Let’s face it. We’re all a little peculiar when it comes to taking care of things in order to ensure they work properly in the future. Firefighters are no exception. For instance, fire apparatus receive daily or weekly checks to ensure that everything functions as it should. SCBAs are checked daily or weekly, plus before and after each use. Yet, when was the last time you painted and sharpened an axe or cleaned the soot off the visor or goggles on your helmet? Sometimes, our preventative maintenance programs are extensive, while other times we just use (and abuse) equipment until it stops functioning.

A thermal imager is a significant investment that requires some preventative maintenance and care to ensure you get regular, reliable service from it. Regardless of the brand, all thermal imagers require regular attention in the following four areas. Failing to pay attention to any of these could result in poor performance from your TI in the future.

• All thermal imagers are battery-operated; without battery power, the imager cannot activate its electronics, stabilize its detector or activate its display screen. Failure to maintain the batteries is a guaranteed way to help ensure the imager will not function when you need it.

• Water and electronics do not mix. While your TI may have left the factory water tight, after you knock it against the banister, drop it on the floor and fall into a wall using your TI as a brace, you can bet you have knocked some screws loose. If you allow the condition of your TI to deteriorate to the point that water gets inside the body, expect an expensive repair bill.
• Gunk on the lens blocks the heat. Lens care tends to be a common oversight. Thermal imagers use germanium lenses, and a number of them have germanium windows that cover the lens, so be sure to pay appropriate attention to this part of the TI as well.
• Goop on the display screen blocks your view. While this may be the most obvious point to the user, it doesn’t mean it can be overlooked. Evaluate and care for the video display as well as any protective covering.

By paying close attention to properly maintaining these four areas on your TI and by performing preventative maintenance on ALL your firefighting equipment, you can help ensure that the live-saving equipment you need is ready when you are. To download a Bullard TI Preventative Maintenance Checklist, or for more information on the Bullard Service Program for Thermal Imagers, click here.

If you would like to tell us about an incident in which a Bullard Thermal Imager has made a difference in your work, send an e-mail to ashley_smith@bullard.com or visit our website to submit your story online. Selected stories will be featured in an upcoming issue of this newsletter.