Best image from a portable yet?

The attached image doesn’t do it justice. If you want to see the original, shoot me an email and I will send it over to you.

Jason Kaylor
President
AC Tool Supply
Net Zero Tools
877-207-1244

480 V Transformer 1280x960.jpg

a 1280x960? wow nice image

Is that the Cam you allowed me to play with last week, Jason?

Nice my friend.

By the way everyone, if you’re interested in buying or leasing a Thermal Imaging Camera contact Jason at AC Tool, he will get you the best price available.

I bought a FLIR from him a few weeks ago, I couldn’t believe the deal I received. He has several brands available, all top of the line.

Y’all are killing me with all these new bad-*** images. I’ve got 2 Fluke Ti-32 Imagers both having wide-angle and tele-photo lens. One has been used on a somewhat consistent basis and the other has probably been used less than 3 hours in 2 years(basically brand new condition). I also have the tripod attachments as well as top of the line tripods for both of them.

Dale gave me a bit of hope that I might could get atleast $5k+(each) for them since they include the extra lens. I haven’t really priced any of these newer FLIR cameras but I’m amazed by some of the images and new features I’ve seen.

I could throw in an extra $1500-$2000 getting me around $12k. What’s the absolute best camera with video recording capabilities in the $12k price range? I wouldn’t even mind a demo as long as it’s under warranty and in great condition.

Jason,
I’d love to get your opinion. Please feel free to respond here or contact me directly with what you think I’m capable of obtaining given my current situation.

You will get more than $5k for Ti32’s with lenses. Duffy could have got more than $5500 for his and he only had wide angle.

The other factor is, how old are they? Are they still under warranty?

I will give the 32 this much. Out of all the cameras sold over the past 3 years, it has held its value. It is just like the used car market. If there were all kinds of incentives or price decreases during the car’s production time, then the resale value goes way down. Fluke has kept the Ti32 at $8995.00 over the past 3 years. They have had promos on it, but currently it is still $8995.00. In addition Fluke doesn’t sell as many cams as FLIR, so there is less competition in the resale market for their cameras.

People keep expecting to see cams drop in price like they have over the last 5-6 years. We are not going to keep seeing the huge price decreases like we saw then. The cost of the technology has not gone down over time, it has actually gone up. That was never the reason cameras dropped so much in price from 5-6 years ago to 2-3 years ago.

The reason was because FLIR was basically a monopoly until Fluke/Danaher entered the market. This is no fault to FLIR, they were simply selling cams at what the price the market would bear. Supply/Demand, Economics 101, etc. Fluke could have attacked anything against their competitor, but choose (among other things) price. They hit the 160x120 market first, then 320x240. Recently the 640x480 market got hit, due to Testo bringing on the 890-2.

Ultimately the 320x240 market has been very stable in prices over the past 3 years and we have actually seen price increases (FLIR T420/T440 and the Testo 882/885). I suspect we will see a new cam in the 320x240 market soon that will have nifty features, but will still be 320x240 and will be in the $9995 ballpark.

Between 3rd quarter 2012 and 1st quarter 2013 I saw price increases from FLIR and Testo on cams. That is the first time in history (that I know of) where cams went up in price. I think this will be the trend going forward. Fluke and Testo squeezed all the margin that the manufacturers were comfortable in squeezing out of the cams. Now IR is like any other test and measurement device…prices will go up over time due to inflation.

Just my 2 cents.

To answer your question Brandon, $12k isn’t going to get you a higher resolution from a native detector. The 640x480 market basically starts at $20k. Yeah, the 890-1 is under $18k, but are you really going to spend that much and not get radiometric video? Just seems silly to not spend the extra $2k when you are already spending that much.

Yep, that is the one.

That transformer was at Scottsdale Fashion Square at Abercrombie and Fitch. The highest observed temp was 290F (143.3C) with a max allowable of 302F (150C) at 100% load. With error factor of +/- 2% and the allowable being 100% load, it obviously needs attention.

Did the upload shrink your picture? I think that the attachment I’m seeing is only about 1/4 of the pixels of the original.

Question for all you gurus. What would be an ok starter camers for a total neeb to IR, but still be at least useable on simple residential inspections?

Jim

Yep, PM me your email and I will get you the original.

