The 'doctor' is in and seeing new patients :)

[Fraser]

Those who follow my posts know that I have had some health issues and they have limited my ability to take on repair work on thermal cameras.

Well I have decided it is time to blow the dust off of the soldering irons and microscopes and start repairing kit again. So if you are in the UK and have a sick thermal camera, I may be able to help you.

Why the change of heart.... well I just repaired a sick FLIR PM695 and it has rekindled my desire to carry out repairs. It was a pig of a fault, but with patience it was traced to source.

Drop me a PM and I will see what I can offer in terms of repair support.

Fraser

[Fraser]

I am now booked solid with repairs until at least mid May. I am happy to hear from people who need repair or cleaning work but please understand that I have no repair slots available for the moment.

My last repair was to a lovely, much cherished, FLIR PM695 that had lost colour in its viewfinder and had no preferences memory. The fault was actually quite unusual but I got her up and running again in glorious colour, restored her memory, fitted a new viewfinder eyecup assembly, treated her to a full clean and carried out a computerised battery condition analysis on her batteries.

The camera went back to its owner ready for another 15 years of service

It is very rewarding to restore one of these cameras to full working order and see the appreciation on the owners face when it is re-united with them.

Next, a poorly EEV ARGUS 2 fire fighting camera with no thermal image and collapsed viewfinder display. 10 more faulty ARGUS 2's may also be heading my way for repair in late May, so please do get in touch soon  if you need my help. I can then work you into my repair diary.

Happy Days

Fraser

[Chanc3]

Hey Fraser

Glad things are going well - I look forward to the repair logs if you do any!

Just an FYI in case you get any FLIR T4xx/B4xx/T3xx/B3xx/T2xx/B2xx series cameras in with a faulty navigation switch (quite common I believe), see here:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/find-replacement-componentcomponent-identification-for-flir-t4xxb4xx-camera

Also have some images from the repair.

[Fraser]

Hi Chanc3,

I do record all the stages of the repairs and send daily situation reports to the owner that includes many pictures. I believe in keeping the customer fully informed of progress The PM695 repair reports comprised an initial inspection and assessment  followed by several diagnostics and repair situation reports and finally a complete repair report detailing all works carried out on the camera, with supporting pictures and cost breakdown.

With regard to sharing the pictures on here, that may be an issue as I would need the owners permission and they may not want the pictures on this forum. Customer confidentiality and all that. The cameras are plastered with serial numbers !

With regard to publishing detailed repair information on this forum. With regret that is not possible as it would be releasing my very hard earned and niche knowledge of these cameras into the public domain. Such is not in the interests of my ongoing service and repair activities. I am trying to earn a few pounds from my knowledge and repair of these cameras. Hope you understand.

Fraser

[Fraser]

Chanc3,

With regard to the mini joystick issues, yes I am familiar with the failure of the contacts within. They were originally designed for use on laptops and PDA's. Quality of product varies greatly depending upon manufacturer. Sadly if one direction is used a lot, the internal contact can fail quite quickly.

The challenge is sometimes the removal of the assembly from cheap flex strips that melt easily. The ones used in FLIR cameras are decent quality and quite heat tolerant however.

Fraser