Best Budget Thermal Imaging Camera for Water Leak Detection

[Ektar]

Hello everyone, I'm a newbie here & I hope I can please get some help. I am a Toxic Mold survivor & in 2016 one of the people that inspected the flat where I got sick had a FLIR thermal imaging camera attached to a pad. He had been showing me issues to look for on the outside of the building & etc, then once inside when using the FLIR he showed me the real time images.

Now I live in an RV & just recently started having a leak, pretty sure it must be from the roof but I couldn't find anything. I have checked what you can see on the inside but cannot locate the problem area. I need to find the leak so I can repair it. It just stopped raining this morning & I have had a heater in that enclosed area (removed a small panel under the fridge) & dehumidifier running 24/7 in front of the opening.

I almost bought FLIR One Gen 3 last night but decided to come here for help since you guys have more knowledge & experience.  I looked at all the specs of that camera & also the Pro LT which has 100mK & the VividIR & the Pro 70mk (but is $400) & I don't know much about the other brands except reading the numbers like the above. I will be using this afterwards to check for future issues & also when buying a new RV. At some point I will have to trade this in, it will be great for anyone but me due to carrying a mold gene that got turned on from the flat issues. I'm trying to stay around $300 or less?
I hope to order something today so I can get it by tomorrow or Thur...

Thank you for any help. I'm desperate because I got re exposed mold when in the hospital, they were renovating & am detoxing once again. This is a very serious problem for me as I'm lucky to still be here after the 1st time.

Cheers
Ektar

[2strokeforever]

I got a cheap Milseey TR256 from their store on aliexpress, seems to be good quality.
Built in lithium battery lasts long and the case is beefy like a name brand cordless drill.

didnt look inside it

[Ektar]

Thank you for your reply. From the photo of the imaging I saw they did not seem very detailed.

I forgot to mention I have Android Note 9, a verizon pad, Surface pro 3 pad & PC laptop, in case that helps.

Also I forgot to ask this question in re FLIR vs others, does the MXS or & VividIR make those cameras show
more detail than others?

I greatly appreciate any help. I tried searching this forum for many hours trying to find info before joining. Maybe I'm in the wrong forum since only one reply?
Again I am very grateful for any help.

Cheers
Ektar

[robca]

I have a Topdon TC001 https://www.topdon.us/products/tc001 and I'm extremely happy with it. Software works well on Android, high resolution (for an IR camera), and fast enough update rate to be usable to find leaks. Can find it for ~$200 on eBay, which I'm not sure if that qualifies as "budget", but considering the specs, it's definitely a great value

[IanB]

I greatly appreciate any help. I tried searching this forum for many hours trying to find info before joining. Maybe I'm in the wrong forum since only one reply?

There is a dedicated thermal imaging board here that you could search through, but the lack of response might be because this is not a common topic of discussion and so people may not have good answers. Double posting is not encouraged, but you could ask a moderator to move this thread to the thermal imaging board and see if it elicits more responses there.

From my perspective, a point of caution is that water tends to run long distances when it leaks, so a cold spot shown by a thermal camera might not be where the actual leak is occurring, though it will give you the general vicinity.

If it is a rain leak, I would say the first and most important action would be to inspect the roof carefully on the outside, and repair any obvious signs of weathering or deterioration. Look for any joints, penetrations or seams where water could possibly get in.

[Ektar]

robca
Thank you for responding. I am glad to hear you like the TC001. I spent hours last night & today trying to search through the TIC thread & didn't get to find a whole lot yet. But am now interested in other opts the TC001 & the InfiRay P2 Pro. It's so difficult trying to find
unbiased reviews on line. So glad I found this place.

IanB
Thank you for responding. Its a fairly new
RV 2019 & built for me & I don't haul it at all
because its my home. I had to live in my truck for
2 1/2 yrs & that saved me & then was able to get the
RV.
Its definitely a rain leak & pretty sure its on the roof.
I didn't see anything when I went up there a week or so
ago, then weather has not allowed another look yet.
I used HVAC tape on top of the outdoor fixtures ie
speakers, lights & vents to rule those out. Checked all
the inside walls...there is a 1"x1" strip on the floor that
 runs from outer wall (as far as I can tell) towards the inside to the edge of the panel I removed & the water I think is coming down & that strip is what becomes wet
& brings to the corner & pools.
So I need to fix asap.
I will see about possibly moving this to the
TIC thread. I kept trying to stuff here before
I joined & wasn't getting anywhere. I joined
made the post & then yesterday I saw the TIC
forum. There was so much more to see after
joining.
Thank you both so much!
Cheers
Ektar

[Ektar]

I need help please to find a mod to see if I can have this thread moved to the TIC forum? Maybe get more help there since very few responses here.

I'm so sorry I'm new & don't know the ropes yet...my time is literally ticking away due to a water leak in RV.
It is an emergency situation that could be fine for everyone but for me it can be losing everything I own again
and living in my truck again which I really do not want to do...sorry I have not slept in days due to a roof leak in RV.
Any help greatly appreciated!!!

