In need of bcam education

[sfigert]

I am about to by my 1st thermo camera. I am a general contractor and have been studying some on the bcamsd series. I already understand the basics of building science, seeing as building from the footer to the ridge is what I do, but the Basic Building Science is the class that Flir is recommending me to take. I am wondering if the Level 1 class wouldn't be better.
If I buy the new camera before 9/30 I get a free class. One or the other is allowed to be taken with the purchase.
Not wanting to waste the free class, I want to make sure that I choose the right one.
Wanting to know what the guys that have been through these classes think. I would appreciate any help you guys can give, thanks.

[Jeff Moore]

I would suggest doing the Level 1 course first. The course teaches all the basic info needed to understand the science. With your background and understanding of how a building works you may not need the Building Science course however more education is a good thing. Too many people are operating the cameras with little understanding of the pitfalls the you can run across trying to interprete the images.

Just my humble opinion


Jeff Moore
ITC Certified Level 1
Flir T400 user

[Ben J. Gromicko]

http://www.infrared-certified.com/
I've watched John teach the course. Go here first. Students actually bring BCAMs to the course. Building science is taught here.

[Kevin A. Richardson]

Originally Posted by sfigert

I am about to by my 1st thermo camera. I am a general contractor and have been studying some on the bcamsd series. I already understand the basics of building science, seeing as building from the footer to the ridge is what I do, but the Basic Building Science is the class that Flir is recommending me to take. I am wondering if the Level 1 class wouldn't be better.
If I buy the new camera before 9/30 I get a free class. One or the other is allowed to be taken with the purchase.
Not wanting to waste the free class, I want to make sure that I choose the right one.
Wanting to know what the guys that have been through these classes think. I would appreciate any help you guys can give, thanks.

Take the Level I.

Kevin

[David P. Valley]

If you are in the building industry and fully understand building science and how a building works, then Level 1 is the obvious choice.

[sfigert]

Thanks guys, I was thinking of taking both but the cost is too high to recoupe in this area of Ohio. I think that I will be taking the Level I course first, and as many free internet classes that I can take too. Just getting started in this field I agree with Jeff, the more training the better.
I am also looking forward to taking Johns coure as well, seeing as he teaches it as a home inspector. I believe that Greg Heidepriem is tring to get him set up to teach a class in Toledo. Hope this happens. Thanks again guys.

[Ben J. Gromicko]

This guys pretty good with a BCAM. http://www.nachi.tv/episode47

[Dan Bowers, CMI]

Ben -

I checked out the Nachi TV thing and didn't see anybody there. Just you.

Where the heck is this good guy??

[Larry D. Kage]

Originally Posted by krichardson

Take the Level I.

Kevin

Definately.

[Ben J. Gromicko]

Originally Posted by dbowers

Ben -

I checked out the Nachi TV thing and didn't see anybody there. Just you.

Where the heck is this good guy??

Hee Hee

[Dan Bowers, CMI]

Most everybody I talked to in my area said that when they went to ITC's "LEVEL I" course (SOME IN PAST 6 MONTHS), it was geared heavily toward commercial AND electrical engineering design. They felt MAYBE 1 DAY WAS GOOD, but after that it was a big waste of time and said if they had it to do over, they'd go for the "Building Science" class insteaD.

[John Snell]

Originally Posted by dbowers

Most everybody I talked to in my area said that when they went to ITC's "LEVEL I" course (SOME IN PAST 6 MONTHS), it was geared heavily toward commercial AND electrical engineering design. They felt MAYBE 1 DAY WAS GOOD, but after that it was a big waste of time and said if they had it to do over, they'd go for the "Building Science" class insteaD.

I can't speak for FLIR as to what is included in their training. I can tell you that our Level I conforms to the educational standards of the American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT), both for hours and content. We focus on several key issues.

First is having people gain basic mastery of their camera (regardless of brand) with one-on-one tutoring and several hours of hands-on lessons. When they leave the course they understand how to get good images of just about anything we put in front of them.

Second, we build a solid foundation of heat transfer and radiometric theory, all taught in a practical fashion grounded in many, many demonstrations and examples from various applications.

Third we cover the major applications (electrical, mechanical, buildings, roof moisture and nondestructive testing of materials). Again, all of these are taught with numerous examples, case studies and referenced back to good practice, industry standards and the basics they learned about theory. While we often have people in our courses who are there for just one application or another, rarely are people not engaged with the others because they all so easily tie together.

Out 2-day Buildings Specialty course (and for these their is not ASNT outline) assumes attendees have a solid understanding of building construction and heat transfer. We focus on conditions for inspections and the kinds of images one is likely to encounter under various conditions.

In either course you can count on our instructors being both expert thermographers and expert instructors who are devoted to your learning. I'm proud of each of them and they consistently get very high marks. You can find out more about them at <<https://www.thesnellgroup.com/OurTeam.aspx>>.

I would remind readers that we also have a great deal of excellent content, in "bite-sized" pieces, online as recorded distance learning units. Regardless of your choice for face-to-face learning, these can provide a very useful means of preparing for a course, reviewing after a course or just hearing another point of view on a topic. This link, <https://www.thesnellgroup.com/InfraredWebinars.aspx>, will take you to our website where you can learn more about what we offer.

From reading this board I know that money is often a concern for many, but I would remind you that not getting the right education is probably the most costly route you can take. If you have any questions I can answer, please feel free to email me directly or post your questions here for all to see.

Thermally yours,

John Snell
ASNT NDT Thermal/Infrared Level III #48166
Snell Infrared
800-636-9820
802-229-9820
http://www.thesnellgroup.com
http://www.IRTalk.com
http://www.learnnewsolutions.com/

[Brian A. MacNeish]

Originally Posted by Jeff Moore

I would suggest doing the Level 1 course first. The course teaches all the basic info needed to understand the science. With your background and understanding of how a building works you may not need the Building Science course however more education is a good thing. Too many people are operating the cameras with little understanding of the pitfalls the you can run across trying to interprete the images.

Just my humble opinion


Jeff Moore
ITC Certified Level 1
Flir T400 user

IMHO, being a contractor and knowing how to build a building does necessarily mean that a person understands how a building and its systems work. If that was the case, we shouldn't be seeing increasing numbers of building failures!!