Spent about $80 on a thermal camera for my phone and it's been a game changer for finding shorts

I mean, I was on the fence for a while because it seemed like a toy. But last month I had this fridge that kept tripping the breaker, and the usual checks got me nowhere. I hooked up the little camera and within two minutes I could see one spot on the compressor wiring glowing way hotter than the rest. It was a tiny nick in the insulation I would have missed for hours. Saved me a ton of time on that one call alone. Has anyone else tried using one of these for appliance diagnostics, or do you stick with the old school methods?

2 comments

2 Comments

luna51912d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, you found a short in two minutes with an $80 camera?

grant.richard12d ago

Yeah, I used to think you needed a super expensive thermal cam for that too. This cheap one showed the exact hot spot clear as day. Totally changed what I thought was possible on a budget.