I suppose this should go in the tool shed, or maybe the lounge, but with all the overheating problems I see here, I suspect one would see a lot of use in the garage.
I have long desired a thermal imaging camera. Seeing animals at night by their body heat, finding bad bearings, loose electrical connectors, heat leaks in houses, the uses are endless.
So is the price.
FLIR is both the name for these type of cameras and one of the biggest producers. Those videos you see of glowing people running from the cops taken by helicopters are examples of Forward Looking InfraRed cameras.
But even cheap ones start at around $1500 for a really poor version, and go up fast from there.
Given my profession, I am somewhat plugged in to the tech community, and I started hearing rumors about some cheap ones that actually work.
I checked it out, and found them.
There are basically two brands, with several different versions or models.
They are plug in units that use the displays of smart phones or tablets for the picture.
They are made for both IOS and Android. Since I have a 10 inch Android tablet, I concentrated on those versions.
Since FLIR is a name I figured that would be the best one. A little more expensive than the other brand, but I got ready to place an order.
But, before I pulled the trigger, I checked out the other one.
The reviews seemed a little better for it, and it had a couple of features I liked.
What to do? What to do.........?
Yeah I did. bought one of each.
How well do they work? Bottom line, darn things are AMAZING.
I need to post some screen shots, but right now I don't have them. I loaned them to a friend to find heat leaks in his house over the weekend, and won't get them back until later.
Which is the best? I hate to say. The FLIR one has more promise, but it just does not work for me. That one has both a visible light camera and a thermal camera, so you can see what you are looking at with the thermal overlay.
However the official software app from the company will not run on my tablet. It crashes as soon as you tap on it.
I tried deleting it and reloading it, but now my tablet or the website thinks its already installed and will not let me download it again.
There are aftermarket apps for that unit, and some of them work, but either the software or the unit is crappy. I suspect the software. I get an image, it keeps reloading and lingers. In other words, I keep seeing the same image after I have turned it to another scene.
It changes eventually, but its really disappointing.
However, my friend has an android phone instead of a tablet, so maybe it will work for him. I will post his results when I get them.
The other one is made by Seek. And it works. Wow does it work. Their software runs fine on my tablet. It has a greater range of temps then the FLIR, and is focusable.
They also make two versions of the two types. Wide angle and narrow angle. I got the wide angle. If you were going to use one for finding critters in the woods at night, I suspect the narrow angle might be better, because the distance is greater.
But for most other uses I think the wide is best.
Why am it posting this here? What would K5 owners need with one? Well, truck overheating? Walk out and look at the radiator. See cool spots? Low water flow through that. Hot spots? No air flow.
Driveshaft vibration? Drive it hard, stop, slide under and look at the bearing caps. A hot one is bad. Think you have a misfire? look at the exhaust manifolds while its running. A cool runner is not firing right.
One thing to notice. The Seek one shows a usable temp range of -40 to 626 degrees F. The FLIR one is
-4 to 248. Much more limited.
One other very important thing. These units plug into the miniUSB port on your phone or tablet. Different phones and tablets have that port oriented different ways. On my tablet, if I just plugged one straight in, all I could do would be take selfies, since the camera faces backwards.
The FLIR one has two adapters that let you change the way it faces. They work fine for it, but the connector on the camera is slightly longer than normal, and the adapters have deeper sockets.
Which means they will only work on that camera, not the Seek.
I bought an extension cable when I bought the Seek, and it works great. But I do need to put a piece of Velcro on my tablet back so I can attach the camera to it.
Holding the tablet in one hand and the camera in the other on the cable is not good.
Here are the links to the cameras. I am deliberately not posting the price of either one, since the prices have changed since I bought mine. They actually went down.
But to help you decide if you want to click on the links, they are in the $200 range each.
Here is the Seek. If I could only buy one, its the one I would get. Either in wide or narrow lens.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NYWAHHM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
And this is the extension cable I ordered with it. You can find it listed as a package deal farther down the first page, but here is the link to it by its self.
https://www.amazon.com/YCS-Basics-M...9_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=C7MVW45PMWJCCBK5CQH9
This is the FLIR. If the software works, it might be the better unit, although the lack of focus and narrow temp range are downsides.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00W5PRY52/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Also note that the Seek uses your phone battery, and the FLIR has an onboard battery that must be charged before use.
My tablet has a large battery, so the Seek is better for me. Not sure about some phones that have limited batteries.
