laser temp indicators?

Date 12-24-2011 20:51

I bought mine at Northern tool about 5 years ago. Still have it and it works great up to 1000 degrees. Cost about 50 bucks

By joe pirie (***)

Date 12-24-2011 22:52

try comparing that 50.00 gun to a thermal couple or even a temp crayon
the cheap ones arent that accurate

By Cactusthewelder (*****)

Date 12-25-2011 01:36

Well, I have tried it with a Temp Stick as well as a VERY expensive Temp Gun. It seems to be within a couple of degrees +-. So, I figure it's close enough for anything I will do it the Field. Like I said, It works good for me.

By Cumminsguy71 (*****)

Date 12-28-2011 01:16

I bought one off the tool truck about 10-15 years ago, paid an arm and a leg for it way back in "the day". Not sure what brand it is but it was in a toolbox for many years doing everything from valve adjustments to diagnostics. Now it's a good gun for preheat on pipe or whatever else I might be doing. Also fun on the job, for other guys. They see it and start shooting everything they can find just to see what the temp is or how far it can read.

By 803056

Date 12-28-2011 05:44

A word of caution when using the infrared thermometers, they are "calibrated" based on "black body" emissions. In other words, if you are measuring the temperature of the asphalt in the parking lot, they are spot on. However, on highly reflective surfaces their accuracy can suffer.

I always check mine using a thermocouple as a reference. I check the thermocouple using boiling water. That doesn't vary too much unless you are at a very high altitude. That simply confirms the thermocouple is functioning properly.

Then I compare the temperature reading of the infrared thermometer with that obtained using the thermocouple. If they are within 20 degrees or so, that's good enough for work. After all, the minimum preheat is the minimum temperature. If the infrared reads too low, I just compensate for the error.

I use a RadioShack multimeter with a tong meter attachment for current and a thermal couple for temperature. It may have cost around $50. The infrared thermometer is a Ryobi. It seems to work fine. It wasn't that expensive.

Again, the infrared thermometer can provide erroneous readings on surfaces such as stainless, nickel, or aluminum. Black oxide such as that found on hot rolled steel are spot on.

Bob Wiswesser wrote a very good article on the subject for Inspection Trends a little more than a year ago. You can probably find it in the Inspection Trends archives if you visit the website.

Best regards - Al