Going IR

[davidlord]

I'm tired of sitting on the fence on the IR cam. Like others have stated whether you like it or not its going to be a tool you will eventually need to have in your arsenal to be considered top shelf. Note I said considered. Perception is powerful.

I started another thread just to cut to the chase. I'm buying a camera next week. I will buy either the Flir Bcam or the Fluke Ti series.

Somebody tell me which one I should buy and why.

[kurt]

Battery life. Look into battery life.

It's the only reason I don't have the TiR right now. And, they just cut the price of the BCam, which means they're at the end of a product cycle, and they're about to release something new soon.

Yes, that will happen continually, but I'm at least going to wait to see what the new product will be.

[davidlord]

Yea, I know just as soon as I buy one the next greatest innovation in IR will hit the market at half the price but you gotta dive in at some point.

I had told myself when the price point got below $5,000 I was in. The time has come.

[Chris Bernhardt]

Yea, battery life on that fluke is a deal killer. You need at least twice that including the capability of swapping out batteries like in the Bcam.

I think there is no question that the fusion tech is important and the more res the better.

I would call Flir and talk to them about whats about to come out. If it's only a month or two away then fine go ahead and wait. If it's 6 months from now I can tell you it will probably be longer.

In this difficult market this year I imagined that a much better camera would be affordable next year but I just couldn't wait. My business plan called for it now, right away.

Also if Flir has a new model with picture in picture coming, be sure to ask about battery life. That would be the pits if you wait all that time to again run into battery life issues even if you could swap batteries, it's a pain to manage.

Chris, Oregon

[davidlord]

I really like the Fluke pic in pic "fusion" feature. I have heard the Fluke resolution is better than the Flir. If the 3-4 hour run time battery life is correct don't you think that would be sufficient for 1 job?

I wish I could go down to IR Mart/Depot/and hold both of them in my hand.

[Chris Bernhardt]

Don't you think that would be sufficient for 1 job?

You would think so. But you will need it to last for at least two jobs. Maybe not right now, but you will.

I wonder how fast it can be recharged? Maybe you can recharge it between jobs, but rechargebles can only be charged so many times before they've had it. You might find yourself replacing batteriess every few months. Ask Fluke how many chargings you can get out of the battery.

How do you replace the battery in the fluke? Is it something you can do yourself or do you have to send back to fluke?

In other words talk to fluke and tell them the problem and see what their solution is.

Chris, Oregon

[Brian G]

Originally posted by davidlord

I wish I could go down to IR Mart/Depot/and hold both of them in my hand.

They were both at IW in New Orleans, but I don't know of anyplace other than a big conference where you'd find both on display.

Brian G.

IR-Toys-R-Us? []

[ozofprev]

David,

Don't you also have a bug biz? Are you going to use IR to help spot termite infestations? (For those who wonder - they generate heat.)

[davidlord]

I'm going to see how effective it is for locating termites. I was talking to my pest control company partner today and told him that the next infestation he found I would go over and scan for termites.

I would think there would need to be a large concentration in one spot to pick them up but it sounds like good marketing material.

[kurt]

Scott Warga's been working IR extensively for over a year. It's his main gig. He's the guy that gave me the battery warning. It's no where near what Fluke says. And, you need enough juice for a couple jobs, or one big commercial job.

Recharges take about 3 hours. Changing out the battery requires dismantlement of the equipment. IOW, pain in ass. Possible, but who needs that?

Who's ever gotten even half of the battery life promised by the mfg's. of all those battery driven tools we have? I take whatever the mfg. says and cut it in half, and that always works out to reality. That means, the Fluke battery life isn't good enough.

Which leads to the BCam. But, I want the Fusion thing, which means the camera I want isn't here yet.

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by kurt

Scott Warga's been working IR extensively for over a year. It's his main gig. He's the guy that gave me the battery warning. It's no where near what Fluke says. And, you need enough juice for a couple jobs, or one big commercial job.

Recharges take about 3 hours. Changing out the battery requires dismantlement of the equipment. IOW, pain in ass. Possible, but who needs that?

Who's ever gotten even half of the battery life promised by the mfg's. of all those battery driven tools we have? I take whatever the mfg. says and cut it in half, and that always works out to reality. That means, the Fluke battery life isn't good enough.

Which leads to the BCam. But, I want the Fusion thing, which means the camera I want isn't here yet.

