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That job in an old high school gym made me ditch my multimeter for a thermal camera
I was swapping out a dead condenser fan motor in a 1970s school gym in St. Louis last Tuesday, and the unit kept tripping the breaker. Grabbed my thermal camera on a hunch and found a worn contactor arcing that I never would have spotted with just my meter. How many of you carry a thermal imager for commercial calls?
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xena_williams8d ago
Oh man, that thermal camera is a lifesaver. I had a similar thing happen last month on a rooftop unit, found a failing capacitor that was barely warm to the touch but lit up like a Christmas tree on the imager. Would've wasted hours chasing ghosts without it lol.
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betty1268d ago
Feel you on that one. I had a condenser fan motor that was drawing just barely over its rated amps but the thermal camera showed the windings were already starting to cook. Would've never caught it until it seized up mid-July. And you're right about those failing capacitors, they can be sneaky little things. Isn't it funny how the best tools just make you wonder how you ever got by without them?
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