Cheers
Ektar

PS I apologize if 'm not doing things right...surviving toxic mold is extremely difficult & your brain does not
function. I beat it once & lucky to be alive & this leak in my RV I have to fix or I will be living in a truck again &
I do NOT want to do it again, not good for an older person.

[IanB]

I need help please to find a mod to see if I can have this thread moved to the TIC forum?

I'm so sorry I'm new & don't knows the ropes yet...my time is literally ticking due to a water leak ER in
that could be fine for everyone but me.

Just click the "Report to moderator" link at the bottom of your post and ask politely if someone could move the thread to the thermal imaging section.

However, as I mentioned, if you have physical evidence of the leak, a thermal camera is not likely to be of any more assistance. Your choices are to look carefully on the outside for clues about where water could get in, or remove interior trim around the leak location until you can trace back to where the water is coming from.

[Ektar]

IanB
Thank you for responding. I did not have a clue what this forum was about, I clicked on it because it came up
while researching thermal cameras. I didn't connect at first when coming here because my focus was on TIC & I am in ER situation & brain damage due to Toxic Mold makes things extremely difficult.

The forum has brought back memories, I'm like what the hell is PCB? Oh yeah Printed Circuit Boards, I used to build them in '85 - 86. My cousin designed PCBs to be able to print bar codes to control printers or something like that, sorry brain is fried atm. When I initially worked for him, straight out of college my job was to see if the Daisy Wheel Pea Printer(it was new at the time) could handle printing his schematics or art work for the boards as appose to sending it out...it was far from it.
I then joined the husband & wife team that built the circuit boards. I learned all the components, parts & etc plus the proper way to solder.
We built I believe 12 computers for NASA.
Left that job & worked for a major lighting company that were maybe the 1st to do controlled lighting for everything, concerts, dance you name it. Sorry brain skipping but they taped all these colored gel screens into a huge long sort of script, I made soldered circuit boards that controlled the the lighting. This was the beginning of controlled lighting in Hollywood. I stayed there until I got me break in the music business. I was a professional drummer & did well.
Now I was hoping to get help here, have spent many hours here trying to research & reading a lot from TIC pages & many greats such as Fraser... I am desperate & was hoping to get help & only 2 people responded.

I needed a TIC ASAP because I have a water leak, trying to survive toxic mold again & I need to find it so I can fix it. I am to get 2"-5" of snow tonight, that bloody sucks!
So I have changed me mind about Flir...seems like for droid phone, tablet & PC maybe should be
InfiRay P2 Pro or Topdon TC001?
I will be using the camera to keep checking issues that may occur now & to check any new RV in the future & any vehicle purchase as well. I have to live this way forever due to a bloody apt manager that knew my flat was sitting on 5" to 7" of water in the crawl space....bloody toxic soup.

I totally appreciate this site, have learned a lot, & now know where to go for any electronics. I sent a mate your blog to a friend that is extremely into racing...had big time NASCAR wanting to buy her builds...
1st one I think was a seat from a suburu ? I could be wrong...but I know for sure she has maybe ALL the tracks
& everything, so the seat & any & everything reacts to the tracks & everything, including wet or dry...
you actually experience it, in the racing chair it responds to each situation, you feel it, hear it & etc...
she created this years ago & keeps improving it.
Any way I cannot keep waiting for responses, I just really hurt myself by waiting because I'm now going to suffer the leak again over the night.

Thank You All for being here & doing what you do!!!

Cheers
Ektar

[Ektar]

Hey I have been looking at the P2 Pro Android on Amazon & I noticed something different...Different P2 Pros although they look the same except One P2 Pro $239 came out 21 Sept 2022 & has bad reviews...Then there is one that came out 23 Sept 2022 $349 but there's a $50 coupon & this one has the Matrix IV & seems to be sharper images. Also in the heading it says P2 Pro (T2 Pro).

I'm a newbie here & this is my first time buying a TIC & I have trying to read much info here. So with the discount & tax it's $314.85.
Wouldn't this one be the better of the 2? I thought I should mention they are not all the same.

Cheers
Ektar

[meshtron]

I also recently got a TOPDON TC004 and am quite happy with it for my purposes (mostly seeing heat generation/migration through PCBs.  Of course I wish the resolution was a bit higher, but it's more than adequate for my uses and works very well at further distances.  Here's a relatively closeup video of my board and heatsink combo for reference, shot on the TC004: https://youtu.be/Xz7AxGVx9Rc

EDIT: for reference, the board in the video is 70x36mm and the heatsink is 28mm square

[Ektar]

Hey Meshtron thank you for sharing that was pretty nice. I enjoying seeing projects & the cameras people are
using. I just ordered my Infiray P2 Pro (T2 Pro) & it will be here Friday.

Cheers
Ektar