IR camera recommendation for Plumber?

[Yaacov Prupis]

Hi all,

Looking to purchase a camera to determine source of water leaks. This is the sole purpose of the camera.

As such I do not have a high budget for a camera. My business is only 2 years old and most of the leaks I have been able to diagnose with my eyes and head.

If the Flir i3, i5 or i7 will get the job done I would make the purchase. I've noticed that those cameras are intended for novices, home owners, beginners, etc. Nonetheless, if they will enable me to determine that a leak is from the shower supply and not an issue of bad caulking; that a leak is from a faulty roof and not a burst pipe; a leaky waste line and not a leaky supply line, etc then I would go for it.

Also, I understand that much of the diagnosing is in the users ability and not the camera itself. So with experience and online courses perhaps one of these cameras suffice? Or are these cameras not good enough that I'll still be scratching my head?

Or are y'all gonna tell me to hold off for a few years and just dish off these difficult jobs to another company, as I've done a couple of times...

Appreciate the suggestions.

[David A. Andersen]

I would recommend the i7 if it were me.
The i5 if you're in a pinch. I don't think I learned skimp as far down as an i3.
As a plumber application, you have a lot of temperature differential with water leak investigations.
Those cameras are not really for beginners, they are for specific applications and electrical, mechanical and plumbing applications have a significant temperature differential and if you're just trying to find the exception in the electric panel, plumbing leak etc. they will work just fine.
Some education would be very helpful to understand the concept of what the tool does so that you can understand its limitations and certain applications and what it takes to manipulate the conditions for them to work. Water leaks can be either hot anomalies for cool anomalies. Water retains its heat but it also lowers its own temperature below the ambient room temperatures due to evaporative cooling. Understanding what the wet bulb temperature is (which is what you will be looking for) and what causes it will be a tremendous help.
There excellent for finding blocked drains when you can alternate between hot and cold water. See exactly where and what is in the drain.
You are the contractor. There's really no need for a multi-million-megapixel camera to document a water leak. You're the one doing the work, no one else has to look at it.

[John McKenna]

Yaacov Prupis,

Send me an email and I can get you the lowest price on the IR camera in the USA.
john(at)infrared-certified.com