Dan I don’t feel it’s went down hill but yes it is far above most H.I.s and maybe they will get a clue that they should get some training. Just my thoughts.
About 8-10 yrs ago I took a 2 week long structural design course at the University of Wisconsin School of Engineering in Madison in late November. It was cold.
AND if memory serves me correctly I never remember seeing so many scooters, NOT even at KU or MU.
Today I inspected a 18 year old VACANT house with a 100amp service.
20 minutes into the inspection with the refrigerator, AC, range, lights, ceiling fans, dishwasher, etc on … The main breaker tripped and killed all power to the house.
AC and range are 240v. Dryer is gas. When I went to the panel it looked good … No double taps, no oversized breakers, no melting, bubbling, rusting at the insulation on the wires. Turned it back on … Came on and ran just fine for another hour with no issues.
Took temp at incoming wires AND one was over 100 degrees hotter than the other. THINK, we will refer them to an electrician for review / service.
Ok so I watched the YouTube video and I believe it is very important to take away the context of this video, as it is different depending on your level of inspection. For example, this gentleman is talking about a Licensed Electrical Contractor type inspection. He did not say that a temperature rise was a sign of catastrophic failure, he simply said it would be something that the Licensed Electrician would check. For example, depending on the circuit the rise can mean different things…if it is a bedroom branch circuit and the temperature is higher than normal ambient readings on other dormant breakers…might simply warrant a checking of the termination or ensuring proper torque values at all connections as a maintenance thing.
Remember this is not a home inspector in this YouTube Video…he is a licensed electrician and not once did he mention anything about home inspections. The statement about the temperature rise was at 4.08 into the video and in the right context he is 100% correct.
Also he is permitted to do anything he wants inside the panel because he is licensed to do so and has no SOP to govern his actions. It is always important to make sure the lines are not blurred.
You should also define the line between a Home Inspector w/o any Standard and a Thermographer that does…
A Home Inspector with a Thermal Device should also define his Insurance Provider’s line.
And before you try and do any thermal job (outside of a Home Inspection) be sure to have the proper Insurance to do the job, or you won’t get paid…
This is becoming more and more prevalent (prolly because of HI’s with Thermal Devices out there). I frequently have to buy a $100 - $200 rider/job to list my client as Additional Insured because HI Insurance does not properly cover what I do.