Ten Suggestions For Thermography Best Practice - Cordex Instruments TC7000 User Manual

TEN SUGGESTIONS FOR
THERMOGRAPHY BEST PRACTICE
1
Ensure that the electrical or mechanical
system you are imaging is running fully loaded
to highlight thermal anomalies. A fully loaded
system will generate higher temperature
differential making it simpler to identify
problems.
2
Ensure your image is in focus – this is
important not only for image clarity but also
accurate temperature discrimination and
measurement. Focus should always be set to
the object being measured even if this means
that a surrounding area may be out of focus.
3
If working in a Zone 1 Hazardous area, ensure
that your thermal imaging camera is marked
with the appropriate certification to avoid
risk of explosion. Employers are required
to identify hazardous areas clearly for both
employees and contractors.
4
If you are looking for temperatures above
or below a temperature threshold, use an
isotherm or maximum temperature within an
area feature to clearly highlight any excess.
These features save time and increase
awareness as surveys can take several
hours where fatigue could cause an important
anomaly to be overlooked.
RUGGED AUTHORITY
5
Observe a scene from different angles to
minimise thermal reflection as an unusual
warm area could just be your own thermal
reflection. Minimise solar reflection on display
screens outdoors by changing your stance or
swivelling the lens to eliminate reflection.
6
Always consider the object emissivity first
if you want to come close to an accurate
temperature measurement, but remember
that regular comparative thermography will
also show temperature changes leading to
potential failure.
7
For comparative thermography, ensure that
thermal camera settings and especially
emissivity remain consistent. Ideally system
load should also be similar although this is
often impractical.
8
Use infrared windows to image electrical
switchgear under full load in safety. Never
open cabinet doors or override protection
devices, this will put you at serious risk of
injury from arc flash. Even a change of airflow
or dust and debris being dislodged can trigger
an arc flash incident.
9
Always store images and relate them where
possible to visible images when building a
Report. This makes it easier to pinpoint the
fault for scheduled maintenance. Choose a
reporting software package that makes this
process simple and consider installing RFID
tags to link measurements from different
technologies to one specific location.
10
Report critical items separately in the Report
and draw attention to them clearly – the
whole idea of thermography for preventive
maintenance is to find faults and fix them
before they cause a breakdown and loss
of production or uptime. Choose a report
software package that creates a scheduled
job sheet to pass straight to the maintenance
engineer.
T7000 – Intrinsically Safe Thermal Imaging Camera
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