sean_cooper58•3d agoProlific Poster

Question about using a thermal camera versus a multimeter for finding shorts

I used to think a good multimeter was all you needed to track down a short in a wiring harness. That changed last month when I was working on a Citation's autopilot system. I spent nearly two hours with my Fluke, checking continuity and resistance, and I was getting nowhere. A guy in the next hangar saw me struggling and brought over his FLIR thermal camera. We powered up the circuit and scanned it. In about 30 seconds, we spotted a tiny hot spot at a connector pin that was barely making contact and heating up. The multimeter showed continuity, but it didn't show the bad connection under load. The visual heat signature made the problem obvious. I was stubborn about the old way, but seeing it work that fast sold me. Has anyone else made the switch to thermal imaging for fault finding, and what model do you like?

3 comments

3 Comments

patricia_gonzalez3d ago

My old Fluke 87V has found more bad connections than I can count, just by checking voltage drop under load. Honestly, a thermal camera feels like bringing a fire truck to put out a candle sometimes.

violar353d ago

My FLIR E4 caught a hot breaker in a full panel last week.

jessica1303d ago

Remember when we just used our hands?