FLIR E4 - The useful information thread

[lwi004]

Hi Fraser,

at present it's about seeing what might reasonably be achievable and deciding if it's a route worth taking. Thereafter, yes we could do "proper" testing thereafter! Sadly my E4 was a version 2 something firmware and I couldn't extend the temperature with the hidden setting...


Do you know if there are any "tapes" one can use instead of paint? For lower temperature I use this one but it's only rated to 250C
https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/thermometer-accessories/1252269/

Thanks again

[Fraser]

Ouch! That tape is expensive.

In the industry normal PVC electrical tape is used as that has good Emissivity. Sadly the temperatures you are looking to create will fry most common tapes that I would use. There are high temperature Mylar and Kapton tapes but you would need to test their Emissivity using a simple boiling water test. Set your cameras Emissivity to 0.96. Place the tape on a baked bean (or similar) tin of boiling water, measure the waters temperature using a thermocouple, or you could just view the water with the camera (water Emissivity is good), then view the tape on the outside of the tin with an Emissivity setting of 0.96. If the readings are reasonably close, it is a decent Emissivity tape and you can test it further to determine its actual Emissivity in order to enter its value into the camera.

More on that from me if needed.

Fraser

[Fraser]

If you are located not too far away in the UK I may be able to bring some of my thermal cameras and ResearchIR 4 Max along for a test at some point in your development. I am thinking of the fast frame rate FLIR E60 and A40 cameras. I also own fire fighting cameras that are capable of measuring very high temperatures at 30fps.

Fraser
South Midlands
UK.

[lwi004]

yes it was a silly price. I hadn't considered the Kapton tape and I have enough of that. Anyway I reckon that reel, should last me a few years anyway!! Sadly Mylar and Kapton Tape isn't rated much above 250-300C.

Used typical electrical tape to begin with but as temp went higher and the glue became a mess, decided to invest in something else!

Currently working in Switzerland though!!! Thanks for the offer.

[Fraser]

No problem..... I would not mind a trip to Switzerland 

All the best

Fraser

[Fraser]

Some more ideas for Emissivity enhancers are to be found here......

http://www.flir.com/science/blog/details/?ID=71556


I still think a coating on the PCB is possibly the most effective treatment. You could experiment with simple children's powder paint or even coat the board with candle soot ! The coatings need not be permanent. FLIR even mention Scholl foot powder as a possibility ! Once tested, the coating may be rinsed off using water or a safe solvent.

I know you have concerns regarding dielectric strength so obviously that needs to be considered.

Fraser

[lwi004]

Again thanks for the links. For test purposes dielectric strength isn't particularly critical. Just paints etc to always clean up etc is a pain. I'll look into the powders etc. Or at least just put a splodge of paint on, but wonder if that might cause a hotspot...

Oh well, will carry on testing etc.

All the best

[Fraser]

Regarding a 'hot spot', no this should not occur with a coating of paint as the emissivity is being increased leading to a greater efficiency in thermal radiation. Hence why shiny plain aluminium heat sinks offer inferior performance to those coated with a high emissivity finish. Forced air cooling can lead to hot spots in areas not in the cooling air stream however.

Fraser

[lwi004]

Thank you again. You're right. I had never thought it properly through!!

[theBigK]

So if I want dual use for this flir, one for automotive diagnostic and one for electronic PCB repair, can I have the 3D printed lens adapter + the laser lense, is it difficult to swap a few times a day. Or should I avoid doing that

[Fraser]

The various lens holders for the E4 are easy to fit and remove.

The alternative is to have a lens focus tool printed and adjust the focus as needed. This works well but some users dislike the idea of adjusting the focus point set at the factory. In truth that is just a rough set focus optimized at 4 metres and relying upon depth of field for adequate focus at other distances. For Automotive use the standard focus setting may be adequate or you may wish to bring the focus down to your normal operating distance when working in the engine bay etc. It would be worth having the close up lens and the focus tool as neither cost very much. The E4 lens can be adjusted to focus very close for PCB inspection work. The ETS320 detailed elsewhere on this forum is just an E series camera chassis and lens in a different outer casing. It is used for PCB inspection as a dedicated tool. Focus is factory set at 70mm with +-10mm depth of field in that unit.

There is a very nice lens holder and focus tool detailed in this threads recent postings ......

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/flir-e4-wifi-resolution-and-menu-hack-thread/425/


Direct links to 3D files:

Holder:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2108075


Focus tool:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:188896


Fraser

[Fraser]

I am just raising this thread from the dead in case it is useful to newcomers to the forum 

Fraser

[calel]

k so I take it this the right thread

so as I was saying, anyone know if the hack in this link: https://web.archive.org/web/20190409142550/https://fubar.gr/hacking-the-flir-e4/ (which only works on 2.3.0 if I'm not mistaken) also disables the cam's noise generator?