I will post more after I get them back and play with them more. Meanwhile I will try to answer any questions.
I have long desired a thermal imaging camera. Seeing animals at night by their body heat, finding bad bearings, loose electrical connectors, heat leaks in houses, the uses are endless.
So is the price.
FLIR is both the name for these type of cameras and one of the biggest producers. Those videos you see of glowing people running from the cops taken by helicopters are examples of Forward Looking InfraRed cameras.
But even cheap ones start at around $1500 for a really poor version, and go up fast from there.
Given my profession, I am somewhat plugged in to the tech community, and I started hearing rumors about some cheap ones that actually work.
I checked it out, and found them.
There are basically two brands, with several different versions or models.
They are plug in units that use the displays of smart phones or tablets for the picture.
They are made for both IOS and Android. Since I have a 10 inch Android tablet, I concentrated on those versions.
Since FLIR is a name I figured that would be the best one. A little more expensive than the other brand, but I got ready to place an order.
But, before I pulled the trigger, I checked out the other one.
The reviews seemed a little better for it, and it had a couple of features I liked.
What to do? What to do.........?
Yeah I did. bought one of each.
How well do they work? Bottom line, darn things are AMAZING.
I need to post some screen shots, but right now I don't have them. I loaned them to a friend to find heat leaks in his house over the weekend, and won't get them back until later.
Which is the best? I hate to say. The FLIR one has more promise, but it just does not work for me. That one has both a visible light camera and a thermal camera, so you can see what you are looking at with the thermal overlay.
However the official software app from the company will not run on my tablet. It crashes as soon as you tap on it.
I tried deleting it and reloading it, but now my tablet or the website thinks its already installed and will not let me download it again.
There are aftermarket apps for that unit, and some of them work, but either the software or the unit is crappy. I suspect the software. I get an image, it keeps reloading and lingers. In other words, I keep seeing the same image after I have turned it to another scene.
It changes eventually, but its really disappointing.
However, my friend has an android phone instead of a tablet, so maybe it will work for him. I will post his results when I get them.
The other one is made by Seek. And it works. Wow does it work. Their software runs fine on my tablet. It has a greater range of temps then the FLIR, and is focusable.
They also make two versions of the two types. Wide angle and narrow angle. I got the wide angle. If you were going to use one for finding critters in the woods at night, I suspect the narrow angle might be better, because the distance is greater.
But for most other uses I think the wide is best.
Why am it posting this here? What would K5 owners need with one? Well, truck overheating? Walk out and look at the radiator. See cool spots? Low water flow through that. Hot spots? No air flow.
Driveshaft vibration? Drive it hard, stop, slide under and look at the bearing caps. A hot one is bad. Think you have a misfire? look at the exhaust manifolds while its running. A cool runner is not firing right.
One thing to notice. The Seek one shows a usable temp range of -40 to 626 degrees F. The FLIR one is
-4 to 248. Much more limited.
One other very important thing. These units plug into the miniUSB port on your phone or tablet. Different phones and tablets have that port oriented different ways. On my tablet, if I just plugged one straight in, all I could do would be take selfies, since the camera faces backwards.
The FLIR one has two adapters that let you change the way it faces. They work fine for it, but the connector on the camera is slightly longer than normal, and the adapters have deeper sockets.
Which means they will only work on that camera, not the Seek.
I bought an extension cable when I bought the Seek, and it works great. But I do need to put a piece of Velcro on my tablet back so I can attach the camera to it.
Holding the tablet in one hand and the camera in the other on the cable is not good.
Here are the links to the cameras. I am deliberately not posting the price of either one, since the prices have changed since I bought mine. They actually went down.
But to help you decide if you want to click on the links, they are in the $200 range each.
Here is the Seek. If I could only buy one, its the one I would get. Either in wide or narrow lens.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NYWAHHM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
And this is the extension cable I ordered with it. You can find it listed as a package deal farther down the first page, but here is the link to it by its self.
https://www.amazon.com/YCS-Basics-M...9_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=C7MVW45PMWJCCBK5CQH9
This is the FLIR. If the software works, it might be the better unit, although the lack of focus and narrow temp range are downsides.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00W5PRY52/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Also note that the Seek uses your phone battery, and the FLIR has an onboard battery that must be charged before use.
My tablet has a large battery, so the Seek is better for me. Not sure about some phones that have limited batteries.
I will post more after I get them back and play with them more. Meanwhile I will try to answer any questions.
..
