Just an example how PDXinspections uses technology to spot things that others cannot during our pre-purchase used car inspection. We use our infrared camera on every inspection to test and actually be able to show our clients that the heated seats, rear defroster, heated windshield, heated steering wheel, A/C performance, dual climate operation and anything that gives off a heat signature.
I being the car guy was asked to take a look at one of our firefighters vehicles. She just recently purchased a 1989 Jeep Cherokee and was complaining of her battery repeatedly going dead and having to jump start the vehicle. I put the Jeep on a charger for about 30 minutes and went to go test the battery and noticed that there was an electrical draw on the system. I went out to grab my amp-meter to check for a draw and decided to grab my infrared camera as well. I figured if there’s and electrical draw there has to be heat! Because the vehicle was cold from sitting in the shop on the charger for 30 minutes I figured I could see the draw instead of hooking up my amp-meter and going through the long drawn out process of diagnosing an electrical draw. About 5 seconds after looking into the cab of the Cherokee I found the issue. This Jeep has power seats that stay energized even with the key out of the car instead of via a switched ignition circuit. Sure enough the drivers seat adjuster switch was glowing and I noticed that over the years the button had become grimy and it was stuck in the down position after she likely brushed it when exiting the vehicle.