its me again- with another insane question about my IR thermo-thingy! - now is your chance to ignore

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APersonalMatter

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Nov 11, 2010
39
Coastal MA
heyyo folks!

so im burning along- the stove top temp via my less-than-expensive IR gun says 460... i have a porcelain coated cast iron pot with water on top.. it is steaming, but not a ton, and certainly not bubbling.. the IR gun reads the water temp at 160.. the fan, set on low, is still coming on and off intermittently..

is there a chance that my IR gun is reading way low on higher temperatures? i zapped the oven at 450 with it and it read in the 550s... could it possible read hot temperatures that much higher? i know that when it reaDS close to 700 i start to pace up and down, thought the stove seems to be burning well, secondaries, slow flames, clean window, fan constantly on even at med., nothing visibly concerning- but right now, at 465 (according to the gun), there are no secondaries, fan on and off, door not dirty, but not sparkling clean either, so it seems like the stove is cooler than that...

any ideas to more accurately gauge the functioning of the IR gun besides the oven, or should that be a good sign it is a bit wonky?

bwajaja thanks for the input again!
 
oh and the IR gun in question is an extech 42505, cheap(ish) special at lowes... couldnt fin many reviews on the model whether this is could be a common thing or just my imagination- mayb e a slightly older model?
 
If your water is not boiling, then I'd say the thermometer is probably pretty close. You can use a meat thermometer to check the water temperature. Different substances have different emissivity values, so if your thermometer has a non-adjustable emissivity setting, your reading will be off if the item you are measuring is considerably different than the fixed standard value.
 
im pretty sure its measurement of the water temp was reasonable accurate- it was as hot as my shower in the morning (courtesy of a not-so-bright test of sticking my finger in the water..). wouldnt it be hotter if my stove top was actually the 465 the IR gun was reading?
 
APersonalMatter said:
im pretty sure its measurement of the water temp was reasonable accurate- it was as hot as my shower in the morning (courtesy of a not-so-bright test of sticking my finger in the water..). wouldnt it be hotter if my stove top was actually the 465 the IR gun was reading?
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Nope--it's cooled by evaporation.

Think about it another way--if you want to boil water on an electric stove--the coils need to be red hot (~ 1000°F) to get there quickly. At a lower setting and without a lid, it will not boil on the stove.
 
IR guns are used in the food service industry to check for safe temps. With hot liquids you have to stir them and read them while the liquid is still moving. Best reading I ever got was a little over 200º, about five seconds after I stopped stirring it after getting it to a full rolling boil.
 
APersonalMatter said:
im pretty sure its measurement of the water temp was reasonable accurate- it was as hot as my shower in the morning (courtesy of a not-so-bright test of sticking my finger in the water..). wouldnt it be hotter if my stove top was actually the 465 the IR gun was reading?
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I doubt your shower was that hot! Check the water temperature sometime when you shower and you might be amazed at how low (relatively) is is. Maybe 105-110 at most?
 
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