21
The biggest change in my shop came from a $20 tool I bought on a whim
About three months ago, I picked up a cheap thermal camera that plugs into a phone. I thought it was a toy, but it changed how I find problems. Before, I'd spend an hour chasing a random shutdown, checking logs and swapping parts. Now, I just scan the board for a hot spot. Last Tuesday, I found a failing voltage regulator on a gaming PC in under two minutes because it was 30 degrees hotter than anything around it. It's cut my guesswork time in half on power issues and weird crashes. I still do the full check, but this gets me to the right area fast. Has anyone else found a simple tool that changed their whole process?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
betty_ward2mo ago
My shop tried that exact same thermal camera last year. It gave us a ton of false positives on modern, dense boards where everything runs hot. We wasted more time double checking its readings than we ever saved. I'm back to trusting the multimeter and a good old fashioned systematic check.
1
nathang671mo ago
Funny enough, I used to be all about thermal cameras. Bought one last year thinking it'd speed things up. But after a week of chasing ghosts on a batch of server boards, I got it. Every chip on those things runs at 80 degrees plus, so you can't tell a dying VRM from a healthy one without cross-checking anyway. Now I just use it to spot a board that's way hotter than the rest, then whip out the multimeter. You're right about the time waste though, I was ready to throw mine in the trash after that first month.
4
milam422mo ago
Ugh, same here. We just spot-check hot zones now.
0