If you do an internet search on Reliability you’ll get thousands of hits with links to hundreds of sites for companies that are heavily vested in programs that apply multiple condition monitoring technologies to their assets. Despite the fact that reliability is in full swing across every conceivable industry, there are many companies and facilities that are still doing things the old-fashioned way.  This is typically seen as an annual infrared inspection of a handful of assets, usually only electrical, with no rhyme or reason to the approach.  You get the idea.

Electric motors have been used in industry for nearly 150 years. The Gramme Machine, the first electric motor, was discovered quite by accident in 1873. Nickola Tesla invented the first practical AC electric motor in 1888 and they have been applied across all industry sectors ever since. According to the US Department of Energy, electric motors account for 60% of all industrial power consumption, and the typical electric motor will consume 5-12 times their purchase price in energy within their first year of service.

At first, blush, inspecting buildings with thermography might appear to be a rather straightforward endeavor. While this is partially true, there are some points to consider. Heat transfer in buildings can be dynamic and understanding the thermal conditions and how they change during the inspection process is essential to interpreting the data collected. Additionally, it is important to understand that the thermal patterns present in a building may not always present themselves as might be expected.

En algunas ocasiones en mis entrenamientos de termografía me preguntan, ¿Cuál ha sido la imagen térmica más interesante que he tomado? Esto me hace recordar la ocasión que un piloto me pidió que tomara la imagen térmica del globo aerostático ‘Mayflower’.

Souvent durant mes cours, on me demande « quelles sont les images thermiques les plus intéressantes que j'ai jamais prises ». Je songe toujours à une époque quand un pilote m'a demandé d’inspecter sa montgolfière.

Il faisait un temp superbe pendant un après-midi au salon du ballon dans l'état de l’Ohio. Je me suis dit : « cette année, j'apporterai ma caméra infrarouge pour essayer d'obtenir de bonnes images ». À un moment donné, le pilote du ballon dénommée Mayflower est passé et a vu mon imageur, ce qui a piqué son intérêt.

Often in our classes, we are asked “what are the most interesting thermal images that you’ve taken?” I always think back to a time that I was asked to look at a hot air balloon by the pilot of the Mayflower balloon.

It was a great afternoon during Canton, Ohio’s “Hall of Fame” week, and every year there is a balloon festival. I thought, “This year I’ll bring my infrared camera and try to get some good images.” At one point the pilot of the Mayflower balloon walked by and saw my thermal imager and it piqued his interest.

One of the most common questions we get as infrared instructors is: How do I know what camera settings to use for a building inspection? This is a good question for people just beginning to use IR for building inspections. You show up to perform a building inspection and you don’t have a lot of experience to draw from, what do you do? There are a few different methods to establish a good span and level to begin with and these will vary depending on the type of camera that you’re using.

Inspecciones termográficas seguras de equipos eléctricos

Uno de los tipos de inspecciones termográficas más comunes son las inspecciones eléctricas, las cuales también podrían ser de las inherentemente más peligrosas, pero con el entrenamiento adecuado y tomando las precauciones y preparaciones adecuadas el nivel de riesgo podría reducirse. En el consejo infrarrojo de este mes hablaremos acerca de las preparaciones para realizar inspecciones eléctricas con termografía más seguras.

KPI’s for CBM / PDM programs can and should be a useful tool, but used incorrectly or manipulated to make things look better than they are can destroy a program. I am not going to cover all of the KPI’s that are out there in the maintenance world but more how they interact with each other and the effects of overlooking one in favor of another one.

In the electric motor testing field, a good portion of my acquired knowledge was a result of trial and error. When I first started using specialized motor test equipment, the instruments collected significant data and we knew very little about what it meant. Through constant testing and collection of empirical data from multiple sources, correlation of data with my technical experience and electrical theory background, I was able to gain a level of comfort and proficiency.