Are all infrared guns created equal? Which is the best option for me to compare to a magnetic condor.
IR Gun
- Thread starter G6 at Snook TX
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I purchased mine through amazon.com and used the reviews there vs. price I could afford to help make my decision when purchasing one.
I would recommend one that reads to 1000°F
pen
I would recommend one that reads to 1000°F
pen
DanCorcoran
Minister of Fire
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
There will be tolerances with all of them. Probably if you took 4 or 5 of them and compared, they'd all be within 20 degrees more or less. Just get one and use it; you'll like it.
The three biggest differences will be:
Temperature range (should go to 1000º as Pen said)
Distance:spot ratio (12:1 is nice since you can get an accurate reading from farther away)
Durability (drop a Fluke and it'll probably survive, drop a cheapie and you may need a new one)
You can also get units that accept thermocouple probes (mine does) and adjustable emissivity (mine has it but I never use it), but for stoves the cheaper ones will do just fine. I think they are extremely useful tools, and you will find out all kinds of interesting things besides how hot the upper left hand corner of your insert is.
The accuracy of all of these units is very high compared to a magnetic thermo. +/- a few % throughout the entire range. And the response time is practically instantaneous (one second or less).
This is a real nice unit put out by a real instrument company. They have a one year warranty and lifetime phone support with a real engineer. I've called three times so far, and these guys will talk all day long if you keep pumping them for info.
$49
http://www.instrumart.com/products/10228/sixth-sense-lt100-infrared-thermometer
Temperature range (should go to 1000º as Pen said)
Distance:spot ratio (12:1 is nice since you can get an accurate reading from farther away)
Durability (drop a Fluke and it'll probably survive, drop a cheapie and you may need a new one)
You can also get units that accept thermocouple probes (mine does) and adjustable emissivity (mine has it but I never use it), but for stoves the cheaper ones will do just fine. I think they are extremely useful tools, and you will find out all kinds of interesting things besides how hot the upper left hand corner of your insert is.
The accuracy of all of these units is very high compared to a magnetic thermo. +/- a few % throughout the entire range. And the response time is practically instantaneous (one second or less).
This is a real nice unit put out by a real instrument company. They have a one year warranty and lifetime phone support with a real engineer. I've called three times so far, and these guys will talk all day long if you keep pumping them for info.
$49
http://www.instrumart.com/products/10228/sixth-sense-lt100-infrared-thermometer
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
For the money, I've been pretty happy with my $30 Harbor Freight IR gun . . . it goes high enough in terms of temp . . . I mean I got it to compare the temps of my other thermometer . . . and to shoot temps of the hearth, walls, wife, etc. so I don't need it to be 100% accurate . . . just want to know how hot or cold things are . . . such as the hearth, walls, wife, etc.
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
CTYank said:
Well seeing as though typing in "infrared gun" does bring up a bunch of sites selling the infrared thermometer . . . and most "shoot" a laser beam pointer . . . I would say it's fair to call it an IR gun . . . although I always have called it an IR thermometer.
It is slang and it appears no one was lost in translation. By the way, some of the products on Amazon are described as an "HDE Temperature Gun". Overall CTYank, I think many call this making a mountain out of a mole hill.
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
Delta-T said:
Hmmm . . . this explains the old carcass of the 1970s vintage Ford Maverick that is out in the woods and looks pretty beat up. Magnetic Condors (not related to the Californian Condors) must be picking at it.
DanCorcoran
Minister of Fire
I invoke Andrew Jackson as my defense: "He never could trust a man who spelled his words only one way". :cheese:
DanCorcoran
Minister of Fire
firefighterjake said:
Sorry, but I may have an excess of respect for the English language, for some tastes.
It takes so little extra effort to boost the signal/noise ratio of communications. At least, face-to-face with someone, you have other cues available to defuzzify communication. My first guess was that Texans were kind of obsessed with portable firearms- this thing with interstate carry permits, now.
And ... remember the song with R. Lee Ermey and the Marine "boots" in "Full Metal Jacket"- "This Is My Weapon, This Is My Gun"?
CTYank said:
Meanwhile, where were we? :-S
Some give respect for proper English, others give respect for staying on topic. Let's find a happy medium.
pen
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