The Best Recommendation
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The Best Recommendation
Tip written by: Infraspection Institute
As part of their infrared inspection reports, thermographers frequently include exception diagnoses along with recommendations for repair. In this Tip, we offer our suggestion for the only recommendation a thermographer will ever need.
When used as a tool for Preventive/Predictive Maintenance, thermography can detect and document evidence of thermal patterns and temperatures across the surface of an object. The presence of inexplicable thermal anomalies is often indicative of incipient failures within inspected systems and structures. Because thermography alone cannot determine the cause of an exception, other diagnostic tools must be employed to determine the cause of observed exceptions.
Although thermography is inconclusive, thermographers frequently provide opinions as to the cause of exceptions without having the benefit of confirming test information. Such opinions are frequently accompanied by elaborate recommendations for repair. When such observations/recommendations are incorrect, they can cause repair efforts to be misdirected.
Unless a thermographer has performed, or has access to, confirming tests, providing opinions regarding the cause of exceptions and subsequent recommendations for repair is unwise. When confirming test data are unavailable, a prudent thermographer should make only one simple recommendation: “Investigate and perform appropriate repair”.
Generating standards-compliant reports is one of the many topics covered in the Level I Infraspection Institute Certified Infrared Thermographer® training course. For information on thermographer training including course locations and dates, visit us online at www.infraspection.com or call us at 609-239-4788.
