Thermal cams read heat from the coil too, so you might just be seeing a hot fridge, not a bad part.

Honestly 4 out of 30 bad sounds pretty high for a place that's moving enough scallops to have a Friday VIP table. That's a supplier problem or a storage problem, not something you fix with a tong press. Tbh the squeeze test is fine as a backup but if you're tossing that many you should be on the phone with your purveyor, not patting yourself on the back for catching them. Been doing this a while and fresh scallops basically never go off mid-service unless something upstream is already wrong.

Measured my last one with the knuckle trick and it made a huge difference for me too. My first bench was 36 inches because some video said that was standard, and I spent two years leaning over it like a goof. My brother in law stopped by while I was sanding one day and just laughed, then had me drop it to 33 so my knuckles brush the top when I stand straight. Now I keep a sharpie mark on the wall of my shop for where my knuckles hit so I don't forget. Best part is my shoulders quit aching too, not just my back. Ray sounds like a solid neighbor to have.