[HN Gopher] The Hidden Worlds of the Klein Tools TI250 Thermal I...
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The Hidden Worlds of the Klein Tools TI250 Thermal Imager
Author : smitelli
Score : 169 points
Date : 2022-06-02 15:36 UTC (7 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.scottsmitelli.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.scottsmitelli.com)
| harveywi wrote:
| They missed an opportunity to name it the ThermoKlein.
| stochtastic wrote:
| I love ThermoKlein... but then they'd have needed to engineer
| it to IPX8 standards to avoid excessive warranty servicing from
| cranky oceanographers.
| Starcrunch wrote:
| Very cool breakdown! I imagine the engineer(s) who worked on the
| device's firmware would enjoy seeing this. There's probably some
| story about companion software that was intended to work with
| this but never made it to production. Or maybe there was some
| feature on the backlog for the ability to change the image
| palette after it's been saved, and the idea was scrapped at the
| last minute.
| causi wrote:
| _If you keep scrolling, you'll eventually find the same first
| viable candidate that I did, the Klein Tools TI250 Rechargeable
| Thermal Imager._
|
| Unless you need to actually use it in a rough environment,
| something like the Seek imager is a far better choice. Three
| times the thermal resolution at 2/3 the price.
| smitelli wrote:
| I'm curious which model you're referring to. I scanned pages
| and pages of options without considering Seek.
|
| One of my requirements, I probably should've mentioned, is that
| the unit had to run standalone -- no smartphone app. I've got
| enough useless e-waste in my closet that requires the obsolete
| 30-pin iPhone connector or whose abandoned app has long
| vanished from the app store.
| causi wrote:
| _I 've got enough useless e-waste in my closet that requires
| the obsolete 30-pin iPhone connector or whose abandoned app
| has long vanished from the app store._
|
| USB isn't likely to go anywhere. I bought my Seek Compact
| four or five years ago and all it took was a two dollar
| micro-usb to type-c adapter to keep it running on my newer
| phones.
| duskwuff wrote:
| Still depends on the developer keeping the app available
| and runnable on modern devices.
| bavent wrote:
| Could you link to the one you're talking about? I'd like to
| check it out.
| causi wrote:
| I got a Seek Thermal Compact.
|
| https://www.amazon.com/Seek-Thermal-Compact-All-Purpose-
| Micr...
| f38zf5vdt wrote:
| > The camera is great but the Seek Thermal app is a privacy
| spyware tracker. It won't run without location and
| microphone access. At all...
|
| Non-starter for me.
|
| FYI. You can just buy FLIR thermal sensors directly and
| throw them onto a board then use that as a webcam. There's
| a whole company dedicated to that:
| https://groupgets.com/manufacturers/getlab
| bavent wrote:
| Thanks!
| danw1979 wrote:
| Nice little reverse engineering story ! How observant of Scott to
| notice there was a bunch of extra data in those files...
| mauvehaus wrote:
| If you're looking for a more universally useful Klein tool to
| start your collection, they make a bottle opener with their
| signature handle.
|
| As an added bonus, then you can confuse your mathematician
| friends by telling them you have a Klein bottle opener.
|
| More practically, their screwdrivers are worlds better than
| average. The Phillips head tips are ground properly and are less
| likely to cam out when you don't want them to. They also make
| slotted drivers with a cabinet tip. They're sold at Home Depot
| (in the electrical aisle), so you don't have to hunt down an
| electrical distributor to get them.
| melony wrote:
| How do they compare to Fluke quality-wise?
| CapitalistCartr wrote:
| Fluke testers are the gold standard in the trades.
| Electricians often say fluke, meaning tester. Mine is a Fluke
| 376. Typical.
| overtonwhy wrote:
| I can 2nd a recommendation for their screwdrivers!
| convolvatron wrote:
| their diagonal cutters also remain really high quality, both
| the ones for #6 wire and the ones more suitable for #28
| denimnerd42 wrote:
| klein dikes are amazing.
|
| I first picked up on them while working in a bike shop. mine
| kept going dull but my coworker had his klein forever and
| they still cut stranded derailleur and brake cable cleanly. I
| used to think dikes were awful due to the poor quality of
| generics but these are surely worth the $30-35.
|
| https://www.kleintools.com/catalog/diagonal-cutting-
| pliers/d...
