Update: I spent $75 on a thermal camera for my phone and it found a ghost in the machine

So I got this call for a fridge that was running non stop but not cooling right. The usual stuff, checked the condenser, the fan, all seemed fine. I was about to start pulling the back panel when I remembered this cheap thermal camera attachment I bought online for about 75 bucks. Figured it was a gimmick, but why not. I plugged it in and scanned the door seal. Sure enough, there was this tiny, bright hot spot right at the top hinge, a hairline crack in the gasket you couldn't even see with your eyes. The cold air was just pouring out. The customer thought I was a wizard. Honestly, I thought the thing would be junk, but it saved me an hour of guesswork. Has anyone else had a weird win with a gadget you didn't trust at first?

3 comments

3 Comments

rubyl3526d ago

Yeah, my cheap voltage tester found a broken wire in a wall once (total fluke, honestly).

lisa_hart2625d ago

That's like the time I found a busted sprinkler line. Was getting a weird soggy patch in a lawn, no obvious leak. Borrowed a friend's cheap ground microphone, the kind you're supposed to use for finding studs. Sounded like a toy. Put it on the grass and heard the hissing clear as day, right under a tree root. Like rubyl35's voltage tester, it was pure luck the thing worked at all. Felt like a detective.

williams9020d ago

Honestly, my version of detective work is just poking stuff until something happens. I once spent an hour listening to a wall with a drinking glass before I remembered the sink was on the other side and the pipe was just old. That feeling when a cheap tool actually works is pure magic, because half the time you're just holding a plastic shell full of hope.