Bought a $150 thermal camera for my phone and it found a leak in minutes

I was working on a fridge that wouldn't stay cold. Checked the usual stuff, compressor, fans, thermostat. Nothing. Customer was ready to junk it. Saw a tech online using one of those little phone plug-in thermal cameras. Figured it was a gimmick but bought one anyway. Hooked it up and scanned the sealed system. Clear as day, a tiny cold spot on the evaporator coil, a pinhole leak. Showed the customer the picture on my screen. They okayed the repair right there. Saved the unit and a ton of diagnostic time. Anyone else use these for quick fault finding?

2 comments

2 Comments

river_wright11d ago

Wow, that's a game changer. Which specific model did you end up getting? I've been on the fence about them for ages.

ray21011d ago

Honestly, the hype is way overblown. I bought the top end model last year and returned it within a week. The battery life was terrible, barely five hours of real use. The whole thing felt like a solution looking for a problem I just don't have. For the crazy price, I expected a lot more and felt totally let down.