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Infrared Thermometer Comments

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wdavidhicks

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Raytek's high quality infrared thermometers will cost you more than your stock nitro truck. These thermometers are fantastic with their pinpoint laser focus, accuracy, wide range and high response time.

If you have a work-related need for one of these sweet pieces of electronics, (logging operating temps of industrial compressors, motors, machinery or electrical panels) I would certainly have it handy while I was tuning.

I don't have a need. My job is creating a user-friendly computing environment. The mechanics get all the really cool toys.

I bought Radio Shack's infrared thermometer part #22-325.

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog_name=CTLG&category_name=&product_id=22-325

I guess these things are regularly about $50, but they're currently on sale for $29.99. They have a range of 0-400°F. They are infrared but are not laser-sighted. Not being laser-sighted they need to be as close as possible to the target whose temperature is in question. The spendy Rayteks can be laser-sighted at the cherry of a cigarette from across the room.

I'm currently rebuilding a Maxx but when it's "bash-ready" I'll acquire the Raytek and conduct a more comparitive analysis.
 
yeah, I forgot to mention that... I had to call about a half dozen stores to find one that had them in stock.

I looked at your location. You'll be able to find it locally before someone in Fumbuck, ND.
 
I have both.
The RS unit is cheep and better than nothing. It must be held as close as possible to the plug. Every inch you are away from the heat source the the measurement circle grows by one inch.If you are 2 inches away it is measuring a 2inch circle. The farther away the less accurate it is.

The more expensive units keep the point of measurement small I believe the Raytek 1 inch per 5,000 feet.

You get what you pay for but a cheep one is better than none at all.

I have had my Raytek for almost 2 years now and I know it has saved me money in the long-run.

Your best bet if you want a RS Unit is to order it from their website.
 
The laser point is virtually useless in regards to temping a motor. unless you plan to check the temps of your heating ducts from 10 feet away save a couple of bucks and get the one without the laser.
 
I have the Radio Shack model, and as of this past weekend, the Craftsmen model. Ill tell ya, the things I like better about the Craftsmen are as follows:

Takes plain ole AAA batteries :)
Has laser sight :)
Will hold the highest temp hit :)

The AAA's are cheap and in some peoples boxes they already have rechargeables. The laser sight is just cool as shiznizzles. And when I talk about the highest temp hit, I tell you that kicks ass. Reason being, when you are moving your temp gun around you can sometimes miss on the display what the highest temp hit was. With this one, it will keep taking temp continually and only display the highest one hit. You can also use the traditional view where the temp constantly changes.

All in all, I like the Craftsmen one MUCH better than the RS one and its not that much more.

I dont have a Raytek so I can't tell you anything about it.
 
That Craftsman sounds pretty good! How much was that, Christian?
 
IMO the laser is a must.
It shows you exactly where you are taking your reading.
The small reading aria is a great feature as well, you can take a reading from the intake side of the head next to the plug and the exhaust side next to the plug to compare. With out a laser or if the aria that the reading is being taken is to large, how accurate is the temp?

Chris, do you know what the reading size V distance proportions are for the Craftsmen?
 
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Would this be it? It's around $50. Here's a link for more info.
03482327000-dlv.jpg
Temp Gun
 
i agree with eddy - i use the raytek model, although mine is actually from snap on. i paid 100.00 not cheap - but it is perfectly accurate. i have tried the model without the laser - and i personally find it useless. it fluctuates as much as 40 degrees, and is never the same as my laser model.
 
I have the RS one in the above link. I ordered it off the website. I can get a pretty good reading (+- 10 degrees between readings) if I hold it really really close to the glow plug and make sure I point straight down.

-Rob
 
I have the rs one and it works fine. It will also go up to 400 degree's. I notice on the craftsman one that it only goes up to 270.
 
thats because crapsman tools suck balls. they are sears junk. My snap on laser reads up to 999.9
 
Originally posted by bloodredmaxx
I have the rs one and it works fine. It will also go up to 400 degree's. I notice on the craftsman one that it only goes up to 270.
Click to expand...

You might want to read that info again it is 270 celsius which converts to approximately 518 Farenheit. Sorry just wanted to make sure that everyone was clear on the temps. no flame intended
 
the RS one is made by Rayteck. I have the RS one and have had no problems with it. I use it to guage my own tuning abilities, not as a crutch. You might also want to look at
tempgun for another inexpensive option.
 
I did an article on temp-gun.com
https://www.rcnitrotalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4175
Again to use it you need to be right on the object. The place you need to measure the temp is right on the plug or on ether side of it. The plug sits over an inch from the top of the head. With any of the less expensive guns, the aria you are measuring is over an inch in diameter. This means you are not only measuring the temp of the plug and the bottom of the head but also the surrounding aria. Your measurement wont be near as accurate.

I have both types and have taken a serious look at how they work. Again any temp gun is better than none but there is no substitute for a top quality tool.
 
Now this is a honest question and not to be inflammatory, but how far away from the head or crankcase do you take your readings~? The laser is 1/2 inch from the center of the sensor, the spot is 1 inch in size from 8 inches away, now when I check my head temp my raytek is almost touching the head, I couldn't see the laser even if I had one, and even for the crankcase, I may be able to see the laser, but I can't see it possible that the laser would be dead center at 2 or 3 inches.
 
The Craftsmen is fine, not a piece o shiat. lol And no, Craftsmen isnt a Snap-On, but, I can replace my tools free for life and paid a quarter of the cost. If I wrenched on cars or planes for a living THEN I would go with Snap-on, maybe.

The Price is 45$ for the Craftsmen gun and here are the specs:

•Max button display maximum measurement
•Measuring ratio 1:6 target to distance (1 in. spot at 6 in.)
Accurate to 6 feet
•Measures -58 to 518 deg. Farenheit or -20 to 270 deg. Celsius with 2.5% accuracy
•LCD displays temp instantly,
•2 AAA batteries, not included, Disposable or rechargeable
•Item Weight 0.19 lbs.

Ill crack it open and find out if it has the same board as a RayTek. Most likely it does but I dont know for sure, YET.

In all seriousness, the really KICKASS option about the craftsmen in the Max-Temp-Hold. When you have it on, you can pan the laser around the ENTIRE interior area of the head (by the plug) and the highest temp hit by the gun is what you see. Or, you can view it classic style where the temp is always changing. The high temp hold makes getting your highest reading QUICK.

In no way am I trying to knock the steam out of the RayTek. Its a great gun. I've used them. I'm just providing an objective review of the new one I use now.

Oh, I almost forgot, you can shut the laser off too if you dont want to use it......
 
I got a RS-Raytek too, I say get somthing. No matter which one you get your sure to save money by not cooking your engine.
 

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