty components when trying to fix electronics...Finding and fixing poorly insulated parts of my house...

author: KD0CAC John
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2016, 02:38:32 pm
content: I would like to buy one for he same reasons , insulation testing for building heat loss and electronic's .But cannot afford at this time .

author: kaz911
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2016, 04:40:20 pm
content: It does wonders for diagnosing underfloor heating systems - their valves get stuck all the timeapart from that - electronics diagnostics - heat loss on building.Even the "cheap" Flir phone one is great. Picture quality might not be perfect but still a great tool that NEVER leaves my backpack apart from when it is in use.

author: Bruno28
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2016, 10:18:22 am
content: Nice, thanks for the info.I don't have a real purpose besides the fun of investigating things around me. Im just trying to justify getting a TE Q1 which to me isn't cheap to fork out $499 + $65 shipping. But its such an awesome gadget and i love cool gadgets.

author: Bill W
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2016, 10:57:07 am
content: Just as an idea, how would people feel about proven tested working cores taken from second hand equipment, at say around GBP200 mark ?320x240 or 160 x 120Not that smallVolts in - video out No phone required60Hz or 20Hzlenses availableExport restrictions would apply outside EU, but may be possible to get approvals to sensible places at least ?You'd be left to box it, make a few connections and provide power or onboard batteries and perhaps add a display.Bill

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2016, 11:10:45 am
content: I regularly use my E4 for finding shorts on PCBs, or determine which part is drawing excessive current, where it can be a major time-saver.Occasionally also for checking temps on new designs under load, though a thermometer would also do the job for that

author: georges80
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 12, 2016, 10:51:49 pm
content: Yep, E4 for locating faulty (shorted) components etc.But the great use I put it to is verifying the thermal path of higher power drivers etc. Makes it easy to see whether the thermal vias etc and thermal pad material is up to the task for moving heat away from components. I've used it to verify customer designs (housing thermal paths).Here's on example attached.Sp2 (heatsink) has reached 73C so, the hottest component at SP1 (94C) is actually only 21C hotter than the heatsink. This is stress testing the design at 9A output to an SST90 LED. Synchronous constant current buck driver.cheers,george.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2016, 07:46:07 pm
content: Another quick diagnosis - 4 identical channels, 3 of the drivers are very hot, but is it the chips or something else ?Swap two of the chips, the heat moves - definitely the chips...!

author: R005T3r
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 21, 2016, 07:20:04 pm
content: Quote from: Bruno28 on December 09, 2016, 01:34:28 pmWell, thermal cameras are useless for electronics in general: you can't see on the board, because after a short period of time things become thermal-balanced and you can't see the details quite well, but, outside the electronics market, well, that's another story:1. you can very easily see if mechanical parts are overheated or malfunctioning2. you can tell if cables are working in their nominal temperature region.3. you can tell if a power connection is good or not4. you can estimate if there are insulation issues in a building5. you can see if a plumbing is leaking and the pipe is inside the wall/concrete6. during welding, you can check heat to evaluate thermal integrity7. Law enforcement agencies use thermal imaging for spotting pepole.And the list goes on...

author: georges80
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 21, 2016, 07:34:22 pm
content: ^ ummm. Beg to strongly differ with your opinion, thermal cameras are very useful for electronics, especially power electronics. We've already put some examples of their use in this thread for electronics. The pictures supplied showed very discernible details of components on boards that have been running for many minutes.cheers,george.

author: kripton2035
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 21, 2016, 07:50:22 pm
content: some camera are made for low distance, due to the focal length of the lens. so for close look of electronicsother are for long focal distances, so better for building insulations.some camera can change lens (they are the most expensive ones) and so are versatile for building and electronics.

author: LaserSteve
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 24, 2016, 12:00:14 am
content: Measuring the temperature uniformity of TEC cooled plates I build for biologists.

author: Kohanbash
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 25, 2016, 04:27:06 am
content: Robot perception in smoke.

