IR Temp Gun

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grashley

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This may be an oxymoron - buying a camper and worrying about spending $10 for a bad item, but..

I am looking at IR temp guns.  Harbor Freight - reg $29, sale for $19
E Bay  Brands like  Lumsing, Flaank, NuBee,  Greenpro, and Generic  for $9 to $13.

Any comments on good or bad units are appreciated.  If the $9 NuBee is as good as the others, why spend any more!
 
Depends what you need it for. The major difference will be precision. I believe mine is a Flaank (or at least something starting with an F) and it was 12 bucks. I?ve had it for two years and it still works. I use it to test the temp inside ferment jars when I make sauerkraut and to look for hotspots on the tires when I took the camper out. I aim it at the cat for fun to see what he?s running at.

In contrast, I use one at work that was somewhere in the hundreds of dollars and seems to work the same...
 
The big problem with these IR thermometers is you never know how big the spot size is or exactly where they are pointing.  Some will measure a pinpoint at 5 ft others will average across something the size of a silver dollar at 5 ft.  Also you need to understand they measure emisivity not actual temperature, so color of the surface being measured matters, with reflective metallic surfaces you will often be getting a measure of whatever is being reflected (sky, sun, etc.)
 
Unless it's calibrated and you are adjusting for emissivity of the surface, the reading is mostly just a relative thing.  the cheap ones have been fine in my experience.  I have a pretty good one by raytek, and a cheap one bought from amazon or someplace....
back in the early/mid 1990's I used these things at work some times, in my job as maintenance engineer doing preventive/predictive work.  They were really high dollar items back then
 
Another thing to consider with an IR type device is that you are measuring temperatures at the surface of the tire, which will be the coolest part of it.....not the internal temperature and into the cords/carcass of the tire.  There will be a significant difference between surface temperature and internal/carcass temperature.  Personally, I would save my money and buy a quality TPMS system that displays both the pressure of the tire and obviously the internal temperature of the tire.
 
I bought a cheap one at Canadian Tire. I use it to check my tires on the coach, as well as rim temps on my trailers. I think as long as you dont need to know exactly what the temperature is, they are fine. What they are good for is telling you if one thing is hotter than the rest. This will help identify a problem in the making.
 
Thanks all!

Xrated, I do have a TPMS.  This will be for LP tank levels, bearing temp, etc and not tires.  Good point, though.  Others who read this may need that caution!
 
I have a cheap unit at work that we use for reference rather than actual readings. We record the temps of bearings, heads of the air compressor and such. We can tell if something isn't right by comparing to the recorded history. Great tool, and has saved us by avoiding unscheduled repairs.
 
grashley said:
Thanks all!

Xrated, I do have a TPMS.  This will be for LP tank levels, bearing temp, etc and not tires.  Good point, though.  Others who read this may need that caution!

You know, I never thought of using it for LP tank levels!  Let me know how that works out.....it seems to be a great idea....hmm, I may bring mine out of retirement if that works.
 
Buy a cheap one, then point it at your forehead to check calibration.  It should read 98.6, then allow for any difference when using it.
 
lynnmor said:
Buy a cheap one, then point it at your forehead to check calibration.  It should read 98.6, then allow for any difference when using it.
Works better if you point it in your ear or in your throat-not right after drinking a cold, or hot drink. Skin is too variable---one of the reasons the forehead thermometers are so unpredictable. The best thing about those is that they're fast.
Bob
 
The problem here is that emissivity of skin is different from the emissivity of a rubber tire so even if both were the same actual temperature you would get 2 very different readings.  What it may be better for is comparing 4 or 6 tires and seeing one of these things is not like the others.
 
X

To use on LP tank, pour a pot of HOT water down the side of the tank.  Tank temp above LP level will be higher than below, as the LP will absorb the heat much better than vapors.  No real accurate readings needed. At what point does the temp change.
 
I bought one for ~ $25 from Amazon. Like others have said, using it for tires can be iffy but I use mine to check wheel and hub temperatures every time I fuel. If there is a hub running hotter than the others, I know it needs attention.
 
Used the temp gun for years when I raced sports cars.  After each practice, ran the beam across the tires to check for hot spots and adjust tire pressure.  Also great for checking the radiator for hot and cold spots.  If a engine was mis firing, we would check each exhaust pipe to see if one was cooler than the others.

Bill Dane
99 Country Coach
 
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