Sometimes things aren't really obvious

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

Until you look at it through your thermal imager. . .

[Doug Edwards]

Jeff,
Pretty wild and impressive. Did you suspect something or just picked this up randomly? I went along with someone doing some motel rooms with an IR camera and like yours the walls (around the windows) looked normal but many had very obvious water intrusion going on. I did some of the checking with moisture meters and they were pegging out and in some rooms the musky odor was apparent but no visible signs of water.

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

Part of my standard protocol is to "scan" the entire house at the beginning and end of an inspection. Generally, just for my own curiosity. I haven't had my "formal" training yet, so I don't promote thermal imaging as being part of the inspection.

This was at the end of the inspection so it was (for the most part) random. This is the kitchen ceiling after running the master shower for a few minutes. . .

[Dale Duffy]

Nice catch Jeff.....those Cams are simply amazing!

[David P. Valley]

Jeff,

Which Flir camera did you purchase? I'm considering....

[Michael W. Gault]

Dave,
I believe Jeff initially purchased a BCam, and quickly replaced it with a BCam SD...

or I seem to remember that ....

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

Mike is correct. I have the BCAM SD.

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Jeff;
Could you explain to me what the colors mean?
Curious how all this thing works.

Marcel

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

Well I'm paying $1600 to learn this, but I'll give you the simplified version

The colors are simply temperature differences, you'll notice there is only a 9 degree difference between the lightest and darkest areas of the image.

The water from the leaking shower pan has changed the temperature of the drywall. The darker areas show where more water has accumulated or saturated. The darkest area is actually the drywall seam, you can see a slight paint "bubble" in this area in the "camera" images.

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Thanks Jeff.

I guess noone said education was cheap, right? ha. ha.

Marcel

[David P. Valley]

Originally Posted by jpope

Well I'm paying $1600 to learn this,

And that only consists of one course. There are several additional certification courses that Flir offers as well. All for $1650.00 a course. It can be very expensive to participate in several courses.

Jeff,

Are you taking the Building Science course or Level oneThermography?

[David P. Valley]

Jeff,

Flir does have the more expensive B2 camera with the wide angle lens option. That's the exact camera I was thinking of purchasing. It allows you to view the entire house in one screen shot.

Question - With your BCAM SD...Standing in front of a house, are you able to see the entire house (in the view finder) or do you have to slowly scan the entire exterior?

[jrivera]

Which is the camera that they use for all of thier sales pitches and brochures ?


Mic

[David A. Andersen]

JP,

Those are great images!!!!!
Bring them, and all pics you have taken to class.

When you can get stuff like that with a BCAM your on top of it.
Don't get too wrapped up in the high end stuff, we are still just HI's and until you go beyond that there is really no need for more. It is more important to get started than it is to wait to get the camera of your choice.

A Yugo will get you to work so you can buy that Corvette!

Anyone interested or planning to attend the ITC course and want more info. feel free to contact me.

We (other NACHI members and myself) had a great experience in Boston last week. My head is still swimming from all the input from the course and those that attended. I don't think I sat in a class with so much accumulative knowledge in quite a while. Your not just preached to, the class members bring as much to the table as the course provides.

If you go, take advantage of it and talk with your neighbors in class! They come from around the world and see things in a different light.

If you can go to Boston, go.
Folks from FLIR came by the class and rendered a huge amount of support to the class concerning their equipment and software.

[Peter C. Russell]

Originally Posted by dvalley

Jeff,

Flir does have the more expensive B2 camera with the wide angle lens option. That's the exact camera I was thinking of purchasing. It allows you to view the entire house in one screen shot.

Question - With your BCAM SD...Standing in front of a house, are you able to see the entire house (in the view finder) or do you have to slowly scan the entire exterior?

David, I would not buy a camera with a wide angle lens, I was with Dave at the course and the wider the lens the more pixels you will loose. It's better to have a camera with more sensitivity and the software will allow you to "stitch" picture together for your report.

Also, anyone considering this should download Will Deckers PP on thermal imagining, take it to staples and have them print it out for you, then put it in a binder and study it before you go, it will help you tremendously understanding the course.

Also Dave, get in touch with me and I will forward the contact info. of someone at Flir that will personally give you a tour and answer any questions you have. My brother Alan and I did and it was great, they are located in NO. Billerica of Trebble Cove Road.

PS it was great to take this class with fellow NACHI members Dave from TN. and John from FL.