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Laser Thermometer

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DougF

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My laser thermometer just came in the mail this AM. I bought it as a sales sample and still had to pay dearly for it. If I had only had it while chasing an overheating problem, I would have saved a lot of money.
They are nice though for finding dead cylinders, radiator clogs, etc..
Technology is incredible that you can stand ten feet away from something, push a button and get a surface temperature reading that is accurate within 2%. I don't understand it. It's one of those head shaking marvels.
 
they use something similar on minesite conveyor systems to monitor hotspots in order to presuppose breakdowns
 
Well, first of all they aren't really that accurate ... the spec quoted assumes you know perfectly what the emittance (or emissivity) of the surface is and have compensated for it. But it varies widely :
https://www.pyrometry.com/emissivity.php

And the operation has nothing to do with lasers, the laser (if any) is only to show you where the device is pointing (more or less). They actually work by measuring how bright the infrared light coming off the surface is.

Still pretty neat, though.
 
I have one and have found it not to very accurate +/- 3 deg.

Pat
 
Accurate...well, who knows for sure.

I bought one, not too high...I think about $60, and wanted to see what it would read on boiling water...since that was critical in enjoying the old TR3 during a hot summer in Georgia. Now if I remember eigth grade science class correctly water boils at around 212 degrees F...and unless it's under pressure it should remain around 212. Problem is, water is clear so if you put a pan on the stove and boil water, when you try to take a reading it's probably coming from the bottom of the pan...sitting on the element/flame...and it's way over 212. So, I dropped in an egg...waited five minutes...and took a reading on the top of the submerged egg.

210 degrees...close enough...oh, and you get to eat the egg.

Ray
 
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