r/Thermal

My apology if this is not what this sub is intended for. I am sharing what I think might be useful information on borrowing good thermal imaging cameras, as many people (such as I) can't justify purchasing one but have a temporary need for one.

My local utility company (PG&E) lends out thermal imaging cameras. Free.

They have a FLIR E76 (the one I have borrowed) and a T560 (far higher end than I could possibly need).

I am using it to determine where air from my attic may be entering my living space when I run my whole house fan (which pulls air from living space and exhausts via roof venting in attic). I've been placing remote thermometers around, but that takes too long and I have to guess where a leak might be. A thermal camera will show me all leaks in as much time as it takes me to walk around the inside of my house and look (the goal).

Hi all. Based on AI recommendations, I've been considering the thermal Master P3 as a top-tier Android thermal camera for trying to track down a large ant nest in my ceilings or wall. That said, while AI seems to recommend the thermal Master P3 for its superior sensitivity and focusability, I also see that it was designed specifically for looking close-up at electronics. Does that mean that it will struggle to evaluate larger swaths of wall or ceiling? If so, do you have any other suggestions that you might make?

My wife and I volunteer tracking and trapping lost pets in our community. We work with a group of others, we have traps, game cameras, a non-thermal Mini Pro 4 drone... But we don't have any thermal imaging device.

We're entirely self funded out of pocket. Gas, dog/cat food, traps, and equipment. We don't receive much in the way of gifts either.

Anyway, I'm hoping you all may know of some solid thermal imaging.

Budget is ~$500.

A wider FOV seems useful for scanning and tracking movement, while more magnification can help with seeing detail at longer distances.

For those who have used both, which one matters more to you in real use? Have you ever wished you had more of one than the other?

Ok this may be a slight long shot but I was curious before I committed to the project and went for it.

I’m trying to implement a CVBS thermal camera that is high resolution, preferably a 640x512 option. And obviously given this is a DIY project cameras like the FLIR boson are pretty much out of the question budget wise (they are 4k+ USD)

Has anyone ever had any experience purchasing Chinese cameras such as the one pictured below? Seems like almost all of them are made in Shenzen and there is various suppliers. Also ordering electronics on Alibaba vs straight from the supplier?

How good the price is compared to the American specs scares me. Sorry if this is off topic or somewhat a dumb question, considering the answer will most likely be “you won’t know til you try” but the internets a cool place with a lot of people who’ve likely made the exact same mistake as me lol.

Just a P.S the spec sheet matches exactly what I need for my project so…

I used to think higher resolution automatically meant a better thermal image.

But after seeing different thermal devices, I'm not sure it's that simple. Sensor quality, processing, contrast, and conditions seem to make a noticeable difference too.

For those of you who've used more than one thermal optic, what has made the biggest difference in actual use?

Disclosure: I received the Thermal Master THOR002 free of charge from Thermal Master for the purpose of this review. I did not receive any money or other compensation, and the manufacturer has no influence on the content of this review. The content of this post have not been seen by the manufacturer beforehand. This is my honest and independent opinion based on my own experience with the device.

Thermal Master THOR002 – My experience after testing it

I mainly tested the THOR002 for electronics and general technical inspections, but also used it for some household and everyday applications. Overall, my first impression was very positive: the device feels well made, is easy to use and provides useful thermal images without requiring a lot of time to learn how it works.

The THOR002 arrived very well packaged. The carrying case in particular made a very good impression on me. It feels high-quality and provides a convenient and safe way to store and transport the camera.

The camera itself also feels well manufactured. The materials and finish give it a more professional impression than I expected, and I particularly like the lens protection, which should help prevent accidental damage when carrying the device around.

Overall, there was nothing about the packaging or the device itself that made it feel cheap.

The THOR002 feels solid in the hand and generally has the impression of a proper piece of measuring equipment rather than a cheap thermal camera. But nonetheless it does not feel bulky or obstruct the handling.

The controls are relatively straightforward, and I didn't need much time to get familiar with the basic functions.

The software is also quite intuitive. The interface is well organised and the different functions are easy to find. It is just a tiny bit slow at times, but this never became a major problem during my testing.

The contrast can be adjusted quite well, which makes it easy to highlight temperature differences depending on what you are looking at. This is particularly useful when inspecting electronics, where relatively small temperature differences can be important.

The temperature measurements also worked well in my testing. I obviously cannot professionally verify the absolute accuracy of the measurements without laboratory equipment and controlled conditions, but based on my own tests and expectations, the readings appeared reasonable and consistent.

For an amateur user like me, the measurements were accurate enough to be genuinely useful for finding hot spots and comparing temperatures.

For electronics, I found the camera particularly useful. Being able to quickly see which component or section of a circuit is getting warmer can be extremely helpful when troubleshooting.

It is also useful for general household inspections and finding temperature differences that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye.

There are also other very useful view modes, like a mix of a normal view and the infrared view, which are quite useful when doing circuit breaker or HVAC inspections.

One feature that disappointed me somewhat is the zoom.

The camera can zoom in quite far, which initially sounds great. However, once you zoom in significantly, the additional detail isn't really there. The image becomes more difficult to interpret and many areas appear to have almost the same temperature.

So while the zoom range itself is impressive, I would not expect the digital zoom to give you the same level of additional detail as physically getting closer to the object or using a higher-resolution sensor.

This isn't a deal-breaker for me, but it is definitely something to keep in mind. For very small electronic components like smd, you might need to look into the micro lens of the Thor 001

The software is generally very easy to understand. I didn't have to spend much time figuring out where the different functions are located.

As mentioned above, it can feel slightly slow at times, but apart from that I found it clear and practical. The different thermal palettes and measurement options are useful and make it possible to adapt the display to the object being inspected.

One thing I want to mention for the sake of completeness: while researching the THOR002 before and during my testing, I came across some reports from other customers describing negative experiences with Thermal Master's customer support.

However, I have not personally had to contact their customer service during this review, so I cannot verify or assess those reports myself. My experience with the company during this review has only been related to receiving and testing the product, and I therefore don't want to make any judgement about the quality of their customer support based solely on what I have read from others.

If customer support is an important factor for you when purchasing a thermal camera, I would recommend looking into recent customer experiences yourself.

Conclusion

Overall, I am positively surprised by the THOR002.

It feels well built, comes in a very nice carrying case, is easy to operate and produces useful thermal images. The measurement functions worked well in my testing, and the ability to adjust the contrast makes the camera useful for a variety of applications.

The main weakness I found is the zoom: although you can zoom in quite far, you don't necessarily gain additional useful detail.

I also cannot personally assess Thermal Master's customer support, as I have not needed to use it. There are some negative reports from other users, which are worth considering, but I would not regard them as part of my own product experience.

Apart from that, I would recommend the THOR002, especially to people who work with electronics, technical repairs, home inspections or other situations where being able to see temperature differences is useful.

For an enthusiast like me, it is a genuinely useful tool rather than just a gadget, and I can definitely see myself using it for future electronics and technical projects.

 

No idea if this is against the rules, just remembered I had this photo of a coworker mooning a couple of the guys shortly into Miller time and thought I'd share with the first thermal sub I found. I have no regrets.