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I spent $450 on a thermal camera for my phone and it found a hot splice in a wall
I was working on a house in Phoenix last month, the homeowner kept saying a light switch felt warm. I checked the usual stuff, voltage was fine, connections seemed tight. I was about to write it off until I remembered this little thermal camera I bought that plugs into my phone. I scanned the wall and there it was, a clear hot spot right behind the switch plate. Popped it open and found a backstabbed wire on the switch that was just starting to arc and melt the plastic. That little gadget paid for itself right there, maybe even stopped a fire. It's not perfect, but for finding overloaded circuits or bad connections inside walls without tearing them open, it's a game changer. Has anyone else used one of these for troubleshooting, and what kind of stuff have you found with it?
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margaretramirez7d ago
Honestly, how do you tell the difference between a real problem and just normal heat from wires working hard?
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phoenix_lewis7d ago
Man, that reminds me of a weird one from last summer. I was checking out an old fridge that kept tripping its breaker, and my thermal camera showed the whole side panel was way hotter than it should be. Turns out the condenser coils were totally clogged with dust and pet hair, just cooking themselves. It wasn't even an electrical fault in the wiring, but the camera spotted the heat build-up I never would have felt by hand. It's crazy what these things can show you that you'd totally miss otherwise.
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