Found a $15 thermal camera attachment for my phone at a pawn shop

I was in Denver last weekend killing time and found a FLIR One for $15 at a pawn shop on Colfax. It actually works great for finding hot components on boards without risking my good meter. Anyone else used one of these cheap add-ons for troubleshooting?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_mia20d ago

Hold on, is this thing actually useful for real troubleshooting or is it more of a toy? I gotta play devil's advocate here. At $15 it's probably a knockoff or a super old model with low resolution, so you're not gonna see fine details like a cracked solder joint or a hairline short. The thermal accuracy is probably way off too, meaning you could be chasing phantom hot spots that aren't actually the problem. Plus, the phone app battery drain is real, and you have to keep the lens clean and steady or the image is garbage. I'd argue you're better off just using your meter and a can of freeze spray for most board work, this thing is more of a gimmick until you spend real money.

christopher_singh9220d ago

@the_mia you really think someone's dropping fifteen bucks and expecting lab grade results though?