The Importance of the Date and Time Stamp

December 09, 2022
Buildings

In our Level I Thermographic Applications Course, we mention that there are imager settings that cannot be changed after an image is saved. As an instructor, I tend to focus on what I consider the Big Three; Focus, Range, and Perspective (Composition). Those are important for obvious reasons. No one wants a poorly focused image, nor one with areas of heat that can’t be measured, or for important areas to be left out of the image. But there’s another setting that can’t be changed that’s mentioned in the course manual that I have been guilty of not mentioning. Does anyone know which one?

High Resistance can Develop in Crimped-on Connections

When inspecting electrical equipment with IR, there are obviously many connection points where high resistance can develop, resulting in abnormal heating. We have all seen the pattern associated with increased electrical resistance. The localized heating and cooling off moving down the conductor away from the termination or component, but new thermographers may be missing some of the harder to spot areas where this failure mode is likely to occur.

La cuisine pendant les fêtes est un environnement riche pour la physique-chez-vous.

November 21, 2022
Français

Durant la préparation des grands repas de fin d’année avec votre famille ou vos amis, saisissez l’occasion pour vous distraire avec votre imageur thermique.

Faites une tournée de la cuisine avant le repas non seulement pour y grignoter mais emmenez-y aussi votre camera pour faire des découvertes étonnantes.

Seeing Sharp Reflections when Inspecting Windows

In building thermography, many materials appear thermally the way that you’d expect them to. Glass is the one exception. Consult any of the available long wavelength emissivity tables and they show glass emissivity to be fairly high in the long wave 8-14µm (0.84- 0.92) mid-wave 3-5.5 µm is going to be lower (dependent on the exact wavelength used) also dependent on the type of glass, except for fused quartz or Covex D glass, both of which are used in optics, not windows. Why then do we see such sharp reflections when inspecting residential windows?

Holiday Cooking is a Rich Environment for "Kitchen Physics”

October 31, 2022
IR Talk

The upcoming Thanksgiving holiday here in the United States is a great time to "Think Thermally®" and have fun with your thermal imager as you get ready to celebrate with family and friends. I'm sure many of you enjoy hanging out in the kitchen before the big meal, trying to steal a quick bite. This year, for those of you who have access to a thermal imager, consider bringing it along. You might be amazed by what can be seen.

Using Multiple Data Sets for Fault Localization

Having a motor test instrument does not mean that you will be able to diagnose problems.  Motor test instruments provide data that correlates to the interaction of the motor components and the characteristics of the circuit being measured. We will be exploring the measured parameters associated with de-energized electric motor testing. In this article, we will look at what can be determined by correlating resistance, inductance, and impedance data.

Celebrating the SMRP 30th Annual Conference!

October 12, 2022

Barre, VT, October 12, 2022: SMRP will be celebrating its 30th Annual Conference in Raleigh, NC from October 17-22. The Snell Group will participate in four days of education and networking.

Don Donofrio, Consultant and Trainer for The Snell Group, will present an Innovation Lab titled “Correlation of Motor Test Data to Localize Motor and Motor Circuit Faults”. Don’t misdiagnose motor circuit ‎problems! Join us on Wednesday, October 19 and explore the theory, data analysis, and data correlation necessary to identify ‎most motor and circuit faults.

Moisture Conditions may have Thermal Effects Beyond the Obvious

When it’s wet it’s cold, right? This is an easy assumption to make. When we consider moisture, we often think of evaporation. When moisture evaporates from a surface it cools that surface because it takes heat energy from the surface to change its state. That’s why rubbing alcohol feels cool on your skin. It’s evaporating and removing the heat energy to do so. For that reason, caregivers will rub it on people for fever reduction, hence its name. Esoteric medical history is not why we’re here though. Moisture; not always cold.