Sound differences between Copper and Aluminum Bus Bar Electrical Panels

For an example say the arcing is happening on a breaker contact to bus tie connection near the breaker that feeds the audio system.

With the dead front/panel cover installed on the electrical panel there is a good chance the home owner will/would never know there is an acing problem in the panel. (Note the arcing in the video was somewhat intermittent and small. Not all that much heat being generated.) If the bus in the panel is copper the problem might go on for along time. In fact a very long time. If the arcing grew worse over time the heat built up might cause the thermal unit of the breaker to trip the breaker open. But like most home owners the person will just reset the tripped breaker and hope that all it was.

LOL, of course the guy is still chasing his noise problem with his audio system, thinking it has to be grounding problem. Right?

What if the bus in the panel is aluminum? My bet the bus in the video is aluminum, not copper. Depending on the connected load the aluminum will start melting if the heat gets high enough. Not a lot a first but as it melts, even a little bit, the arcing increases because of the resistance created in the poor connection being created between the breaker contact and the aluminum connecting bus tie. More arcing, more heat, more burning, more melting. The arcing can still go on for a long time without causing a serious problems. Other than driving the guy nuts trying to find why his audio system has a buzzing sound, or what ever.. LOL, got to be a grounding problem, Right?

Eventually in time the breaker to bus tie connection will fail. Usually the fix ends up being a new electrical panel.

For a new install I would only install a panel with copper bus. But that’s just me.

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Or.... You could just build an RF probe for way less than a thermal imaging camera costs. 

Then what?

 This is not a DIY situation where a home owner should stick his fingers inside an electrical panel to attempt solving a hot spot, or worse, an arcing problem.

For the price of a 1 hour service call to an electrical contractor, that has the proper test equipment, not only will the electrician find any possible hot spots in the panel, the trained/qualified electrician will know how to fix the problem . He/she will determine exactly what is causing the hot spot, and or arcing problem and fix, repair, or replace a breaker/s that is causing the problem.

Just one example that could be the cause.  The contact in a breaker could be faulty and slightly arcing under a normal connected load. (An occasional higher connected load, like a portable vacuum cleaner, the arcing could/would be considerably greater. (Typically a 12 amp load.)  The heat being created could/will be transferred to the female contact clamping device that plugs-on to the bus tie of the panel bus. Heat over time can cause the contact clamping device to loose its' ability to keep a good positive holding pressure against both sides of the bus breaker connecting tie. Poor contact pressure can/will produce heat in the poor connection. Now there are two heat generating sources.

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I'm not sure what your whole point is. I don't see why I couldn't figure that out or fix it. I'm hardly afraid of 120 volts. I installed all kinds of smart switches on live wiring at my friend's place back in January. A $5 AM pocket radio would find that fault more effectively that a $1000 IR camera. That problem doesn't warrant the most technologically advanced diagnosis and analysis possible. "Hey! Arching breakers! Guess I'm going to Home Depot tomorrow!" Problem solved.