Qualitative Thermography Allows Easy Inspections

Clamping unit under load

Inspections of electrical installations mostly focus on the detection of hot-spots – areas with excessive temperatures. Those can often be found by comparison of the same kind of components just having different temperatures. For example one phase can have a higher temperature in comparison with other phases due to a poor insulation which results in a creeping current. Already such a comparative analysis called qualitative thermography is absolutely sufficient in many inspection situations.

Faults Can Only Be Identified by Having a Sufficient Number of Pixels

To provide a secure conclusion the infrared camera being used needs to come with an adequate resolution. Inspecting electrical installations especially the geometrical resolution should be focused on which is the number of pixels being available for the measurement. The more available pixels, the smaller are the hot-spots which can be detected from a certain distance and the earlier a developing fault can be discovered, resulting in a more secure inspection result. An infrared camera with a correspondingly large detector format therefore does not determine average values from hotspot temperatures and lower ambient temperatures. This would rather prevent the reliable detection of a hotspot.

Inspection of an electrical carrier

Temperature Measurements are Influenced by Load Situation of Electrical Installations

Very important for thermographic analyses of electrical installations is their load behaviour. When thermographic measurements are done in low load situations hot-spots will not be detectable securely as those areas will appear a lot colder than running at full load. Therefore either the measurements will be done at full load or the measured lower temperatures will be converted to those which would be measured when running at full load.

Thermographic recording of a control cabinet
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InfraTec infrared LLC
75024 Plano, TXUSA

Interchangeable Lenses Allow the Flexible Usage of Infrared Camera Systems

Thermographic recording of a control cabinet

Very often thermography is used for controlling high voltage installations outdoors. To do those measurements correctly measuring smallest details full signal telephoto lenses should be used. In contrast limited space indoors could well result in the need to use wide-angle lenses for coverage of complete switchboards.

Advantages of this Thermography Solutions in this Application

  • InfraTec Glossary Motorfocus
    Further information about the motor focus

    Motor Focus for ImageIR® Full Lenses – More Comfort

    All interchangeable standard lens systems of the ImageIR® series can be combined with a motor focus unit, which is controlled by the camera operating software. It enables precise, remote and fast focusing. In addition, an autofocus function is available which operates reliably even with low image contrasts.

  • InfraTec thermography glossary - autofocus
    Further information about permanent autofocus

    Permanent Autofocus

    Constantly changing object scenes require manual or automatic refocusing. The integrated permanent autofocus function makes this task easier. In the case of a change of scene, the camera automatically applies the optimum focus setting quickly and precisely. The completely innovative, very powerful autofocus system is laser-based and works extremely reliably. Even under unfavourable environmental conditions, such as poor lighting conditions, darkness or low thermal contrasts on the measuring object, this function provides exactly focused thermal images.

  • infrared camera VarioCAM HD head of InfraTec
    Further details about the light metal housing

    High-quality Light Metal Housing

    The very robust light metal housing is available with the protection degree IP67 and protects the camera against mechanical and thermal stress. In conjunction with protection degree preserving LEMO® connectors, it is excellently suited for use in harsh industrial environments. For applications under extreme environmental conditions, suitable protective housings are also available, e.g. made from stainless steel, which can optionally be equipped with a cooling and heating system.

  • InfraTec thermography - Geometrical Resolution

    Geometrical Resolution – Efficient Analysis of Complex Assemblies

    InfraTec's infrared cameras with cooled and uncooled detectors have native resolutions up to (1,920 × 1,536) IR pixels. Spatially high-resolution thermograms ensure that components and assemblies are imaged down to the smallest detail and thus defects can be reliably detected and precisely localised.

Infrared Cameras for Inspection of Electrical Installations

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