Spent $400 on a thermal camera and it just caught a hot connection I would have missed

I was finishing a panel swap in an older house last week and everything looked good on the meter. Decided to do a final scan with a thermal camera I bought a few months back for about $400. On the screen, one of the main lugs was showing a bright yellow spot, about 20 degrees hotter than the others. It felt fine to the touch, so I never would have caught it with my hand. Tightened it down another quarter turn and the heat signature went away. In my experience, that's a future meltdown or fire waiting to happen. It paid for itself right there. Has anyone else had a thermal imager save them from a call-back or worse?

2 comments

2 Comments

ruby_lane26d ago

Watched a buddy scan a breaker box in a restaurant kitchen last summer. His cheap imager showed a weird warm patch on a neutral bus bar that felt stone cold. Turned out to be a failing connection buried under some tape. He said it was already starting to arc and would have cooked itself in a month.

jadeg8126d agoMost Upvoted

Reminds me of a friend checking his attic wiring with one of those cheap thermal cams. Spotted a hot spot on a joist nowhere near any wires. Poked at it and found a nail had just barely nicked an old cable, it was heating up the wood slowly. Said it felt totally normal to the touch but the camera caught it glowing. Scary how that hidden stuff can just simmer.