Hot take: I finally gave in and bought a proper thermal camera for my shop.

For years I just used the old 'touch test' and guessed at overheating parts. Last month I spent $300 on a basic FLIR One for my phone. I used it on a gaming PC that kept shutting down, and it instantly showed a hot spot on a voltage regulator that was totally hidden under the heatsink. I replaced it and the system's been stable for two weeks now. Anyone else find a specific tool that changed how you diagnose things?

2 comments

2 Comments

aaron8451mo agoMost Upvoted

Notice how @clairethompson's story shows the right tool just cuts through the guesswork.

clairethompson1mo ago

Watched my buddy struggle with an old car stereo that kept cutting out. He spent weeks swapping speakers and checking wires, getting nowhere. I mean, he was about to rip the whole dash apart. Then he borrowed one of those cheap circuit testers that lights up. He poked around and found a bad ground connection in like ten minutes, a spot he never would have thought to look. It was just a simple tool, but it totally changed his whole approach to electrical gremlins.