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Comment by dfc | Hacker News Reader

Fluke has made an acoustic imager for a while now. It is used for detecting leaks:

https://www.fluke.com/en-us/product/industrial-imaging/fluke...

There are a few knockoff options too, which are not quite as nicely calibrated, but get the job done for much less than Fluke-level prices. Like the FOTRIC TD2.

I think a few people have made homebrew versions too, like this one mentioned on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45137584

interesting on amazon:

fluke $25k

flir $10k

td2 $1k

These are the kinds of things you look at and think - maybe I DO need night-vision, or a soldering iron with a cpu, or a thermal imager, or a steerable endoscope or now an acoustic imager....

If you own your home I'd say you need a thermal imager. Just the ability to diagnose clogged pipes is priceless.

https://x.com/ThermoInstagram/status/909356506059026432

Also for checking if microwaved food is ready.

Can also be used for looking at heat leaking into or out of your house via conduction, which can help you determine where there might be more insulation needed, or maybe a particular wall needs more shade in summer.

+1 to thermal imager. I use mine to locate hot wires, heating and cooling gaps in the roof and around windows, car maintenance, the pizza oven, and its even sensitive enough to ‘see’ studs in the wall.

Priceless on one occasion for finding leaks in the ceiling, which are notoriously hard to pinpoint.

> and its even sensitive enough to ‘see’ studs in the wall.

oooh my. My studfinder is always a little uncertain. I would love a second opinion.

Has anyone tried acoustic imaging for water leaks inside walls? I live in a multi-floor 1900s Victorian. A leak can affect several units, and tracing the source can mean opening walls or floors in multiple places, and coordinating access has been getting harder with less WFH.

Could one of these tools help map water pipe routes and trace a leak, or are they only going to be useful for air and gas leaks?

For a water leak a sound imaging device is not going to help you.

You should definitely try a thermal camera. Any moisture will create small temperature differences which are easily picked up by a thermal camera.

Moisture camera. Now there is an idea.

Initially I scoffed, but then I recalled that certain RF bands are disproportionately absorbed by water and this is used for certain sorts of atmospheric imaging by satellites. So you'd need a moisture "light" and an RF camera. Other than being cost prohibitive it sounds like an awesome toy.

It still works pretty well in the IR band. I know that one from experience due to storm damage to our roof ;-)

A leak only turns invisible if the water has the exact same temperature as the wall and there is no meaningful evaporation happening (as that cools the affected area).

Of course don't let me stop you from actively probing your all using RF. Though also there you might have good chances with IR, since wet $stuff should behave differently than dry $stuff ;-)

Flir has some thermal cameras with 'special moisture' modes. In the end, wet areas are just colder.

WArning I am not an expert

There is a man call leak detective, who hunts for leaks in the UK. one tool he has is shutting off the water and filling the pipes with gas and using either sound or gas detector to pin down leaks.

A lot of the time he just listens though.

Up until the 90’s airline in flight entertainment use stethoscope style earphones. My dad used to steal them for his workshop as a way to hear for leaks in various parts.

Our ears and eyes are very high bandwidth sensors.

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