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Oct 22, 2025
In industrial settings, unplanned downtime and sudden equipment failure are expensive: lost operations, repair costs, and safety risks. Because of that, many companies are utilising thermography, the practice of seeing heat, in their preventative maintenance plans. Thermography allows someone to see what the human eye cannot—heat—so that you can identify a problem before it becomes a disaster. In this blog, we will explain what thermography is, how it identifies potential faults early, and why thermography is important for good industrial operations.
Thermography, commonly referred to as infrared thermography or thermal imaging, is a non-invasive diagnostic procedure that determines and records the heat emitted by an object that may be indicative of a problem in the object. Every object gives off some amount of infrared radiation as it emits heat. The hotter an object is, the more infrared radiation it emits. A thermal camera or detector uses this radiation to create a thermogram – a picture that displays temperature variations in colour or shades of colour.
This process allows you to determine anomalies that cannot be seen by the naked eye. Loose connections, overloaded circuits, deteriorated insulation, or inoperative bearings will have a different temperature signature long before they fail completely. Since thermography can be performed without touching or interrupting the equipment, thermography is a safe and non-invasive inspection that does not affect the full operation of the equipment. Inspection can be performed on live equipment under full load conditions, providing clarity on how equipment responds in its normal state in day-to-day operations.
Over time, thermography allows for a baseline to be formed of normal operating temperatures, which makes it easy to determine any future inspections by comparison either to the baseline or to the previous inspection to identify slight differences that could indicate a problem that may be developing.
The true worth of thermography is in locating faults early before they lead to costly downtime. Here’s how thermography is beneficial:
Locating hot spots: Electrical systems often have loose or corroded connections, or they may overload, all of which generate excess heat. Thermography is able to identify those hot spots that, if not investigated and corrected, may lead to equipment damage, fires, or unsafe conditions resulting in injury or death.
Monitoring temperature changes: When a thermographic inspection is performed on a regularly scheduled basis, maintenance staff can assess the behaviour of the equipment over time—weeks or months. If temperature increases gradually, that condition may indicate wear or an impending failure of a component where a repair can be planned.
Assessing the equipment under load: Many defects become apparent only when the machine or electrical system is loaded and performing. Because thermography can be used safely while the equipment is running, it captures the reality of what is really occurring in use. This way, a problem may not be missed if the equipment is not running during the inspection.
Preventing safety issues: Here again, abnormally high temperatures are an indicator of conditions that may cause injury or worse. In many cases, the high-temperature hazards would cause fires, arcs, or improper operation of equipment. Thermography allows conditions that need corrective repairs to be identified before workers become exposed to them.
Reducing costs and unplanned downtime: The cost of emergencies and emergency repairs is always high, and a sudden failure often damages additional systems as well. An early warning means that repairs can be scheduled at a good time, spare parts can be ordered ahead of time, and production is down for a shorter time.
Increasing efficiency: Components that are running at hotter than normal temperatures are usually consuming more energy and are less efficient than they should be. For example, a loose electrical connection will increase resistance and waste energy. Thermography can quickly identify these types of inefficiencies, and adjustments to the system can improve overall performance.
Thermography provides the industry with the opportunity to see what is invisible to the eye, in the form of heat. Detecting hot spots, watching trends, and confirming safety will reduce downtime, saving time and money while increasing productivity at the same time. Without thermography in today’s competitive environment, industries cannot afford unforeseen failures. Thermography gives confidence that the systems one manages are dependable, safe, and ready to perform as required, and it is a valuable tool in contemporary maintenance methodology.
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