See through walls?

[Ted Menelly]

I new it would finally be said directly and not just from a user. I guess no one owning one can say different now. Some one is about to get in trouble.

Fluke TiS Home

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[Nick Ostrowski]

"TiS is our new entry-level thermal imager that gives you an affordable way to spot energy leaks and poor insulation, find hidden construction flaws and HVAC issues, detect moisture, document your work and more."

So now all construction flaws are of a different temperature and will show up on one of these cameras?

"And with its simple design and affordable price, TiS will have you up and running-and recouping your investment-in no time."

Yeah. First you need buyers who are willing to pay for extra services. That isn't the case around here.

[Eric Barker]

With the right advertising you can get people to believe almost anything.

[Kevin Luce]

I can be wrong but I don't see this company getting sued from anyone buying this camera. The worst thing this company would have to do is give the money back (get the camera back at the same time).

[Eric Barker]

I can be wrong but I don't see this company getting sued from anyone buying this camera. The worst thing this company would have to do is give the money back (get the camera back at the same time).

You may be right. But a camera manufacturer who says that their equipment can find hidden construction flaws is likely to raise some expectations which may not be very reasonable. Having some client (or their attorney) read that kind of stuff can't be beneficial.

[Ted Menelly]

I can be wrong but I don't see this company getting sued from anyone buying this camera. The worst thing this company would have to do is give the money back (get the camera back at the same time).

I was not really talking about the company getting in trouble. I was talking more of a buyer of the camera with glassed over eyes or more likely a newbie with a camera spouting the exact same words. " I can see thru walls" Or even anything like that. I guess it would all feed back to the company.

[Nick Ostrowski]

This is where "truth in advertising" is pertinent. Allow me to give you a very recent example.

In May of this year, Scent-Lok, which is a company that manufactures hunting clothing, was found to be guilty of false advertising. They advertised their clothing to eliminate human odors which is known to set odor sensitive deer on a run for the next county. They've made millions upon millions over the years selling hunters on this alleged scent elimination capability. Not only was Scent-Lok found to be guilty of false advertising as their clothes do not eliminate human odors, they were also found to have greatly overstated the way their carbon lined clothing can be "recharged".

Now I don't think Fluke has gone that far in the way they've positioned their IR cams but they are setting an unreasonable expectation that could cause problems for them if IR cameras become an industry standard.

[John Kogel]

The ad doesn't say specifically that the user of a Fluke IR camera can see thru walls. It says "now there is an easier way to see thru walls". Then it goes on to describe some possibilities with the IR camera. The company is pretty safe there, IMO. The point made by Ted, be careful what YOU say, things that can bite the little guy with no legal backup.

Nice to see the price down from $5G to $2.5. I hope they wear better than my $89 Nikon camera. Dropped it hard on concrete last week, had to spring for a new one.

[Roger Hankey]

I spoke to a Fluke representative about this ad on Friday. This is a low end camera with minimal resolution and without the built in visible light camera. (No fusion - superimposed IR over the visible light image in the display) Fluke does NOT recommend this camera for HI's. The representative said he would be checking with management about the ad. He agreed that it was not well written. I am expecting an email back from him with the results of his conversations with management. I'll post here when it comes in.

[John Callan]

You said that the sale's representative stated that Fluke does NOT recommend this camera for HI's. He should be checking with management because if you check there website they definitely recommend it for home inspections and not just the ad mentioned at the beginning of this thread.
Infrared Inspection Camera, Thermal Imaging Scanner (TiS) for Building Inspections – Fluke
I also recently have seen a high end infrared camera and lower resolution camera in operation on a home inspection and while the high end is a much better camera the bottom line is that they both found the exact same issues on the house they inspected.

John Callan

[Ted Menelly]

You said that the sale's representative stated that Fluke does NOT recommend this camera for HI's. He should be checking with management because if you check there website they definitely recommend it for home inspections and not just the ad mentioned at the beginning of this thread.
Infrared Inspection Camera, Thermal Imaging Scanner (TiS) for Building Inspections – Fluke
I also recently have seen a high end infrared camera and lower resolution camera in operation on a home inspection and while the high end is a much better camera the bottom line is that they both found the exact same issues on the house they inspected.

John Callan

What you see after clinking the link I posted was the exact picture for the direct marketing thru my website email. I would say you cannot get anymore direct about selling that item to home inspectors.

[Richard Soundy]

Ted,

Ted,

The link you posted say's it all!

[1] The price ~<$2K is now getting closer to an affordable tool for assisting us as building inspectors - no doubt on this statement.

[2] The legal risk has not diminished - their overview states "find moisture intrusion" - the IR camera cannot do this and it is still purely a call from the operator as to how he translates results. Per the specifications the design uses 7.5 μm to 14 μm wavelength - why this specific wavelength? Because it's main attraction is to "see through'" the atmosphere which could effect accuracy in a big way - atmosphere consist of H2O, CO2, CO and Oxygen (the biggest error would arise from H20). The unit is designed not to "see" moisture!

All the best - Richard