Thermal Imaging, OK, That’s Officially A Topic I Thought We Would Never Talk About Here On WoodyBoater.

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Yikes!

Thanks to Mike Mayor of Lake Oswego Boat Co, for sharing this out of the stuffing box topic. Now, of course once you read the story you will start thinking of other crazy stuff like this. Like the time I wanted to create an MRI for your boat to find weak wood and fasteners. Ya, my brain wonders. Thankfully I am not alone, take it away MikeM!

Today’s installment is a thermal imaging camera I bought for my iPhone. I thought it might somehow differentiate good wood from rotten would. I brought a boat with a big soft spot in its bottom in my warm shop from cold storage and took pictures of the bottom. My idea didn’t work but this $200 camera is pretty useful for other things.
During our clubs spring workshop a few weeks ago we ran my freshly rebuilt Gray Straight 8 engine. The Camera illustrated that the back two plugs were running much cooler than the other six. I will probably put hotter plugs back there.

These pics are of an MBL I’ve just gone through. It has a thermostat on it and I’m trying to make sure nothing overheats while it waits to open.

Cool! Get it.. Cool, hot, warm.. Cool! Its a pun! A pathetic one, but it is cool!

And of course there is a video!

11 replies
  1. Mike Green
    Mike Green says:

    Very cool!!! Your forehead is 92.6 that explains a lot. So why is the bucket 149 degrees did you have water from the engine going back into the bucket? I’m with Jim so us some pictures of the Chrysler please.

  2. Kentucky Wonder
    Kentucky Wonder says:

    Is the infrared camera an attachment for the iPhone, or just an app that uses the built-in camera?

    I have seen a bathtub used as a “radiator” before, but never a mop bucket. And there was a guy in the bathtub taking a bath, too. Rambling Wreck parade at Georgia Tech, circa 1987.

  3. Tommyholm
    Tommyholm says:

    Boys & Toys. Mayer a glowin! I want one to tell me how cold is the Stroh’s and how hot is the sausage.

  4. MikeM
    MikeM says:

    So, to answer a few questions…MikeG, yes, the water was coming-out of the thermostat back into the bucket. C. Chase, if you google FLIR ONE IOS you will get options to purchase. It looks like the Samsung version is $249 right now. There is a separate camera that plugs into the bottom of your cell phone. That, combined with their app makes this thing work. Mine cost $199. Jim Staib, the Gray 8 goes into my 1929 24′ Baby Dolphin….short clip of it running below….

  5. Ron in Seattle
    Ron in Seattle says:

    A few of us from Seattle went down to Mike’s for the garage tour Portlands chapter including our engine guru/historian Craig Magnusson. He commented to Mike that the back two cylinders always run cold which is why it has an occasional miss. The easiest solution is running hotter spark plugs on those back two cylinders. Mike promptly runs off and brings back his thermal imaging camera, plugs it into his iPhone and wow! And amazing piece of technology!

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