Condar Inferno

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thinkxingu

Minister of Fire
Jun 3, 2007
1,125
S.NH
Hi There,
Had a Rutland thermometer that I wasn't so sure about (oven said 450, gauge said 400), so I ordered the new Condar Inferno. Came in today (three days shipping, pretty good) and it's really pretty.

Looks much better than the Rutland and it sits on my soapstone much better because the weight is in the middle. Hopefully, she'll read true.

$22 shipped.

S
 
I'm not too concerned with the looks, but accuracy is a problem for me with a lot of these magnetic thermometers. I have one on a stove in my showroom that hasnt been lit for weeks thats reading 250 degrees. It's on a Hearthstone. That is some heat life
 
Franks said:
I'm not too concerned with the looks, but accuracy is a problem for me with a lot of these magnetic thermometers. I have one on a stove in my showroom that hasnt been lit for weeks thats reading 250 degrees. It's on a Hearthstone. That is some heat life

I think you mean "it's on a Blaze King". :lol:
 
Did you buy it from Condar? good point about it setting level, my RUtland always sits a little askew since the magnet doesn't suck it down tight and square. Don't put the condar in the oven, you'll probably find that it also reads wrong since these are surface temp gauges and not oven thermometers. Just go on thinking it is perfect.
 
Highbeam,
I did buy it from Condar--my local dealer said they couldn't order it (I think because they never heard of the new model). As for the oven, I understand it won't be perfect, but 50 degrees is a lot to be off.

S
 
thinkxingu said:
Highbeam,
I did buy it from Condar--my local dealer said they couldn't order it (I think because they never heard of the new model). As for the oven, I understand it won't be perfect, but 50 degrees is a lot to be off.

S
No, it's not. The thermometers are designed to indicate the temperature of a hot surface they're sitting on, while the thermometer body is at a significantly lower temperature. When you test them in the oven, you're heating the whole thing up to a fairly uniform temperature, which is not how they are designed to work, and is not what they are calibrated for.
 
so if it was reading 50 degrees hotter then his oven tempature then it probaly was right on the money
 
brokeburner said:
so if it was reading 50 degrees hotter then his oven tempature then it probaly was right on the money

This is why God invented IR thermometers.
 
Right, but what if it was reading 50 degrees below my oven temp? And besides, even if the body of the thermometer is the same temperature it wouldn't raise or lower the reading by the coil, right? That doesn't seem to make sense to me.

S
 
One can't assume an oven is calibrated correctly unless that has been done with a known reference thermometer. I have seen some ovens that are 50 degrees off one way or another.
 
thinkxingu said:
Right, but what if it was reading 50 degrees below my oven temp? And besides, even if the body of the thermometer is the same temperature it wouldn't raise or lower the reading by the coil, right? That doesn't seem to make sense to me.

S
A stovetop thermometer is designed to function with a thermal gradient, where all the parts are not at the same temperature. The bimetallic coil is not even all at the same temperature when it's on a stovetop, and the thermometer body is much cooler than the stovetop surface. If it's calibrated to read correctly under these conditions, there's no way it would read "correctly" in an oven.
 
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