The fluke specs say that the battery has a 3-4 hour continuous on time, so maybe it really lasts for 2 hours. I'm certainly not going to be using the thing for two hours straight on any home inspection. The IR on time is probably going to be closer to 20 minutes.

Now maybe if I were hired to scan all of the interiors of an apartment complex, that might become an issue.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[davidlord]

I think I'm going with the Fluke. I really like the Fusion. If the BCam had the fusion feature I would go BCam.

I'm sure they will have it but who knows when.

I would drive a hybrid if they made one that tows like my Excursion.

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by davidlord

I think I'm going with the Fluke. I really like the Fusion. . . .

Which one and why?

TiR - $4,495

TiR1 - $6,995

Ti10 - $4,495

Ti25 - $7495

??

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[davidlord]

The Tir and Ti10 are basically identical. The Ti10 has a higher temp range but slightly less thermal sensitivty than the Tir. These are the two that are in my budget range so it looks like I will be buying the Tir.

Some outfit by the name of Berg Engineering has the TiR at 4045.00.

[kurt]

Originally posted by Jim Katen

The fluke specs say that the battery has a 3-4 hour continuous on time, so maybe it really lasts for 2 hours. I'm certainly not going to be using the thing for two hours straight on any home inspection. The IR on time is probably going to be closer to 20 minutes.

Now maybe if I were hired to scan all of the interiors of an apartment complex, that might become an issue.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

Well, you say you won't, then you describe a very plausible scenario that says you might, which usually (always) means you will.

I'm still hanging w/what Warga said.

Think.... you get the camera, you will get large jobs because you get large jobs now, and you're going to run out of battery life on those large jobs, no?

It's the only reason I don't own the TiR right now. We'll see what David says.

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by davidlord

The Tir and Ti10 are basically identical. The Ti10 has a higher temp range but slightly less thermal sensitivty than the Tir. These are the two that are in my budget range so it looks like I will be buying the Tir.

Some outfit by the name of Berg Engineering has the TiR at 4045.00.

And will you be buying any overpriced educational courses with it?

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[davidlord]

Not buying the ed just yet. I'm going to buy the camera, get familiar with how it operates, and then I will research training options.

[hausdok]

Do either the Fluke or the Flir allow one to carry a battery pack and plug it into the side of the gizmo?

I noticed last week at the bill signing that the Kiro 7 guy carried a battery back on a shoulder strap with a little cord running from that battery pack to his TV camers so that he wouldn't run out of power.

Seems to make sense to me. Use the shoulder strap thingy when walking around the house and let it run off its integral battery when doing attics and crawls.

OT - OF!!!

M.

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by hausdok

Do either the Fluke or the Flir allow one to carry a battery pack and plug it into the side of the gizmo?

I noticed last week at the bill signing that the Kiro 7 guy carried a battery back on a shoulder strap with a little cord running from that battery pack to his TV camers so that he wouldn't run out of power.

Seems to make sense to me. Use the shoulder strap thingy when walking around the house and let it run off its integral battery when doing attics and crawls.

OT - OF!!!

M.

I'm sure that I could Chad-ify something along those lines.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[hausdok]

Chadify! I love it.

Sfunny, after some of your posts about your workshop experiments on the ASHI board years ago, I started thinking of jury-rigging stuff as Katenizing it long before WJ began referring to your report commentary as being Katenized.

You and Chad, legends in your own times!

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[davidlord]

I did sign up for a free webinar from Fluke on the Tir for Monday.

[davidlord]

What the heck is wrong with us folks that check forums during the day on Saturday? The boy and I hit the First Tee program at 8:30am and then hit some balls on the range. I've been hanging out with the wife and kids by the pool all day (while the baby back ribs are doing their thing in the smoker) with my laptop on the summer kitchen bar top. I need to learn to just shut this thing off every now and then.

By the way its 79 with a clear blue sky today. Pool temps at 82 with a little assistance from the heat pump.

[kurt]

There's still snow and ice sitting on flat roofs around here.

Damn you......

[hausdok]

Gray day here in western Washington state; about 50 degrees.

I'd rather go to the dentist than play golf. The one and only time I tried that, I spent more time in the bush in about 4 hours than I'd spent in the weeds, bushes, trees, and ditches than anywhere else during the previous year. That was enough for me. I put up with enough of that crap in the Army.

OT - OF!!!

M.

[Chris Bernhardt]

I can't even imagine having a day off anymore with 8 kids and a wife and all her friends to manage.

I know better times are a comming but not yet.

I hope I make it before I become a full blown alcoholic.

Chris, Oregon