I don't recall exact prices, $500 seems high but I'm not sure There are other manufacturers that you could check out. The first that comes to mind is Extech. Also a company called Omega carries many types of instruments. Both have websites you can find through a search engine.
Chet Guilford
Look at Raytek. I think I saw one at Grainger in the $100 range.
Prices vary depending on the quality of the unit. For a good high end industrial unit you are looking at $500 or so. You may be able to do with less on the upper end of the scale and get one for closer to $100.
You can start looking here:
http://www.raytek-northamerica.com/cat.html?cat_id=2.3
I didn't see any prices, but if you look around on the net you'll get some idea.
Charles
Dennis,
I have used, or should I say, tried to use electronic laser type thermometers. We had to stop using them because the manufacture of our units stated that error would occur on material that was reflective. Since most of what we inspect has been prepped for inspection, meaning that it is reflective in nature, or shinny, we 86ed all that we had. Before you buy something like this, check for that. If there can be any error because of the surface condition of the part under examination, you probably will not be allowed to use it.
The Raytek Raynger models have an adjustment to compensate for shiny vs. dull materials. The procedure to adjust it is included in the instruction manual.
That is a good point. Does anyone have a good explanation to why an infra-red thermometer gives false readings on aluminum??
qcmike
Mike,
All different particles emit and absorb different light waves at a certain temperature, they don't just reflect the ambient light. This is true for all wavelengths, such as infrared.
I have had a lot of experience (eg close interaction) with extremely hot ceramic coated exhaust tubes because they do not "emit" heat very well, so you cannot tell that they are hot like you can with normal exhaust. But they are the same temperature as a normal exhaust, therefore, the big burn on the inside of my arm. We coated the exhaust tube for rule purposes, and the rule stated that the temp of the exhaust had to be less than 150 F when measured with an infrared heat gun. We passed.
gls
catalog page from Professional Equipment with lots of info.:
http://www.professionalequipment.com/xq/ASP/laserthermometer_temperature/ID.22/qx/default.htm
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