Predicting the IR Market

One year ago I made some predictions about where I thought the market might be headed (click here to read full post). It is useful, I think, to see how today’s reality compares with yesterday’s dreams.

• A $1,000 imager

We are close, but thankfully not yet there. Sales of lower-cost systems continue to grow. This has [...]

IR Odds & Ends

I seem to have accumulated a short list of items each of which is too small to be a week’s posting by themselves, but all of which I wanted to share with you—thus the title of this week’s posting!

First: A follow-up to let you know that the ice on Joe’s Pond here in Vermont finally [...]

Getting Down to Work on the Roof – Conducting your Inspection

Last week, I went into detail on tips to help you prepare for a roof inspection by conducting a pre-inspection during daylight hours. Now, I will explain necessary steps to take while inspecting a roof in the evening, and what you can expect to see if there are issues.

Before you begin, it is important to [...]

Getting Down to Work on the Roof – Pre-Inspection

Over the past couple of weeks we’ve talked about how low-slope roofs leak, the damage caused by trapped water, and the conditions needed to use thermal imaging to find it in the roof system. Many new thermographers ask me: “How can I safely and reliably get good results up on the roof?”

This vertical ladder [...]

A Thermal View of the Roof

Last week we talked about how low-slope roofs leak and, as a result, how the water becomes trapped in the roof system—generally in the insulation—accelerating roof failure. According to a survey by the National Roof Contractors’ Association, on average, roofs in the United States are replaced every ten years or less!

A penetration to the [...]

The View From the Roof

The snow is nearly melted here in Central Vermont. If you are responsible for the maintenance of those low-slope roofs under which we work and live in, this is a great time to get up on the roof and conduct a spring inspection. A simple walkover with an inspection checklist in hand can [...]

Spring is (nearly) here!

Last week we talked about emissivity and reflection, probably the two most talked about issues among thermographers. But that ain’t all we need to talk about! There is a reason engineering heat transfer courses are both long and notoriously challenging. We won’t go that deep into it, but as most of you know, I am [...]

Teaser Infrared Image - The Answer

This week’s Teaser Infrared Image is a good tie-in, to this week’s post from The Snell Group: Reflecting on Our Surroundings

Infrared Image

Visible Light Image

Tholian Web

Spock

Answer: This is a thermal image of a polished diamond plate, steel ramp that is facing skyward. It is very [...]

Reflecting on Our Surroundings

Thermographers operate in a different world than all other humans—maybe that explains something about us. Initially, it can be quite intimidating to learn how to Think Thermally™, but most thermographers I’ve known soon find it fun as well as challenging. Even after nearly 30 years of paying attention to the temperature relationships in the world, [...]

Getting Connected to Good Support

The work we do as thermographers has immense value; I don’t mean to imply that the world would stop turning without us, but thermographers do a great deal to have it turn more smoothly and efficiently! The disastrous situation in Japan reminds us of how vulnerable the complex systems and machines we have grown to [...]