Swapped my multimeter for a thermal camera on an HVAC call, risky move

Had a customer in Dayton with a weird intermittent tripping issue on their condenser. I was about to order a new contactor, which is my usual go to, but I decided to trust the FLIR One I got last month instead. Spotted a hot spot on the compressor terminal that a standard probe would never have caught. Turned out the wiring lug was loose and arcing under load, not the contactor at all. Tightened it down, unit ran fine, and the customer thought I was a wizard. Now I'm second guessing how many times I swapped parts unnecessarily over the years. Has anyone else made the jump to thermal imaging for basic diagnostics, or is it overkill for most house calls?

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angela_dixon1mo ago

The LOOSE LUG on the compressor terminal? That is terrifying to think about. I've definitely swapped out a contactor or two in my day and walked away thinking I fixed it, only for the real problem to be hiding somewhere else entirely. That thermal camera just paid for itself right there, seriously.