Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown

[georges80]

Apparantly we have at work a hackerspace with 3D printer and the likes so I took the opportunity and printed the lens.stl focus tool posted here (thanks!). It works as advertised and I could focus for a distance of 2-3 inches. More than enough to inspect PCBs.

...

A close up of the tip. When tried to upload the stl file to an online 3D service I got an error message. As you can see there are gaps and irregularities in the printed part. Am not sure why. Might be a discontinuity in the 3D model.

Attached is a screen capture of the STL file. Looks good to me

3D printers can have 'issues' working reliably and consistently so I would imagine if you print another tool it will look a little different...

cheers,
george.

[mvh]

Uploaded the lens adjustment tool .stl to shapeways and their website didn't seem to have any problems with the model. Will see the final product sometime later, as it is on its way to me via dhl. If it turns out fine, then the next 3d print that I'll be ordering is the ZnSe-lens holder...

[Clint]

US buyers: which free gift did you pick?  I was thinking of the borescope, but the reviews aren't so great.

I had to have a FLIR bag so went with that option

[TopLoser]

[I had to have a FLIR bag so went with that option

Three letters here 'O' 'C' 'D' 

[Anders Olsson]

I revived my E4 yesterday. It was ordered from proffsmagasinet.se and then it was in stock. Now it says 1-3 days, so apparently they are out of it now.
It has serial 63903XXX, calibrated in Estonia 30 September and the hack worked perfectly! 

......................................
EDIT, more detailed camera specs:
Model: E4 1.0
Serial number: 639035xx
Software: 1.18.7
Calibration date: 30 September
.......................................

Anyway, I visited a job fair 7:th of November here in Sweden and FLIR was there.
I tried out the E8 (before I decided to order the E4) and for some reason I could not resist mentioning that someone hacked the E4
The lady from FLIR looked a bit uncomfortable, maybe I was not the first one to mention it since the place was packed with students and scientists.
According to her FLIR are well aware of the hack and their programmers are working hard to block it.

I don't know if one can trust this information, but I would not be too surprised if "unhackable" E4:s start showing up soon.
Luckily my "E8" is safe with me at home and I will not let FLIR near it again

[sipo75]

Anyway, I visited a job fair 7:th of November here in Sweden and FLIR was there.
I tried out the E8 (before I decided to order the E4) and for some reason I could not resist mentioning that someone hacked the E4
The lady from FLIR looked a bit uncomfortable, maybe I was not the first one to mention it since the place was packed with students and scientists.
According to her FLIR are well aware of the hack and their programmers are working hard to block it.

I don't know if one can trust this information, but I would not be too surprised if "unhackable" E4:s start showing up soon.
Luckily my "E8" is safe with me at home and I will not let FLIR near it again

Just have to quote this before it gets deleted. So you rubbed it in their (FLIR) faces for what reason exactly? To embarrass them? And then you show some healthy egoism posting that you have secured yours.

I don't mind the egoism but boasting about it like you did someone a favor I do.

Enjoy your new gadget and show us some interesting thermal images instead. For the sake of the people who have not yet received their E4 and have to read this ego and/or paranoia posts.
Like me.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[mikeselectricstuff]

Goading company reps at trade shows can sometimes be an entertaining sport, although I usually reserve it for companies who have previously pissed me off, or whose sales people are so full of it they need taking down a peg or two...

I must admit I wouldn't be above a little sport in asking a Flir dealer "Well why would I buy an E8 when I can 'upgrade' an E4 and get more features than an E8... ?"
It can be very interesting watching people's reaction (both stand staff and onlookers) to awkward questions...

I know, I should get out more....
 
 

[Doug]

Here is a before / after photo of the microscope in our lab with a hot soldering iron laying on the bench under the microscope.  I tried to get about the same distance and perspective in the two shots.  I turned off the microscope lamp between photos and I wasn't careful about waiting the same length of time after switching it on before snapping the pics.  That might account for the difference in min / max temperatures in the frame. 

All I can say about the improvement is, Wow! Thank you Mike and other contributors.  You are awesome and this E4/E8 is awesome now too.  Super respect for your talents and for taking the time and expending the effort to share.

I'll fiddle with the focal distance next.  Again, I'll be benefiting big time from the posts of others showing the lens tool and lens holder.

[mrflibble]

It can be very interesting watching people's reaction (both stand staff and onlookers) to awkward questions...

That is indeed the main bit of interest for me as well. As long as you don't do it in a confronting manner you can sometimes get some fun inside information. Of course if the company and/or sales people pisses you off you can be a bit more confrontational. Generally I'm medium nice, since those at trade shows are also just doing their jobs and are hopefully trying to provide you with useful information about product XYZ.

I know, I should get out more....

What is this "get out more" concept of which you speak?

PS: speaking of needing to getting out more often ... porting MD160 to python is such fun! @_@ little-endian diediediiiieeeeeeee!!!!!

[Anders Olsson]

Just have to quote this before it gets deleted. So you rubbed it in their (FLIR) faces for what reason exactly?

I was too curious whether their reply would be something like "yes, the production is on hold now" or "we are aware of that" or "what hack?"
It told me the likelihood that I could still hack the E4 if I bought one. I might have been a bit evil, but I had to.. 
We discussed the E8 for quite some time and I gave them a lot of complements about the upgrades compared to the i-series, so the hack was not the main topic so to say.

