Infrared temperature heat guns

[Chuck_Hammer]

mine came from Sears, Craftsmen.. had it for years.


I used it mostly for troubleshooting engine running issues.. exhaust temperatures for poorly running engines.. I am NOW a retired auto mechanic.


and the temp. Gun is now used to measure tires, hubs, brakes.
.
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[Tireman9]

A number of different units out there for $20 to $15,000 or more

Some are good for checking conductive materials such as wheels, hubs, oven trays, refrigeration coils or wine bottles but none I know of for less than a few thousand $ are of much use in providing reliable, meaningful or useful readings for tires.

I covered the problem of using IR guns on tires in my blog post on the topic.

It is too easy to get a reading and be mislead into thinking the number you got represents a temperature of the critical part of a tire.

TPMS pressure readings can be meaningful and can provide early warning of air loss. By the time you get a temperature reading high enough with a hand gun you are probably looking at a failed tire.
Even temperature readings from retail or OE TPMS are not much more than entertaining numbers that change on a display.

[baraff]

Also a Ryobi from Home Despot. I use it all the time, mostly to sanity check the coolant temps on my 2 old British sports cars. The gauges are notoriously inaccurate; when it says it's overheating, it's really only 183º.
Also makes a great cat toy (laser pointer).

[Pigman1]

A cheapie from Harbor freight. Use on tires and bearings and really don't care about exact temps.

[RogerRoll]

Mine (and I assume they're all like this) shows the "cone" that it uses to average the temperatures it sees within the target.
Translation: the distance to the target surface has an effect on the reading. If you hold the gun 3 feet from the tire, you'll get the average temp of a good swath of said tire/wheel/fender. Hold it close to take a more precise reading.


2010 Winnebago Aspect 28B

[lonfu]

HF, best investment I have ever made. I can now tell what the temp of my big mouth is after talking for a long time. Haven't tried the other end......

[TXiceman]

Originally Posted by Migkiller

Plus other items as well, like a/c vents.

Thanks

Chuck

They do not work well of A/C vents. They do not read the air temperature, but do read the temperature of the plastic or metal vent...not a true air temperature.

Ken

[RogerRoll]

Originally Posted by lonfu

Haven't tried the other end......

Hey! No politics on this forum!!!
😜


2010 Winnebago Aspect 28B

[timetogo]

I have one but still touch my tires and hubs with my hand. Faster and I've touched them enough to know if one is hotter than the rest.

[TeJay]

As with most items like this it is just another tool in the arsenal of tools to make us more aware of our mechanical items. Even if I am reading the plastic or metal furnace or AC vent it's still an indication of relative working effectiveness. If the vent is at 58# I'm betting the air is pretty close to the same.

Your hand or the standard wooden tire thump-er also work to check for proper tire pressures and don't require batteries.

Hey for $20 they are great and they do the job. No one should be without one. When traveling and when home I'm usually looking for mine at least once every few weeks to check something.

TeJay

[Melmoses]

I have a Raytek and use it a lot. On tires and hubs a rest areas, engine problems (live on a farm), and ac vents. To measure the vents I put the gun right in the vent. Just told me my front ac wasn't working right. I have also used it to check the front DS of the Jeep since that's where our exhaust on the coach is, checking to see if regeneration has occurred recently. It has a lot of uses around home and the coach for me.

[SpaceNorman]

I've got a cheap one that I picked up off of Amazon for roughly $25 ... it works fine for me. Like most folks - it gets used to check tires, hubs, exhaust temps, etc. I also use it for checking the heating and cooling. When checking A/C vents, I aim for the little square of reflective foil that's visible in all of my vents behind the louvers). When checking heating - I check the front plate of the heat registers. If you check stuff with any regularity - it won't be long before you have a good sense of what normal looks like allowing you to spot abnormal pretty quickly.

[TQ60]

We have some rate and a more expensive one for automotive that we use seldom. Higher range for exhaust.

They are great tools when they are understood.

A major weak point is the reading is dependent on the target surface as the reflection properties can effect the way heat radiates from surface.

We used them as part of battery maintenance program and had inconsistent readings that caused problems.

The solution was printing labels "scan ir here" and labels placed in same spot so consistent readings.

As posted above they do not measure air so for ac use the pocket stick is still good but one can scan the vents or items that the air touches.

They are great for checking breakers and other items by indicating differences in temperatures.

The cheapest one works just as well as the most expensive ones for general "hunting"

Simple test is your body temp...They seldom are close...

[pasdad1]

Also know that they are not reading just a "pinpoint" spot where the laser is pointing. The area they "read" gets larger with the distance between the gun and the object. The instructions usually point this out, but some may not.