New Infrared Camera For Boat Repairs

I purchased this camera in October last year. Well let me say that this is one of the best tools that I ever bought. The first three pictures show this cameras capability. The photos are of a Sea Ray Boat. The area is the shaft log. This area is where the shaft comes out of the hull and then goes through the strut support. Water was leaking inside the boat. When the outside was checked you didn't see much, just old bottom paint on the hull. So I got my camera and took images of the area, and this is what it showed. The dark areas show where the moisture is in the fiberglass, also fine stress cracks. You could not see these with your eyes.



		These show what the area looks like after I removed the Gel-Coat from the bottom of the hull. You can see how the factory fiberglassed that area in. It looks like they cut a square section out clean, then fiberglass the inside area, then they lumped on the fiberglass on the outside. See all the voids? See the cracks? See the areas that are discolored? Water started to penetrate these areas. Eventually this area will get weaker if left alone.

		These pictures show a Strut support on another boat job. The dark areas are where water & the fiberglass are delaminated.

	This photo shows what I found when I removed the fiberglass support plate. I feel its Very important if your buying a used boat to check out these areas with an infrared camera. With a fresh coat of bottom paint on the hull you'll never find it. The camera will. Also to repair these areas is very expensive. Most of the time the motors will have to be removed.

		These pictues show my setup. I'm able to download the photos to my laptop, process them and then print them out for you if you need copies. This is all portable. I can do this on the road.

If you would like to see what this camera is capable of, click this link. Marine Surveying Article