Dropped $120 on a thermal camera for my toolkit last year

It found a failing PSU cap on a board that looked fine to the eye in 30 seconds, but for the same price I could have picked up a nice Fluke multimeter that I use way more often. Is the thermal camera a must-have or just a fancy toy for most of you?

2 comments

2 Comments

martin.jamie3d ago

Man, did you find a hidden air leak or something with that camera too? I had almost the exact same thing happen with an old power supply that was acting flaky, the camera caught a hot cap in like two minutes. But yeah, its one of those tools where you either use it all the time or it sits in the drawer. For me it paid for itself that first week, but I can totally see how a multimeter would get way more daily use. Your mileage may vary, but I think if you do any kind of board level repair or electronics work, its a game changer for the price.

danielh813d ago

Gotta disagree @martin.jamie, a good multimeter finds most stuff without needing to unbox the camera.