Insulation testing is by far the most important testing that you may perform on electric motor and motor circuits. There are several different tests and variations of some of those tests. One of the tests that is available is High Potential testing.

You may have seen a similar piece on this topic, written in general, for many types of inspections. Now we want to focus in on Buildings in particular, and discuss what items aside from your IR imager that might be beneficial to have handy. These are in no specific order since they’re all equally important in ensuring that you’re covering all your bases.

Mucho tiempo atrás cuando inicie mi camino en la termografía, las cámaras eran de cierta manera grandes y pesadas, además de ser muy costosas de adquirir.  La primera cámara termográfica que utilicé requería de un sistema de grabación de video, luego utilizábamos un software para capturar imágenes quietas del video grabado.  Se necesitaba cierta coordinación para mantener quieto el voluminoso equipo y luego presionar el botón de grabación.  Mi siguiente equipo era ¼ del tamaño y 1/8 del peso, además guardaba imágenes con sólo presionar un botón, entonces pensé que ya había al

Electric motors are remarkable devices. They’re used in so many different applications, in every industry, all over the world. Despite technological advancements in many areas, electric motors, by and large, operate precisely the same way now that they always have. I’m always surprised to discover how many people, who otherwise are quite learned in other areas, find electric motors and their operational theory a mystery.

There is a lot of debate on what is needed or required to conduct a building inspection. Is an engineering degree required? Should an inspector be a general contractor? Do you need to be a member of a professional building inspectors association?

Au fil des années, à travers les films, la télévision et les nouvelles, l'imagerie thermique a gagné en popularité. Par contre, l’imagerie thermique est souvent mal présentée, exagérée, et loin de la réalité des limitations des imageurs.

There are a few articles that I have come across that put forth ideas that IR inspections of buildings can accomplish unrealistic things. One of the unrealistic expectations is the ability to find mold. This is a huge topic and a popular buzz word used by health agencies and building contractors. Granted this is a large problem that faces building owners and home owners. There are many methods to locate, detect, and measure mold growth in a structure. IR (Infrared/thermal imaging) is NOT one of them.

Technology is making many electronic devices much smaller than they used to be. Thermal imagers used to be big, clunky and prohibitively expensive. Today I carry an imager with 320 x 240 resolution that literally fits into my hand. It interfaces with my tablet, takes still IR images or IR video, and has all the measurement parameters available to me that I need for most applications I might employ. The price? 1.25% of what my first “modern” imager cost new. Tech has changed, and this includes thermal imagers. It’s now possible to have high resolution in a very small imaging package.

Al realizar inspecciones termográficas como parte del mantenimiento, debemos entender que mayormente no tenemos control de las variables que podrían afectar el funcionamiento de los equipos al momento de la inspección, como por ejemplo: condiciones ambientales, carga, tiempo de funcionamiento, etc. De igual manera no conocemos con exactitud factores como la emisividad, o la transmisividad (por ejemplo, cuando se realizan inspecciones a través de ventanas infrarrojas) o también exactamente de donde provienen los reflejos, etc.

Summer is often a great time to conduct infrared inspections on low-slope roofs, so we thought this would be a great time to discuss the economics of doing low-slope roof inspections.

Fly into any city or drive around one and you will notice acres and acres of low-slope roofs. They are integral to most commercial and industrial buildings in particular. Many of these roofs develop a leak within the first year of installation and, typically because of the trapped moisture, they degrade until about ten years later when they are replaced!