surface temperature measurement

Can anyone recommend a means of measuring surface temperature of models and parts thereof in the home workshop. I am thinking of a variety of uses for the information eg which paint to use, where insulation is required, gas tanks and their location/specification etc. I have Googled and found that there are hand held point and read devices available in the £50-£100 range but I would appreciate comment from anyone who has had experience with them.

Some time ago I bought one of the hand held infra red thermometers (the type that has a laser spot) from Maplins for £19.99 on offer. I cheked it against my Fluke multimeter and it was suprisingly accurate. I've used it many times around the workshop and it is a very useful thing.

David.

Very useful for setting flow and return temperatures on central heating radiators amongst other uses.

John

After reading the request and the answer about the infra red thermometer.Please tell which model of Fluke are you using. Could it be the 77 on milli volt range.I have two different models of fluke and both are excellent.Ted

I bought this one for £13

Ebay

Edited By David Clark 1 on 09/03/2012 11:41:32

Mine is a 179 which I won by filling in one of those [not so] daft questionairs while waiting in RS. It is a fantastic piece of kit!

I have this Non Contact Digital Thermometer with laser works very well and sensibly priced.

Has no end of uses.

Regards

Paul

These laser point and read devices are particular about the type of surface you point at, best matt and black, not shiny, do noy like bare copper so I have found.

Thanks for the response gents. What an amazing range at knockdown prices. I shall grab one by the weekend.

KWIL, thanks for the tip. Is the laser pointing such that it would focus on a dab of matt black paint on say, a copper component?

Mick

These laser point and read devices are particular about the type of surface you point at

Be aware also that the alignment between the point that the measurement is taken from may not be accurately aligned with the laser dot.

We came across this during attempts to accurately measure temperatures across a flat heating element at work for a development project - the readings from the hand-held meter did not seem "right", judged from readings given from other areas of similar colour (the element was glowing dull red).

Experimentally rotating the meter while keeping the laser spot on the same point gave different readings, suggesting that the actual reading was being taken from one side of the laser spot. In our case, when attempting to take a reading from the LH edge of the element the actual reading was being taken off the side of the element in fresh air & hence gave a much lower result.

This may not matter for large areas, but is something to bear in mind if an accurate spot reading is required.

Nigel B.