Spent $300 on a thermal camera for my phone and it caught a hot neutral before it got ugly

Honestly, I was on a service call last week for flickering lights in a 90s split-level. My regular meter wasn't showing anything wild. I pulled out this little FLIR One camera I bought on a whim. Ngl, it showed a neutral in the main panel running way hotter than the hots. Turned out to be a loose lug on the neutral bar that was starting to arc. That $300 saved me from what could have been a real bad day and a fried panel for the homeowner. Anyone else use these for troubleshooting? What's your go-to find?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_derek15d ago

Man, that's a solid save right there. Good call grabbing that camera. Always feels good to catch a problem before it blows up.

amyr5715d ago

Last year my neighbor's dryer vent was totally clogged with lint. The fire inspector said it could have ignited any day. Now I check mine every month with a cheap borescope from the hardware store. It's crazy how something so small can burn a house down.