APPLICATION NOTE
Get a far-sighted infrared
view with a 4x or 2x telephoto
lens from Fluke
Many technicians already know the value of using an infrared
camera for industrial, commercial, or utilities inspections. An infrared
camera allows you to conduct inspections from a safe distance.
That means you may not have to shut down the operation or suit
up in full personal protective equipment. It saves production time as
well as exposure to hazardous environments. However, for some
applications, you need to capture images of objects that would be
very difficult to get close enough to without entering a danger zone,
climbing a ladder or maybe even using a lift or a helicopter. For
these applications, the new Fluke 4x and 2x telephoto infrared lenses
magnify your view so you can see a lot more detail from the ground
or from a safe distance.
These high-quality telephoto
lenses go far beyond simply
bringing the image closer. They
can help you capture enhanced
details while increasing your
spatial resolution to help you
see and possibly even measure
an anomaly that you might not
have been able to see with the
standard lens. This can help
you assess the possible issue
while still on site.
These capabilities make Fluke
telephoto lenses a great choice
for a wide range of applications
including power generation,
power transmission, and power
distribution; chemical and oil
Figure 1. This shot of the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington
(height 184 m [605 feet]) was captured from the ground with a
Fluke TiX560 infrared camera and a standard lens.
and gas manufacturing; metals
refinement; building inspection
or any large industrial or commercial operation.
Capture the level of
detail and data you need
Fluke standard infrared lenses
offer the spatial resolution and
field of view required for many
short- to medium-distance scans
where you need to find hot and
cold spots but don’t require an
extreme level of detail.
Top SIX
Applications for Fluke
telephoto lenses
1. Overhead transmission
lines
2. Power substations
3. Tall stacks in
petrochemical plants
4. Maintenance, electrical,
and process inspections
5. Metals refining
6. Building inspection
Fluke telephoto lenses provide
the infrared detail and thermal
data you need for applications where you can’t get close
enough to see the detail you
need. Perhaps the hazardous
nature of the target requires that
you stay a distance away, or the
target is too high or difficult to
access. You can use telephoto
lenses to scan switches, connectors, transformers, lightning
arrestors, etc. in substations as
well as check overhead high
voltage power lines. Or scan
vents, wiring, duct work or ceilings several stories high without
having to climb a ladder or
power up a lift.
You can choose from two magnification strengths based on
your distance to spot (D:S) and
the level of detail you require.
The following images show the
differences between a standard
lens and 2x and 4x telephoto
lenses to help you select the
right one for your applications.
Figure 2: This image was captured from the same location with a TiX560 infrared camera
and a Fluke 2x telephoto infrared lens.
Figure 3: This third image was captured with a TiX560 infrared camera from the same
location, with a Fluke 4x telephoto infrared lens.
2x telephoto lens
Fluke 2x telephoto lenses are a good choice for
small to medium sized targets when you cannot
get quite close enough to see the needed detail
with a standard lens. For example, if your infrared camera with a standard lens has a D:S ratio of
764:1, then you could stand 764 cm (7.6 meters,
25.1 feet) from an object and see a spot size of
1cm (.4 inches). With the same camera and a 2x
telephoto lens your D:S will approximately double,
giving you ~1530:1 (15.3 m (43.6 ft) from a 1 cm
(.4 in) spot). This would give you the ability to see
the same spot size from nearly twice the distance
or approximately 0.5 cm2 (.2 in2) area from the
same distance. As you can see in Figure 2, the
2x lens provides quite a bit more detail than the
standard lens. That means it can reduce your
need to enter the hazard zone in your plant or
to climb a tall ladder to capture critical troubleshooting or maintenance data. This makes it very
useful for inspecting electrical, electromechanical,
and process equipment. It is also a good choice
for scanning overhead vents, duct work, or wiring
or possibly for scanning below grade to see
details in a vault or a small sump.