author: torch
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2016, 11:09:42 am
content: Search and rescue in smoke filled atmosphere, locating hidden fire in walls, etc.

author: R005T3r
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 01:03:12 pm
content: Quote from: georges80 on December 21, 2016, 07:34:22 pmYou cannot tell, if a component is shorted or not by using a thermal camera: all you say, is that's overheated. The source of the malfunction might not be a short circuit. As you see, in the photo you posted above, as soon as you get close to the overheated area you can't get any good information about what's going on inside the chip. Also in it's close proximity everything you see is hot. You can get a clue about what's going on, but you can't tell for sure if that chip is shorted or not.Also, if some component is shorted, why you want to power up the board? It's the easiest way to damage the board routings, since they are not designed to work in these conditions and you can't tell at which temperature they might be operating in few minutes.Maybe, with power electronics might be a good tool to use, because things heat up quite easily so you can see the heat (unfortunately, I don't have any experience with power electronics), but, what if you have a low power board and you have to see if something is malfunctioning or not, and everything is in it's normal operating temperature? Won't be so obvious...

author: georges80
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 05:41:33 pm
content: Quote from: R005T3r on December 30, 2016, 01:03:12 pmShorted caps will definitely show high temp on that cap - if that cap is across a power rail. I can dig up some old thermal pictures if you need proof... I've actually repaired a few faulty boards by locating such shorted caps (usually mlcc caps - sometimes with mechanical damaged induced shorts of the internal plates). It is 100% obvious finding those failures. When you have say 10 such caps in parallel a meter is going to show one large short (or maybe just a few ohms) which is the faulty cap? Apply power (current limited power supply set just above the expected maximum current of the board) - turn on and within a second you'll see the hot cap.High temp in a chip means a fault inside or external load issues. Again, I can take a picture of a failed driver chip that is internally damaged. Real, not web analysis. Understanding how the design should work will allow you to determine if the hot device is the fault or whether it is overheating due to a downstream fault. You can see traces heat up if they are carrying too much current. Again, a current limited power supply will protect from damaging traces.Anyhow, lets not be pedantic regarding whether the high temp is a short or other damage. Either way it identifies either the faulty component or a component that is getting hotter due to a downstream fault. This provides much better debugging/repair information than just seeing higher current draw on a power supply readout.In summary, I own an E4 and I have used it several times to repair faults on boards by observing overheating components. Thermal cameras ARE useful for electronic fault finding and repairs. Since I am doing this with my own products/designs I have easy access to correctly functioning boards to compare temperature readings. A faulty/high current draw component will heat up with seconds of initial power application so the hot spot stands out immediately before surrounding components warm up (depending on current flow).Finally, the example picture I posted isn't a fault, it is showing thermal performance of a 9A LED driver after reaching nominal steady state. The picture is to provide a customer information regarding operation of the driver when mounted within their housing (custom driver in a custom housing). So, that example you referenced is not a component failures.Do you need a picture of a component failure or is the picture that mike posted not enough proof that a thermal camera can be useful for electronics debugging? Obviously it can't find all failures, but is a tool, just like the rest of your test equipment.Oh, and I've adjusted my E4 lens for close up work, so it can easily 'see' an 0603 cap.cheers,george.

author: pelule
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 06:06:56 pm
content: I own a FLIR i3 (pimped to i7), which I am using for:- any thermal isolation--- at installations in my house (found it very useful in optimizations my solar thermal heating)--- optimized my thermal testing chamber- regular checking of electric installations in my house--- the photovoltaik panels on my roof--- the fuse box for loosen connection (prevent a fire)- checking electronic circuits (hot spots, heat distribution)- repair of electronic circuits (shorts)There is a similar blog existing already:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/electronics-repair-where-thermal-cam-did-help/msg1071304/#msg1071304

author: Inflex
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2016, 05:46:43 am
content: I was planning on getting a few of those Panasonic GridEye units so I can keep track of where my cats are in the yard at night when the lights are off