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When Will They Die

Nearly all portable thermal imagers designed for predictive maintenance utilize storage batteries as a power source. As such, even the best thermographers are limited by the storage capacity of their batteries. When planning a project it is helpful to know how long your batteries should last.

Most batteries sold are rated in Amp Hours, a number used to indicate battery supply capacity. To determine how long a battery will last with your imager, divide the Amp Hour rating of the battery by the current draw (in Amps) of your image. For an imager that draws 2 Amps, a 6 AH battery will last 3 hours.

Depending upon their size, some batteries are rated in milliAmp Hours. To convert this number to Amp Hours, divide the mAH rating by 1000. Example: An 1800 mAH battery equals 1.8 AH

It is important to know that some imagers consume more power during start up. If so, this will shorten the expected run time of a battery from the calculation above. A battery’s storage capacity also decreases with age. If your batteries are providing extremely short run times, it may be time to replace them with new ones.