Use of a Thermal Camera for PCBA thermal profiling and repair

[Fraser]

Latest video from Alex at NorthridgeFIX. This time he finds a failed MOSFET in a iMAC ‘all-in-one’ computer in quick time using his thermal camera. Can any laptop/pc repair shop afford  to not have such technology on their test bench these days ? The technology has never been more affordable and the likes of the Uni-T UTi260B and Infiray C210 are adequate for the task so no need to buy a FLIR E60 unless you really want to 

https://youtu.be/pUnRB1fk4nI

Professional users may wish to consider buying a dedicated thermal imaging system like the Dianyang CA10 as that is configured for hands free use with the image appearing on your computer for ease of interpretation.


Correction : It was Alex’s Uncle “Big Boss” who identified the area of concern with the thermal camera. Big Boss dismantles the computers and reassembles them for Alex. He also does other repair work that does not justify Alex’s time. In terms of first line triage Big Boss helped Alex to identify the failed component using the thermal camera as the PCB needs to be mounted in the bulky iMac chassis for power-on testing.

[Fraser]

Alex at NorthridgeFIX has just provided his review of the Uni-Trend UTi260B that he is now stocking in his shop. Alex is a great believer in the use of thermal imaging to aid fault finding on modern electronics. He uses a FLIR E60 camera but has clearly looked into a more affordable model to offer to his YouTube following.

https://youtu.be/pbYWw5XwT5Y

Fraser

[Johnny10]

Fraser did you review this camera?

[Fraser]

Sadly no. I do not have a UTi260B so have no personal experience of it. There is discussion of the camera by others on this forum though  If I had the spare cash I would purchase and review the UTi260B cameras performance, but alas such is not possible at the moment.

Fraser

[Fraser]

Another nice repair video from Alex at NorthridgeFIX. He uses the FLIR E60 to prove a suspected faulty MLC and shows how even the E60 would benefit from a close-up lens for PCB work. In its place he tries the X2 eZoom mode and it works well enough for his needs.

The Exx series focus to around 30cm so a decent close-up lens bringing that down to around 10cm is of great benefit. Why Alex has not pursued this I do not know. I even tried to make a comment pointing to the required information on this forum but the comment was deleted

https://youtu.be/PqV6cyVu-xw

Fraser

[thermalengineer]

hi Fraser, have you ever reviewed infiray m600. I wonder if it's suitable for PCB inspection.

[Fraser]

The T2S is just an Infiray S0 imaging core. It is a decent core but to call it the “King” of anything is stretching things a bit

I use PCB thermal analysis equipment that contains the S0 core and it is adequate for the task but not outstanding in its performance.

Fraser

[Fraser]

Regarding the M600, I have not tested it.

I can state that it will use one of the new Infiray “in-house” ASIC based core designs, such as use in the Mini 640T or Micro 640T. The Mini 640T looks a good match to the specs but the temperature range 2 differs in maximum temperature. The M600 will likely use the Microbolometer and ASIC in in a format specific to the M600 application. In other words, Infiray may not just bolt a complete Mini or Micro 640 core into the camera shell.

I have no doubt that these VGA cores will perform similarly to the S0 core in terms of the technology used. That is to say, the core will produce good, if not outstanding, imagery but will suffer from Infiray’s less than ideal approach to image processing. The images are likely to suffer from somewhat heavy handed video processing to make them look ‘pretty’. That said, the images are still very good for the asking price of the cores and cameras.

Two points to note….

1. I do not see a minimum focus specification for the M600. This can be important for PCB work? The “distance” specification relates to parallax correction for the visible light camera.

2. The thermal imaging core provides an image of 640 x 512 pixels. Those pixels  are expensive but 20480 of them are not seen as the M600 uses a 640 x 480 pixel LCD panel. The full pixel count may be available in the saved images of course.

It would be worth asking Infiray what the minimum focus distance is for the M600 as you might still need a close-up lens on the front of the camera. There is no harm in asking an Infiray dealer to take some test images of PCB’s for you to assess. Whether they will be willing to provide such is another matter though !

Fraser