More images from the same inspection.

480V Tranformer Coil Cover 1280x960.jpg

480V Tranformer Coil Cover 1280x960 Digital.jpg

Thanks alot for the post! That was some great news to hear. I’m so glad to hear IR camera’s prices have stabilized for the most part. For a while there I was beginning to wonder if prices were just gonna keep dropping until the 320x240 imagers were $2k and nearly owned by every joe-blo tradesmen in business.

I was sorta thinking the constant and rapid price drops were going to start hurting the more trained and qualified thermographers 10x’s more than it could possibly help them, hence one of the reasons I’ve been holding back on additional training.

You’ve restored my faith a bit so I’m glad to hear it!

I guess that kinda sucks to hear the next level camera for me jumps up to $20k but I’d rather it hold that value than drop down to my value. I suppose I’m just going to have to keep saving for a while longer and maybe try pulling it off for my Christmas present or something.

Both my Ti’s just fell out of their 2 year warranty on Jan 8th, 2013. Like I said, one of them might as well be considered new(use-wise) but I’m guessing that not selling it before the warranty expired is going to cause me to take a hit. You wouldn’t happen to know if Fluke sells any kinda extended warranty or coverage packages would you?

In all honesty, I don’t think I’m much interested in Testo but I could be wrong. The last time I messed around with some Testo’s was at the IR/INFO conference in 2011. They didn’t impress me all that much or the plastic sorta made them look and feel cheap. Maybe they’ve changed since then but either way, my next camera is going to have the articulating lens like my first FLIR B400. I get warn out after a couple hours of trying to hold my Fluke out and up in front of my face. I miss the comfort of my FLIR so there’s a 75% chance I’ll be going back to FLIR.

I may even just decide to go with one of the FLIR 320x240 models if they’re still holding their value 4-6 months from now. I’m burnt out with the Ti-32 and feel like it’s holding me back by not having some of the features I could be taking advantage of now.

Anyways, sorry for the long post. Thanks again for the info. We’ll continue back in a few months when I’m able to proceed forward.

Yes Fluke has extended warranties. Although I am not 100% sure you can extend it once the camera falls out of warranty. I know you can extend it at anytime during the warranty period. I will double check for you.

I agree with the pistol style camera. People do not realize how big of a deal an articulating lens is. Here is another scenario. You have to shoot the bottom of something. It is only 2-3 feet off the ground. How are you going to get the camera between you and the target without an articulating head? In addition what if the target is dangerous…like the 480V transformer in the attached image. In the attached image the camera is really close and somewhat under the transformer, while my hand is a good 6 inches back from the lens. On the T Series you can use the WiFi ability and push the camera in even closer with something, then use your tablet or phone to control the camera from whatever distance you want.

The 890 and 885 Testo both articulate as well, it just isn’t obvious at first.

I do agree on the T series. Although I am super impressed with the image output of the 885 and 890, the T series is still the Cadillac. However I can make a case for the 885 as being the best building diagnostics camera around and the 890-2 as the best overall camera around. There is just still little stuff it is missing, plus FLIR just keeps adding on new features that are really nice to have.

Jason Kaylor
President
AC Tool Supply
Net Zero Tools
877-207-1244

480V Transformer Bottom Digital.jpg

480V Transformer Bottom IR.jpg

Here is the original image in this thread as a BMP. It appears Nachi allows larger image size on BMP for some reason. They don’t look as good as the full size PNG, but I cannot post the full size PNGs or JPGs.

It appears the higher end IR cams have outgrown the boards :slight_smile:

Plus a couple others from the same inspection.

Panel A Digital.jpg

Brandon,

Okay it took me a while to get a straight answer on this. I had a couple of different answers, including what I was originally told on the warranty matter.

The actual policy is, the extended warranty can be added at anytime during the first 60 days of ownership. It must be done by the original registered owner. The only question remaining is this. I buy a camera and do not register it. Then I sell it 30 day later. That owner then registers it. Can they now extend the warranty inside of 30 days? Who knows? I doubt that perfect situation would happen much, if at all, but it still seems like a valid question that no one that I talked to could answer.

Jason Kaylor
President
AC Tool Supply
Net Zero Tools
877-207-1244