Klein Tools TI250 Rechargeable Thermal Imager

So far I've used my thermal imager for motorcycle restoration projects, electronics projects, and household electrical wiring. This tool does what I need it to, and the USB interface is handy. Love that it is rechargeable, too. Nice work.

As the headline says, for $300, this is one of the cheapest thermal image cameras on the market b...

As the headline says, for $300, this is one of the cheapest thermal image cameras on the market but that does not mean it's a slouch. This is very easy to use and accurate as well. I do want to clarify the issue that a couple of these reviews are referring to. They mention the pause/delay when moving the camera around and it says "CAL" in the lower left corner... this is the machine recalibrating so it can accurately show the thermal differences between the items now in frame, every thermal imager does this but keep in mind that you are spending 10% of the price of the ones that do it in less than a second; that said, I can wait 3 literal seconds for the machine to recalibrate and be accurate. All in all I can't find any issues at this price point

Best Value Thermal Imager

This is probably the best value thermal imager on the market. Overall it has excellent build quality, and is extremely compact compared to other standalone thermal imagers. It can easily fit into pockets, toolbags, backpacks, and even in shelves. It stands on its own, and perfectly capable of being clamped in place. The camera itself is far from the best, but entirely useful for practical applications, and has the ability to save pictures to an insertable micro sd. Along with the respectable camera comes a very modest, but equally practical display. It's small, but it is sharp. The one and only drawback I've found is with the computer itself. This imager takes about 15-25 seconds to start up and unfortunately, the imager has issues with occassional hitching, where ... MoreThis is probably the best value thermal imager on the market. Overall it has excellent build quality, and is extremely compact compared to other standalone thermal imagers. It can easily fit into pockets, toolbags, backpacks, and even in shelves. It stands on its own, and perfectly capable of being clamped in place. The camera itself is far from the best, but entirely useful for practical applications, and has the ability to save pictures to an insertable micro sd. Along with the respectable camera comes a very modest, but equally practical display. It's small, but it is sharp. The one and only drawback I've found is with the computer itself. This imager takes about 15-25 seconds to start up and unfortunately, the imager has issues with occassional hitching, where the display will freeze for a few moments as the device catches up. While undesirable, this has never really affected my use cases besides a few seconds of waiting. All things considered, for the price point, this thermal imager is well worth the money. It does everything it needs to with modest specs, at a modest price, but with excellent design and quality construction.

Found Heat Intrusion

Very nice to have this tool. I was able to survey my house and discovered that those canned recessed ceiling lights were major heat intrusion spots. Camera saw one can light area, without the light even being on at 113F. These are “sealed” can lights too. However, they were not air tight. So out with the old style bulbs and trim. In with the LED integrated lights. This modification should help reduce my cooling bill so maybe the savings will cover the cost of this camera.

I purchased this after having a FLIR handheld for a few years. Like some others have mentioned, i...

I purchased this after having a FLIR handheld for a few years. Like some others have mentioned, it does recalibrate somewhat often during use, but not enough to be a hassle in my opinion. I love how it will automatically show the temperature range along the side, and highlight both the hottest and coldest spot like many higher-end/more expensive FLIR cameras (which my old FLIR did not). Also there doesn't appear to be any sort of ghosting effects if it recalibrates while looking at something that's not one solid temperature (again, like my old FLIR did).

Please see attached photos. The photos prove and disprove many of the comments and reviews for th...

Please see attached photos. The photos prove and disprove many of the comments and reviews for this product. Let's start by doing some Mythbusting: - Image size claims to be "Over 10,000 pixels"... Actually it has a resolution of 320x240 or 76,800 pixels. - Review claims image is to small for reports or storage... Please see the photo for yourself, myth busted, the picture shows one piece of paper with the image at its actual size and then the same image blown up to 8x10. Sure the 8x10 looks a little like PacMan or Frogger from decades ago but your not printing it like a wedding photo so who cares! I like the images. - One drawback is that when a "Shiny object " is in view it appears warmer than it actually is. This was sorta expected because the same issue plaques ... MorePlease see attached photos. The photos prove and disprove many of the comments and reviews for this product. Let's start by doing some Mythbusting: - Image size claims to be "Over 10,000 pixels"... Actually it has a resolution of 320x240 or 76,800 pixels. - Review claims image is to small for reports or storage... Please see the photo for yourself, myth busted, the picture shows one piece of paper with the image at its actual size and then the same image blown up to 8x10. Sure the 8x10 looks a little like PacMan or Frogger from decades ago but your not printing it like a wedding photo so who cares! I like the images. - One drawback is that when a "Shiny object " is in view it appears warmer than it actually is. This was sorta expected because the same issue plaques the infrared temperature guns. I guess it's not that big of a deal because I didn't spend $2k on a flir. I hope this quick review helps everyone out, I am a Super Fan of all my Klein tools!!

Price Breakthrough. Horrible User Interface!

I have been wanting an affordable Thermal Imager for a long time and was happy to see this released by Klein. But the usability experience is not good. Having the two critical functions sharing one button only separated in function by how long you need to hold it down is beyond frustrating and makes you want to bust out a hammer to smash it to pieces every time you use it. It should be a 4 button UI, not 3. My guess is this is an older re-skinned design from elsewhere and the now obsolete Micro USB charging port seems the tell on that as most recent Klein products have moved to USB C. It works well, but I'm disappointed each time I need to use it.

Saved hours of repair time

I used the TI250 to analyze electronic component temperatures on a brand name 5.1 receiver/amplifier.It immediately showed two ICs that were exceedingly over temperature with no signal applied. If I did not have the TI250 I would have had to significantly disassemble the receiver just to gain access to the bottom pins of the ICs. Paid for itself with the first use.

Works well. Does what it says, and could easily prevent a failure in an electrical panel. If it s...

Works well. Does what it says, and could easily prevent a failure in an electrical panel. If it saves one call back for an additional repair, then it has paid for itself. The thing I have trouble with (sometimes), is knowing exactly what I am looking at. You see a hot spot on the screen, but where are you looking exactly. Gets easier with experience. There may be a setting that increases the transparency of the image that I have not found yet. Display colors are more or less relative to your aiming point. I wish it had a "threshold" mode, that only displayed something as red if it was in excess of a chosen temperature value. You can even use this to check electronics. A hot spot on a circuit board shows up well.

Worth the price

Seemed expensive until I fired it up and learned quite a bit about my leaky (water and external air) old house. I was also able to see that I had several CB's in my panel that were substantially warmer than the rest. I had that bad wiring issue resolved too. I've only used it a few times and it took me a few minutes to figure out what I was seeing on the first use, but after that, it was really helpful.