Finally caved and tried a thermal camera on a circuit board hunt

I always thought those $400 Flir units were a gimmick for rich hobbyists, but after spending 3 hours chasing a short on a server PSU last Tuesday, I borrowed a buddy's and found the bad cap in 2 minutes. Anyone else had a tool they mocked forever that actually saved their ass?

3 comments

3 Comments

shane_hayes12d agoMost Upvoted

caved and tried a thermal camera" - you didn't cave, you got smart. Thermal cameras are the best tool for finding shorts and hotspots, not a gimmick.

mark_ward12d agoMost Upvoted

lol right on @shane_hayes. It's funny how we resist tools that actually save time just because they seem fancy at first. But once you use something that makes work way less painful, you never go back. Same thing happened with me and an IR thermometer - now I check everything with it.

gray87511d ago

Come on now @shane_hayes, these thermal cameras just make you lazy. Spending 3 hours hunting a short teaches you to read a schematic and understand the circuit, not just point a gadget at it until something glows. Half the time you'll miss a bad joint that isn't hot yet, and then you're stuck anyway.