My son got me one of those IR thermometers for CHristmas one year.
I often used it for checking for overheated coils on pinball machines, but the other day I used it to repair an arcade game.
A client of mine has a stand-up 18-wheeler.
While using it, he noticed small traces of smoke coming out of the vents at the top, and he could smell burning electronics.
Like a good arcade collector, he immediately turned it off and called me.
I pulled the panels off the back and turned it back on, watching for anything unusual.
Nothing.
And the game still played with a beutiful picture.
Not sure what was going on, we left it run for a few hours while I worked on some other projects of his.
When we went back to check on it, it was still running, but it was making a bad electronics burning smell again.
I whipped out my thermometer to check for hot spots.
I checked the fuses, holders, transformer, all the connectors, etc... Nothing was above room temp (except the transformer which was just slightly warm).
I scanned all around, and noticed that as I got higher and higher on the back of the monitor, the hotter and hotter it.
You know what it ended up being?
The ballast on the fliurescent light.
It was so hot that you couldn't even touch it.
I disconnected it, and we ran it for another hour just to MAKE SURE thats all it was.
Problem gone!
Wired in a new fixture, and off to the races!
1 satisfied customer.