thermal images to get you thinking

**murdock** · 08-May-10, 08:04 PM

this is probably the most important image i have ever taken with the thermal imager...my daughter 3 months old at the time had just come out of hospital from major surgery...a short while later i scanned her and found heating around the wound...so i took her back hospital...the doctors found the cut had got infection...because we caught it so soon they manged to use needles to remove the stuff without having to cut again...and monitored her on a daily basis...she has since recovered nicely.

the image shows heating lower down but that is just from legs...the part of interest is in the block around the cut.

**murdock** · 08-May-10, 08:09 PM

this image is of one of the drains of a refrigeration plant indoor unit...i check all the drain heaters are working correctly...otherwise the water freezes and blocks the drain...part of my commissioning proceedure...this plant we got down to -20 degrees C

**murdock** · 08-May-10, 08:26 PM

also part of my standard commissioning proceedure...checking the compressors to make sure they have even temp. so we know they are all in good running order...a full radiometric infrared scan is also carried out on all electrical components to check for loose connections and hotspots...i also carry out a full power quality test during commissioning to make sure the incoming electrical supply is correct...there are no harmonics...the motors are running at the correct current...i check for volt drop on start up and inrush current...to verify all the cables are correctly rated...over and above the standard COC tests...it takes a little longer than normal but i walk away from the plant and sleep well at night.

that is why my company logo is

"doing it right first time everytime"

**murdock** · 08-May-10, 08:40 PM

now you ask yourself what the...this is an image of light fitings in a supermarket which i do maintenance...electricians will understand why this image is so imporatnat...i scan all the rows of fittings then record which have slightly higher temps...then when i have a circuit go down i dont have to open all the fitting to find which one blew the ballast...and ninety nine percent of the time its the last one you open...this way i note which ballasts had higher temps and the one with the highest temp is normally the first one to go so i save my customer and myself half a day opening fittings to try determine which one is faulty...it works like a charm.

**murdock** · 08-May-10, 08:44 PM

you can see ballast heat better in this palette...

**murdock** · 08-May-10, 08:47 PM

this is an image of 400 watt highbay light fittings i installed a couple of years ago i just scanned the lights to check the ballasts where still good

**murdock** · 08-May-10, 08:53 PM

this is an image i took while checking MV transfomers for one of my customers

**murdock** · 08-May-10, 09:17 PM

i get called out to find out why motors are overheating...so the first question i ask is where are the infrared images to determine how hot is overheating...eeeish nobody got a thermal imager...so how do you know its overheating...no problem i keep one in my tool box...so i scan the motor to check that the coupling is aligned or just coil heating or maybe even running a bearing even thought ey are brand new motors...before we start looking for other problems like...over loading...cable sizes...voltage unbalance...transfomer sizing...because we are talking about big motors...everyone is already pointing fingers at each other because nobody wants to be the one to foot the bill to repair or replace the problem.

**desA** · 09-May-10, 08:56 AM

These are simply amazing devices.

Did a lot of work with them some years back on automotive heating devices - radiators, condensers, evaporators. Allows you to 'see inside' the device, in terms of fluid distribution & so forth. Very, very helpful.