Should the Cen-tech IR Thermometer have a laser?

[newcomtd]

I bought the IR thermometer from Harbor Freight last night and there is no laser to indicate what you are pointing at. Should it have a laser?

 

[begreen]

Have you checked out the manual? If it is being used correctly, maybe the battery is dead or the unit is defective?

 

[mellow]

Mine has a laser.

 

[newcomtd]

Have you checked out the manual? If it is being used correctly, maybe the battery is dead or the unit is defective?

View attachment 118270

I will check the manual when I get home. Batteries are brand new. The temp readings seem accurate enough (dachshund dog was 86 degrees). I think it is just defective.

 

[Grisu]

My older model has a switch with which I can turn the laser on or off. Maybe you hit that? At the front there should be like a red LED light. That's the "laser".

 

[DanCorcoran]

Yes, mine can be turned on and off. Check the manual.

 

[tekguy]

mine has a laser also, just bough a couple months back, I dont see anyway to turn off but havent really looked

 

[BrotherBart]

I never use mine. Anytime I push the button that lights it the temp reading goes up. Release the button and the temp goes down.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Ours does have the laser.

 

[newcomtd]

I never use mine. Anytime I push the button that lights it the temp reading goes up. Release the button and the temp goes down.

So you are saying it isn't reliable?

 

[BrotherBart]

I am saying it makes my thermo read incorrectly when the "laser" is on.

 

[newcomtd]

Got it. I thought you meant you never use the thermometer.

 

[Sprinter]

I never use mine. Anytime I push the button that lights it the temp reading goes up. Release the button and the temp goes down.

Mine is a different make, but I just tried it and the readings are identical, laser on or off. Just speculating, but could the battery be down?

 

[BrotherBart]

Mine is a different make, but I just tried it and the readings are identical, laser on or off. Just speculating, but could the battery be down?

Nope. I don't know what its problem is. Been that way since I bought it several years ago. I don't mind. I don't need a dot. I know where I am aiming it.

 

[Sprinter]

I bought the IR thermometer from Harbor Freight last night and there is no laser to indicate what you are pointing at. Should it have a laser?

Which one of these is it? http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=infrared thermometer

The first two say that they have it, so it should have a way to turn it on or off with a button.

The third one's manual http://manuals.harborfreight.com/manuals/93000-93999/93984.pdf Makes no mention of it, but it's only good for 482F anyway, so limited usefulness on a stove.

Edit: It looks like the first two only have one button for operation, so for those, it looks like the laser comes on automatically. The third one seems to have a warning label, so it sounds like it should have one but the manual doesn't say.

 

[Sprinter]

Nope. I don't know what its problem is. Been that way since I bought it several years ago. I don't mind. I don't need a dot. I know where I am aiming it.

Have you compared it with a known good one?

FWIW, I rarely use my laser either. Unless I'm trying to torture the dog.

 

[BrotherBart]

I don't have to compare it with anything. When it is displaying a temperature and I turn on the laser and that temp goes up and then goes back down when I turn off the laser that tells me all I need to know.

 

[newcomtd]

So I returned mine to the store and swapped it with another one. The laser works on the new one. There is not a separate switch to turn on the laser. It comes on automatically when the trigger is pulled.

I don't need a dot. I know where I am aiming it.

This makes it sound like we are talking about a firearm haha.

 

[mellow]

Really, they must have changed the design, my left button under the screen turns the laser off and on.