[EEVblog]

I'm about to get my E8
Are these lens adjuster and lens adapter 3D models going to be uploaded onto Thingiverse or similar? (can upload on my account if I get permission from the creators)
Also, do you simply screw the lens back all the way in to it's tight and that's the "factory" position, or does it seem to have a factory tweaked position one should mark off before adjusting?

[iceisfun]

Just ordered my E4 from tequipment verified FW version, I think they have a few in stock

[edavid]

Just ordered my E4 from tequipment verified FW version, I think they have a few in stock

Hmm, I bought mine from them, but it shipped from Ingram Micro, so they would have had no way to check the firmware version (which was 1.18.7).

[olsenn]

Dave, I thought you had an E60? Why do you need an E8?

[ron]

I'm about to get my E8
Are these lens adjuster and lens adapter 3D models going to be uploaded onto Thingiverse or similar? (can upload on my account if I get permission from the creators)
Also, do you simply screw the lens back all the way in to it's tight and that's the "factory" position, or does it seem to have a factory tweaked position one should mark off before adjusting?

You need to mark original lens position.  Looking forward to your review.

[Bandrik]

Hello world! First post here. I wanted to thank Mike and everyone else here for both the hack and the discussion about it.

I also wanted to share that I ordered an E4 last week and it came in today (November 19). Here's the info:

Model: E4 1.0
Serial: 63902xxx
Part #: 63901-0101
Software: 1.18.7 
Calibration: Estonia
Date: Sept 20, 2013
My location: USA


For USA dwellers that are interested, I ordered it on Amazon.com here from the seller "Test Equipment Depot" for $995, free shipping. It's now out of stock from that seller.

There are a few other options at Amazon.com, one of which is this one. It's sold by seller "Sale Store" (4.9/5.0 star seller) for $995, free shipping, and 7 in stock ready to ship as of this writing.

Another tidbit: I found this listing on eBay and inquired to what firmware it is. The seller replied with the following today (November 19):

Thank you for your inquiry.
Below please see the manufacturer's response to your questions:

"The FLIR Tools would be the latest as they have to download it (4.0xx). The firmware for the camera is 1.18.7 which can also be upgraded by the customer if a new version is released."

Please be advised that the camera will be available for shipping mid December due to delays in production.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Regards,
Den

So, Flir officially stated that E4's shipped mid-December should carry firmware 1.18.7. Interpret that however you wish, but it seems that anyone buying their E4 in the next week or two will most likely get one that's still hackable (1.19.x or lower). Hopefully this will help anyone still vying to get an E4.

[iceisfun]

Just ordered my E4 from tequipment verified FW version, I think they have a few in stock

Hmm, I bought mine from them, but it shipped from Ingram Micro, so they would have had no way to check the firmware version (which was 1.18.7).

Did you get the eevblog discount? I thought there should be a place for it during checkout but there was none.

I emailed them about it.

[olsenn]

Anybody know what differences there are from firmware 1.18.x to 1.19.y?

[mrflibble]

Anybody know what differences there are from firmware 1.18.x to 1.19.y?

Not until someone dumps a zip with some 1.19.y files. The only publicly available info is 1.18.7 firmware from flir:
http://cdn.cloud.flir.se/swdownload/assets/cameradownload/flir_ex_pn639_v1.18.7_update_pack.zip

Ideally we'd have the downloaded files from a few firmware versions so we can run some diffs. (Obviously AFTER removing the files specific to your camera).

[georges80]

I'm about to get my E8
Are these lens adjuster and lens adapter 3D models going to be uploaded onto Thingiverse or similar? (can upload on my account if I get permission from the creators)
Also, do you simply screw the lens back all the way in to it's tight and that's the "factory" position, or does it seem to have a factory tweaked position one should mark off before adjusting?

Feel free to upload my 3D models of the lens adjuster and the ZnSe lens adapter to wherever you think it'll do most good. It's the least I could do to give back for the amazing E4->E8 morph hack.

I'm working on a holder/adapter to hold the E4 nicely (parallel to the work surface in my case for PCB imaging). I did a first trial print today but have some tweaks to make it hold the barrel better. The shape of the barrel is a little 'interesting', so guesstimating the shape is taking some iterations. My plan is for a small hole where I can 'melt/screw' in a 1/4-20 nut that will mate with a short tripod.

Anyhow, will likely take a few days to get it to the point I'm happy. I'll post a picture up of mark I later tonight (US west coast time).

cheers,
george.

[olsenn]

Is there a .fif file to add that beta2 menu hack in a similar way to the E4-->E8 hack and dead-pixel shower/hider?

[EEVblog]

Feel free to upload my 3D models of the lens adjuster and the ZnSe lens adapter to wherever you think it'll do most good.

Thanks, done:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:187162
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:187166
I had to chose a license so chose creative commons public domain?

[ixfd64]

The FLIR representative at the job fair was probably just a recruiter. Chances are that she doesn't know much about the hack and had only heard about it in passing.

[max-bit]

If Flir disable a hack, flir the more harm
get mass returns, and it will be them.
I would have waited for the market place for 2 -3 months, is saturated, and then can block the hack
Cam E8 and so few people will buy, and as I wrote E4 sells like no other before

[BravoV]

Imo, the potential problem is if majority of FLIR big distributors are fully aware of this hack while still have mountain high of stackpiled of unsold non E4 models, they will be shouting at FLIR to fix it asap "every day" if necessary.

Imagine you're the FLIR distributor relationship officer/manager that is facing those angry mobs everyday.