Bought a $250 thermal camera for fridge diagnostics and it paid for itself in two calls

Got the FLIR One Pro last year. Found a bad compressor overload on a Sub-Zero that was just warm, not hot. Another job, it showed a full frost pattern behind a panel without taking anything apart. Saved maybe three hours of guesswork already. Anyone else using these for quick checks on sealed systems?

3 comments

3 Comments

taylor.susan1mo ago

My old boss used to say a warm compressor was "just taking a nap." That FLIR would have proven him wrong on so many jobs. I spent half a day once chasing a restriction that was just a fan motor hiding behind insulation. A little camera would have called me an idiot in five minutes.

susan4241mo ago

Wait, a fan motor hiding BEHIND insulation? That's just mean. How are you even supposed to find that without seeing the heat? Your old boss calling a warm compressor a nap is exactly why those cameras pay for themselves. You can't argue with a picture showing the hot spot. That half day you lost is exactly the kind of thing they stop from happening.

rowanc2927d ago

Man, that story hits home. I've seen so many jobs where the old timers just guess based on what feels warm to the touch. A camera doesn't guess, it just shows you the truth. That half day of lost time is exactly why good tools matter, they save you from your own blind spots. It's frustrating when something simple gets made so hard.