Found a better way to trace intermittent faults in old 737 wiring harnesses

I used to just wiggle wires and hope for a flicker on the test set, but after a 3 hour chase on a 400NG last month, I started using a cheap thermal camera from Harbor Freight to spot hot spots under load. The heat showed a bad crimp behind a panel I would have never pulled, fixed it in 20 minutes. What's your go-to method for finding those ghosts in the system?

3 comments

3 Comments

holly_sanchez751mo ago

Tried that thermal trick on some sketchy cabin lighting circuits last year. The camera showed a warm terminal block that looked fine during a normal visual. Saved me a ton of time chasing a bad ground.

eric_murray261mo ago

Thermal cameras just add another tool to overcomplicate things.

grantschmidt1mo ago

Ever think about how many weird electrical problems are just heat hiding in plain sight? I found a loose neutral on a sub panel last month that was just warm to the touch, but the thermal camera showed it was way hotter than the rest. Without it, I'd have been checking every outlet on the circuit. It's not about adding steps, it's about skipping the guesswork.