4x telephoto
The Fluke 4x telephoto lens is excellent for
capturing thermal profiles of small targets from
a much greater distance. For example, if the
D:S of your infrared camera is 764:1 with the
standard lens, it would be approximately 4x
that—~3056:1—with a 4x telephoto lens (30.6 m
(100.3 ft) from a 1 cm (.4 in) spot). So if you stand
7.6 meters from the object you would detect a
spot size approximately 0.25 cm2 (.1 in2). A Fluke
4x telephoto lens is an excellent choice for many
applications including:
• Overhead transmission lines
• Power substations
• Tall stacks in petrochemical plants
• Metals refinement
• Other hard to reach, energized or unsafe areas
With a 4x telephoto lens, you can see critical
detail from a distance that would not be easily
viewable any other way, so you can identify
potential issues on a transmission line splice or
failing refractory that could create product quality
issues, an unsafe working environment, and/or
lost revenue.
2 Fluke Corporation Get a far-sighted infrared v iew with a 4x or 2x telephoto lens from F luke
Bring long distance details into clear focus
Adding a Fluke 2x or 4x telephoto lens to an infrared camera can multiply the advantages of that
camera. Telephoto lenses help you capture much more detail than a standard lens from a greater
distance so you can perform deeper diagnostic analysis. The following examples illustrate just a few of
the applications where telephoto lenses come in handy.
Figure 4. An exterior scan of exterior
equipment at a substation with a Ti X560
infrared camera and a standard lens
captured an anomaly on one of the phase
switches.
Figure 5. Scann ing the same area with a
Fluke 2x telephoto lens shows a definite
hot spot on the switch.
Proactive maintenance for substations
and switchyards
Substations and switchyards have many complex
electrical systems and equipment that handle
very high voltage and current. To help ensure
safe and consistent performance, more and
more utilities are using infrared cameras to run
proactive maintenance inspections on equipment
ranging from oil-filled transformers to lightning
arrestors, to high voltage transmission lines
coming in and out of the substation. Infrared
cameras can help to quickly find over– or underperforming components that might indicate a
problem.
Finding problems at an early stage can save
hundreds of thousands of dollars in replacement
costs, overtime, and the associated downtime.
Finding just one issue can usually justify the cost
of an infrared camera and the training to help
understand how to read thermograms.
We recently saw an example of this when we
scanned a substation with a Fluke TiX560 camera
and a standard lens, a 2x lens, and a 4x lens.
After scanning much of the substation’s equipment with a standard lens, we found an anomaly
in one section (Figure 4) where one of the three
phases appeared to be at a more elevated temperature than the others.
Because that image wasn’t definitive with a standard lens, we replaced the standard lens with
the Fluke 2x telephoto infrared lens and scanned
the same area (Figure 5) from the same distance.
This provided much more detail, and you can see
in the highlighted area that one of the switches
looks warmer than the other two.
Figure 6. This third image of the substation
transmission l ine, captured with a Fluke
4x telephoto lens clearly shows a hot spot
or high resistance on a knife switch.
Next we swapped out the 2x telephoto lens for
the Fluke 4x telephoto lens (Figure 6), which
clearly shows abnormal heating in a knife switch.
Because there appears to be high resistance a
short distance from the switch, that overheating
could lead to a failure. Finding this situation in a
routine inspection could save the utility and its
customers a major power outage.
Maintaining the integrity of high voltage
transmission lines
All kinds of things can affect the performance
of a high voltage transmission line. Loose connections, corrosion, or weakened or failing cable
splices can increase resistance, causing areas
that can compromise the integrity of the transmission system. Power lines run through all kinds
of terrain and have to stand up through high
winds, ice storms, and intense heat. Any weakness in the system can be amplified by those
conditions causing a significant power outage.
To minimize that risk, utility companies regularly
inspect their transmission equipment. In the
past, this often required hiring a helicopter or
climbing into a lift to get close enough to capture
necessary details on transmission towers. This
was time consuming, expensive, and potentially
dangerous.
Adding a Fluke 2x or 4x telephoto lens to a
Fluke infrared camera, like the TiX560, can help
overcome those challenges. With these telephoto
infrared lenses, a worker can inspect towers and
transmission lines from much greater distances.
3 Fluke Corporation Get a far-sighted infrared v iew with a 4x or 2x telephoto lens from F luke
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