| bin_bash wrote:
| this is the math joke for those that missed it:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klein_bottle
| mturmon wrote:
| Other classic Klein tools that I'm aware of are the 11-in-1
| screwdriver [1] and the linesman's pliers [2]. The linesman's
| have many uses including hammering down nails or staples or
| bashing through drywall. You'll see these tools in a lot of
| tradesman's bags.
|
| The Wera screwdrivers are also very nice and noticeably better-
| performing than standard drivers.
|
| [1] e.g., https://www.kleintools.com/catalog/multi-bit-nut-
| drivers/11-...
|
| [2] e.g., https://www.kleintools.com/catalog/high-leverage-
| side-cuttin...
| weaksauce wrote:
| the 11 in 1 screwdriver is so useful all around. hands down
| the best screwdriver to have if you only have one. (i got a
| full set of kleins many years ago as part of a barter
| exchange and have nothing but praise to give them)
|
| the socket portion of the 11-in-1 screwdriver is really handy
| to use for a lot of the things like pc cases since those have
| a socket head that makes it really easy to screw (or also
| Phillips if you want). lots of screws have that 1/4" socket.
| smitelli wrote:
| Those lineman's pliers are ubiquitous to the point where an
| electrician on a jobsite can say "hand me those Kleins" and
| everyone knows they mean the pliers.
| CapitalistCartr wrote:
| Yup, when I put those in my pocket, then I'm in electrician
| mode. And if an electrician says his hammer, also means
| kleins.
| donthellbanme wrote:
| Yea, I used to be a electrician in local 6.
|
| Their screwdrivers arn't as good as Snapon, but neither do
| they cost a fortune.
|
| My standard commercial job tooling was a side cutter (Klein,
| or whatever I had at the time), a slotted screwdriver, wire
| stripper, and drywall knife.
|
| I kept my tools in one pocket of my overalls. I learned
| pretty quick, I didn't need a bunch of tools to do most run
| of the mill office wiring.
|
| My "Kleins" were used as a hammer.
|
| Most union electricians really didn't even talk about the
| brand. They just used their tools.
|
| (Tooling has gotten very good these days though. My days of
| paying more for a name brand in hand tools are over. I got
| one, actually two complaints while working on PacPell park.
| An architect complained to my shop boss over my use of the
| word "Dykes". My nippers were called dykes by my father, and
| it stuck with me. The architect thought I was referring to
| her when I said, "Where are my dykes? He told her that is
| what some guys we call their side cutters, and everything was
| fine. The second complain was never tied to me, but I was the
| one urinating in the finished locker rooms. We were suspose
| to use the porta potties, but they were always far away, and
| smelled. Oh yea, my initials are on the top of every locker.
| I put my initials on the pressed wood before the Cherry
| laminate went on. When there's a remodel, and those lockers
| are torn out, they will see my initials. Why? I was bored one
| morning.)
| mcbishop wrote:
| Yup, my electrician friends refer to lineman's pliers as "the
| electrician's hammer".
| larrywright wrote:
| The 11 in 1 screwdriver is fantastic and pretty inexpensive
| ($15?). Sturdy and has a nice heft to it. I was helping my
| mom around Christmas time fix something on her RV and had to
| use her Phillips screwdriver to do it. It was some no name
| cheap thing that barely held on to the screw and was in
| general awful to use. On the way home I swung by Home Depot
| and picked up the Klein and gave it to her for
| Christmas(along with other things of course).
| mturmon wrote:
| The Klein needle nose pliers are another good stocking
| stuffer. The jaws mate properly, etc.
|
| https://www.kleintools.com/catalog/standard-side-cutting-
| pli...
| biomcgary wrote:
| I had to look up the Klein bottle opener for math reasons
| (https://www.kleintools.com/catalog/branded-
| collection/klein-...). The description is delightfully
| understated. e.g., "Professionally designed and rigorously
| tested by an expert team to handle both foreign and domestic
| applications"
| dunham wrote:
| I clicked on your link, recognized the logo and realized that
| I've had a pair of klein wire cutters for the last 30 years.
| They are my favorite cutters, I found them on the ground when
| I was a kid, in front of the telephone box in our yard:
|
| https://www.kleintools.com/catalog/diagonal-cutting-
| pliers/d...
