Hot spot in panel

[ldapkus (Linas Dapkus, CMI)]

@cevans

I see thermal anomalies in panels all of the time. Without referencing some objective standard (e.g., NETA, which is incorporated into the document Linus references) how do you know when to call out an issue or not? Some are obvious, others perhaps, not so much.

I think you leave yourself kind of exposed if you can’t provide some objective standard for how you determine whether something you observe is an issue or not.

You don’t need a stinkin’ standard if you’ve done thousands of scans.:roll::roll: You can write your own standards.

[dandersen (David Andersen, TN HI# 40)]

@rschade

Thanks Linus, I’m sure that the booklet may come in handy and would be an interesting read. However, I really don’t do quantitative scans at this time and having scanned thousands of panels, this is definately an anomaly which should be addressed. No guessing about it. I think that a hot spot such as this, while there is no apparent draw, is an issue. Never mind putting a demand on the circuit! What stumped me is the fact that the wires and the breakers appeared to be secure. I plan on following up with the vendor and will let you all know what it was.
I want to thank everyone for their input and opinions because I think it helps us all along.

Why don’t you do Quantitative scans?

How do you know it should be addressed?

How do you determine “apparent load”?

Is this a direct or indirect measurement?

You have a $5k camera and can’t be bothered with doing what is required, and then write it up?!

You put a load on the circuit when it is defective?

You also need to get the temp spot “On the mark”. You have an incorrect reading.

If you got this one wrong, what about the other thousand?

I can tell you “exactly” what the problem is, but it would be a wild *** guess.

Then that would make the two of us guessing.

[cevans (Chuck Evans, CMI)]

Another look.

Now you can consider Delta T over ambient and assign an appropriate priority level based on a published standard.

Not what I would characterize as “extreme temperature differences”, but worthy of noting in the report for review.

Note: You can do most of this right in Quick Report. I believe that your B50 has an area tool with a max temp pointer. Use the area/max when you capture your image. You can create additional areas in QR by holding the control key down while dragging and dropping the existing area. You can position and size each area independently and you don’t have to guess or hunt around for the hottest spot in the image.

[dandersen (David Andersen, TN HI# 40)]

Good point Chuck!

It’s also good to use the area tool because it’s not available with an arrow in report.

Just a reminder however; the hottest spot is not always the best spot as reflection frequently causes readings higher than normal and unless someone does a temperature reflect process (which we have trouble getting the other processes done, so it’s not likely that that will occur) display temperature will be higher than actual.