Rodbr Posted January 10, 2014 Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 This is coming up from Lidl 16/01/14 and for the price may give a window on the cooling system. http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/SID-18BA967A-34A4A62C/www_lidl_uk/hs.xsl/our-offers-2491.htm?action=showDetail&id=9087&ar=11 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don H. Posted January 10, 2014 Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 I have two of those, both almost exactly like the Lidl unit shown below but for different colored plastics and stickers. There's a factory in China turning these out in big numbers. Got one for £7 and the other for about £10 (which were both really good deals -- a typical good price here is around £25, so the £18 Lidl price is a deal by any standard. They're terrific -- I use it all the time, for all kinds of things. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steves_TR6 Posted January 11, 2014 Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 We use these on motorcycle track days to check tyre temps. Nice cheap item :-) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted January 11, 2014 Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 About as much use as a chocolate frog on a Tr Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SeanM Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 Neil, how accurate is the chocolate frog? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alec Pringle Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 Trouble with the chocolate frog is that it gets eaten before it has a chance to melt . . . . For £18 these have got to be better than a poke up the bum with a burnt stick. So cheap it's silly. I remember getting a not dissimilar unit for the race team in the late 70s, you could have bought a half decent TR for what it cost. Cheers Alec Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pfenlon Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 Had one for years, invaluable tool, but Neil is correct, his cars have neither a radiator, heater element, or engine, his finger is slightly charred from holding said frog, near the very warm bits. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Harvey Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Been shooting twice this week could do with one of these to check the heat loss from my wallet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueTR3A-5EKT Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 A great diagnostic tool at a reasonable price. Got mine years ago to check thermostat housing outlet temp and radiator outlet pipe temps on the TR. Also used it on the outlet hot water supply from CH boilers with a flow check to find out if the heat exchanger is doing its job to spec. Will also check temp drop across a domestic radiator so you can balance the inlet/outlet valves to achieve the fabled 6 degree drop. (a debatable figure) Cheers Peter W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 I will sick to touch and the temp gauge thanks,try it against a good one Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rodbr Posted January 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Hi Neil, You must have asbestos fingers if you rely on touch. I am quite surprised with accuracy of it and have found lots of uses already and only got it yesterday. The heat loss around windows and cavity insulated walls is quite surprising. UPVC frames do not insulate very well. It is just another tool in the toy box and useful for indications of temperature deviation. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don H. Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 (edited) Good job, Rod. You'll find lotsa things to do with an IR thermometer. Mind the field of view. The measurement is a cone, not the tiny point of the laser pointer, of course, and getting closer to something like a thermostat housing is better to make sure one is only shooting the are of interest. Note also that the emissivity of various surfaces will vary. For a really shiny or polished metal surface it can help to stick a piece of black tape to the surface to approximate black body radiation. (paging Professor Cobbold... Professor Cobbold to the white courtesy telephone, please...) Here's a good discussion on these tools from the folks at Omega, US-based company specializing in all kinds of measurements, especially temperature. http://www.omega.com/prodinfo/infraredthermometer.html Edited January 17, 2014 by Don H. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Zee Germans and Chinese have relieved you of your £20 to tell you it is hot or cold I would go for lunch out instead Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don H. Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Have a chocolate frog for me then, Neil. I'm gonna be playing with toys and won't be able to join ya... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Contrary to popular belief this little gadgets do work. They are not as good as the expensive units (£££££'s) but can give a good understanding of the ball park. The problem with all technology is how it is used. Different surfaces - textures/colours/materials will give different readings for the same temp. The simplest way to even things out is to either paint the surface matt black or stick on a square of black tape. Neils comments come true if you really want an accurate reading. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rodbr Posted January 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Steady on there Neil, Patronising and insulting in the same sentence.......... a bit unnecessary perhaps! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Richard71 Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 To expand on what Roger points out, I have a "Fluke" brand IR thermometer, with this item you can flip open the handle where you'll find a selection of parameter switches, adjust according to which material you wish to measure, aluminium, cast iron etc, compared against the readings of an immersed alcohol/mercury thermometer they give pretty accurate readings. Before anyone asks, I never paid for mine... . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Made my day Land fill fodder ,nope sorry you buy it and then you pay to recycle there goods have a nice weekend Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don H. Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 I've compared measurements from my IR thermometers to other data taken with (1) bimetallic strip "mechanical" surface thermometer, mercury and alcohol fluid thermometers, electrical thermocouple measurements, and side-by-side measurements between IR thermometers. Agreement is generally within +/- 2 C°. That's more than good enough for anything I'm going to use it for. Do you have any actual data to indicate otherwise, Neil, or do you just like pissing in other people's Cheerios? Time to put up or shut up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Don The info is all over the web,and yes I have seen both good and bad in use part of my job. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don H. Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 (edited) OK -- If we look on the web for handheld, homeowner-class IR thermometer accuracy data, Wikipedia has the same values for accuracy as my experience has led me to -- about ±2 C° / 4 F°. Specifications of portable handheld sensors available to the home user will include ratings of temperature accuracy (usually with measurement uncertainty of ±2 °C/±4 °F) and other parameters.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_thermometer Key points that are critical to getting a useful measurement are to (1) understand the measuring spot area vs measurement distance characteristics of the particular device and (2) the IR emissivity of the particular surface being measured. If one gets those wrong, the measurement can have big accuracy problems. Previous posts mentioned both of those, especially the black tape technique. With spot area and emissivity managed appropriately, the accuracy of these little IR thermometers is more than good enough for homeowner use. Edited January 22, 2014 by Don H. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Down Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 I have an Omega IR device that has proved most useful. One of the more obscure uses is measuring the temperature across tyres to check that the alignment is correct surprising how it varies when the tracking is out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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