Heat doesn’t lie.
At TESS, one of the services we’re proud to offer yacht owners and crews is Infrared (IR) Thermographic Surveying — a non-invasive inspection technique that lets us “see” electrical problems long before they become visible, audible, or catastrophic.
What Is an IR Survey?
Using a calibrated thermal imaging camera, our certified thermographers scan a vessel’s electrical systems — starting with the Main Switchboard (MSB) and distribution boards throughout the yacht — to capture thermal images of every connection, breaker, busbar, and component under normal operating load.
Because every electrical fault generates heat before it generates failure, a thermal camera can reveal problems that are completely invisible to the naked eye.
What We’re Looking For
When our team reviews the thermal images, we’re specifically hunting for the early warning signs of electrical failure:
- Loose or corroded connections — these create resistance, and resistance creates heat. A connection running hotter than its neighbors is often the first sign of a joint working itself loose from vibration, thermal cycling, or the marine environment.
- Overloaded circuits — components carrying more current than they’re rated for will run hot, showing up clearly against surrounding equipment operating normally.
- Failing or degraded electronics — breakers, contactors, fuses, and other components nearing the end of their service life often show abnormal heat signatures before they fail outright.
- Imbalanced loads — differences in temperature across phases can point to load imbalance that stresses the system over time.
Why It Matters on a Yacht
A vessel’s electrical infrastructure works in one of the harshest environments there is — constant vibration, humidity, salt air, and temperature swings. Connections that were torqued perfectly at commissioning can loosen over seasons of operation. A hot spot hiding inside a distribution board isn’t just an efficiency issue — left unaddressed, it’s a path to:
- Unplanned equipment failure and costly downtime
- Damaged components and expensive replacements
- Electrical fires — one of the most serious risks aboard any vessel
Catching these issues during a scheduled IR survey means they get corrected during planned maintenance — not discovered mid-charter or mid-crossing.
A Real Example From the Field
Here’s an actual thermal image captured during one of our TESS surveys — a section of an MSB showing three breakers side by side.
Notice the center breaker running noticeably warmer than the two adjacent to it, at approximately 31.6°C. What makes this a good finding rather than a concerning one is the pattern: the heat is uniform across the entire body of the breaker, not concentrated at a single terminal or connection point. A loose connection or failing contact typically shows up as a sharp, localized hot spot right at the joint — not an even temperature rise across the whole component.
Read side-by-side, the picture is simple: thermography is inherently comparative. The two outer breakers are reading closer to ambient because they’re carrying little to no load, while the center breaker is warmer because it’s actively energized. And at roughly 31°C, this differential is well within normal operating behavior for electronics of this type — not an exceedance that would call for corrective action.
This is exactly why survey interpretation matters as much as the image itself. Not every temperature difference on a distribution board is a red flag — and knowing the difference between “this component is working” and “this component is failing” is what a certified thermographer brings to the table.
Why TESS
- Qualified, certified thermographers — our team holds professional thermography certification, so the images we capture are read with real expertise, not guesswork.
- Precision equipment — our thermal cameras are calibrated annually to ensure every survey delivers accurate, reliable, and repeatable data.
- Actionable reporting — every survey is backed by a clear report identifying findings, severity, and recommended action, giving owners and captains the information they need to plan maintenance with confidence.
Prevention beats repair — every time. Reach out to TESS to schedule your vessel’s next IR survey.
#TESS #Thermography #YachtMaintenance #InfraredSurvey #MarineElectrical #PreventiveMaintenance #SuperyachtIndustry
