Well, if you are looking for peace of mind, there is a rather inexpensive IR imager that one can find based on the MLX90640 thermal imager. Think of it as a poor mans FLIR. I bought one some time ago mainly to identify hot-spots in my PC System builds. But it also let’s you know very quickly if you have a short or something is about to burn out.
Here’s the search term on Amazon but anything that has the MLX90640 sensor will give you the exact same image. The difference between the models are just screen size and other bells and whistles like the ability to record to an SD Card. Otherwise, there isn’t much of a difference and they range in price between $60-$120 USD.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=MLX90640+Infrared+Thermal+Imager&i=industrial
Here’s an example of what an object looks like on the bed of my P1 during a print.
Here’s an example of a the print bed when I wasn’t sure if it was heating correctly.
They all have a resolution of 240x320. You want to avoid the ones that state they are “AMG8833 MLX90640” those are made by the same company and they are a scam. The AMG8833 is only an 8x8 Panasonic sensor and the MLX90640 is a Melexis 240x320 sensor. They don’t even look the same. They are mutually exclusive to one another, and the ones that advertise an AMG8833 only have a 64 pixel resolution and look horrible. I have both. I even built an AMG8833 with an Arduino so I know it’s limitations first hand.
Here’s how to spot the fakes. The Panasonic (bad)sensor is a rectangle.
The Melaxis (good)sensor is a circular tube. This is from mine.