[EthanSpitz]

Continuing on the useful stuff, I wanted to share that I modified one of the FLIR E4 lens holders to add tabs to assist in removing.

It's based on this from thingiverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:683107

I converted it to a solid and added on the tabs, here is the solid file which can be exported as an STL

https://cad.onshape.com/documents/48808614b9599f5c34653a5c/w/415ebb503c4f5b42dd3a97fe/e/92a6f1940ab5b5c777ae7b4b

[Bud]

Thanks, i actually have one of the original design, using it fairly often.

[GSJ]

External Charger disassembly & detail


I have disassembled my FLIR E4 external charger to establish the quality of the design.

The rubber coated case is held together with a single screw under the ID label at the bottom of the charger. The base is a combination of metal and rubber. Construction is good and looks like it will last. The soldering is not the best I have seen and the excess flux has not been removed from the manually soldered micro USB connector. The unit is made in Malaysia.

I can advise that it is a standard 3 contact (NTC) Li-Ion charger design as will be seen below:

The main components contained within the charger are as follows (along with the common ID where known)

1. 1L4001  =  Linear LTC4001 Battery management IC. 2A charger with Timer & NTC sense input.
2. MNAB ZC5 = T.I. LMC555 - Yes the venerable 555 (CMOS version).
3. UL46 = USBLC6-4 TVS diode array for USB2.
4. PZ = Not known but possibly BZB84-B33 Zener diodes
5. G3A = Diode

The data sheet for the charge manager (LTC4001) is attached. This details all that is needed to build your own charger, or to understand the FLIR design. The battery contains only an NTC thermistor of value 10K Ohms. No other 'management' is contained in the battery pack. It will have a protection circuit for the cell though.

The input connector for power is the same awful micro USB type as on the Ex, but at least it does not need to be unplugged often. A micro USB car charger may be used to produce a car charging pod for those on the move. The LTC4001 is tolerant of current limited power supplies.

For those wondering, the 555 timer just provides the low frequency drive to make the blue LEDs flash during charging.

Note the charging contacts. They look like they belong on a Canon Li-Ion battery charger. It may be possible to convert such a charger with relative ease but it may need its protection timer adjusted to take account of the Ex battery capacity.

The metal moulding in the bottom of the charger is a heat dissipator plate that is sinking heat from the LTC4001 via the PCB ground-plane. Not the most efficient design but it does not get very warm so appears adequate.

The component on my T127715-E PCB is burned. I need some help to find proper replacement.
I assume that the answer is in quoted post, but I'm not sure. Is it maybe Zener diode?
The picture shows burned component near timer for LEDs.

[Fraser]

The attached are the datasheets for all the components that I identified when I looked at the charger design. I may have a schematic somewhere but I did not find it with the datasheets in my archive.

The components that are fried on your charger were marked "G3A" on my unit. That is quite a common marking and i di not think I identfied a specific datasheet for that part. If theer is another component with teh same marking on your PCB that is nor damaged, you can identify what it is by test. There is an identical component leading to the 555 timer on my PCB. Alternatively your can reverse engineer the circuit around the 555 timer IC. If in the output circuit they will be either diodes or transistors. The role will not be demanding so generic replacement parts will be useable. You need to consider why the original component(s) burned up though.

Fraser

[Fraser]

I am often being asked about the FLIR E4 and upgrades etc.

I am dusting off this old thread in case it is of use to anyone. It is from a long time ago when I was more involved in ‘all things E4 related’ but much of the content remains valid today. I discontinued adding to this thread as my focus moved onto other cameras etc.

I sold both my E4 cameras a while back as my E40(E60+) replaced them in my lab.

Fraser

[charlyd]

hello i am looking for the switch or switchpanel. from the Flir E4 63901
in detail my "BACK" SWITCH IS BROKEN.

how can help me ?

[Marekx89]

Hello, i have focus adjustment tool, but when i try focus, i dont see changes. What i do wrong ?

[Fraser]

Make sure the tool is engaged in the lens properly. Some 3D printed tools are a tight fit whilst others will not fit properly due to a poor print.

Be assured, if you are actually rotating the lens barrel, you WILL see a significant change in focus for very little movement as the focus travel on these cameras is very short.

Fraser

[Marekx89]

I create mark on lens, i see change when i focus, but not change on display. At focus, work it only on non MSX mode ? Because lens adjuster block digital camera

[Fraser]

YES, the focus adjustment is only changing the focus of the thermal imaging camera and does not change the visible light camera focus that creates the MSX edge enhancement data.

Use the focus tool when working in "thermal only" non MSX mode to see its effect. Trying to do close up work with MSX switched on can be challenging due to the parallax error that occurs at close range.

Fraser

[Marekx89]

Ok, i see change, my lens has been very unscrew.