| bombcar wrote:
| Speaking of screwdrivers there's a thing called a "demo driver"
| that is basically a screwdriver that can be used as a chisel.
|
| Highly recommended. Here's Klein's
| https://www.kleintools.com/catalog/fixed-blade-screwdrivers/...
| larrywright wrote:
| I don't have this one but I have a giant Craftsman that I
| keep in my toolbox to pry or whatever with.
|
| A while back I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole of experienced
| electricians going through their tool bags and talking about
| what they had and why. Lots of Klein tools of course, they
| all seem to use Klein or Knipex (or both). But one guy called
| out the large flathead screwdriver that you can stick in your
| bag and use as a makeshift pry bar or chisel or whatever. I
| had one that came as part of a set from Craftsmen that I
| never used so I stuck it in my tool box. I've already used it
| a handful of times and it takes up almost no space.
| brewdad wrote:
| Yup. I have one that gets used anytime I need to pop the
| cover on my sprinkler valve box. I have to use a smaller
| flathead to bleed the valves but the giant one pops it open
| with little effort every time.
| abakker wrote:
| Their T handle allen wrench sets are also much better than
| average. I recommend them wholly having used them for a year.
| IshKebab wrote:
| > The only real major inconvenience using it is the fact that it
| constantly pauses to calibrate itself to the temperature range it
| is being exposed to, a process that freezes the screen and UI for
| well over a second.
|
| Even expensive thermal cameras do that, though they have a
| setting to disable it (at the cost of losing calibration).
| mfincham wrote:
| I believe this Klein Tools camera is a re-brand of the Uni-T
| UTi80P, so probably these tricks apply there as well.
| quercusa wrote:
| You can rent a high-end TIC from Home Depot for about $100/day. I
| found all kinds of bad insulation and air leaks in my house. I
| could claim the rental paid for itself but it was so much fun
| scanning things the entertainment value was worth the price.
| hettygreen wrote:
| I really admire the writer of the firmware here. This person
| spent the extra time to embed the actual data into the image.
| This is the kinda stuff I'd love to see officially documented in
| a PDF by the manufacturer, if we actually owned the things we
| owned.
|
| My FLIR camera that I use for electronics only exports in JPEG,
| with the GUI baked into the image and some pretty crappy JPEG
| compression artifacts. Lame.
| Nextgrid wrote:
| I wouldn't be surprised if there were bullshit reasons for
| explicitly _not_ exposing this information to the user and this
| was an engineer 's way of maliciously complying with that
| requirement.
| IshKebab wrote:
| There's no restriction on exporting raw data. Just on
| resolution and maximum frame rate. Hence the annoying 9fps
| limit on FLIR's consumer products.
|
| Though I half suspect they also do that for market
| segmentation since there's a long list of countries that the
| export restrictions don't apply to. You can easily buy their
| super expensive cameras which don't have a frame rate limit
| if you have the money.
| bxparks wrote:
| The Li-Ion battery on the Klein TI250 is _not_ replaceable as far
| as I can tell. It will be e-waste within 3-5 years. Same with all
| the FLIR cameras that I came across. The few models with
| replaceable batteries at my price range were the Fluke VT02
| /VT04A (4xAA) and VT04 (an 18650 with a custom connector
| unfortunately). So I went with the Fluke, even though the FLIRs
| seemed to have better specs.
| jdkee wrote:
| "Klein Tools is a manufacturer of hand tools for professional
| electricians, and they've been in that business for over a
| century and a half. Are they the best at it? Ehh, depends who you
| ask."
|
| Well if you ask any professional electrician they will likely
| answer "Yes". Our company employed over one hundred IBEW
| electricians and the universal preference was for Klein hand
| tools.
| post_break wrote:
| This reminds me of when it was discovered you could hack the FLIR
| E4 into the much more expensive E8
| https://hackaday.com/2013/11/04/manufacturer-crippled-flir-e...
| sbf501 wrote:
| Side note about SD Cards: I recently started writing embedded
| code to talk to them, and they are a fussy bunch. Several
| libraries I found on GitHub failed ungracefully and did not
| report that the card write buffer was overflowing. I wonder if
| some of this git code is in consumer electronics? Devices should
| warn you if the card isn't fast enough.
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(page generated 2022-06-02 23:00 UTC)