Thought a brake was hanging up. Got out, and dig the laser aimed
IR thermometer out of my tool box. Go around and check the temps
of the brakes, to find the one running hot.

Other use -- read a thermostat on top of the motor. Find what
temp the thermostat maintains.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

Stormin Mormon wrote:
Thought a brake was hanging up. Got out, and dig the laser aimed
IR thermometer out of my tool box. Go around and check the temps
of the brakes, to find the one running hot.

Other use -- read a thermostat on top of the motor. Find what
temp the thermostat maintains.


ayup, they are very nice when you have a car with an uncalibrated
temperature gauge. Turns out 3/4 scale on a '55 Studebaker converted to
12V with the gauges running off a 6V "Runtz" voltage dropper (probably
not a configuration the factory anticipated G) is about 180 degrees -
a little warm for the stock 160 degree thermostat, but not so bad for a
'63 Avanti engine with a factory 170 degree 'stat, actually running a
180 stat because you can't get a 170 anymore.

Had I not had the IR thermometer, I might have ASSumed that I had an
overheating problem when in fact it was a gauge calibration issue.

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

On Thu, 18 Jan 2007 17:46:27 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

Thought a brake was hanging up. Got out, and dig the laser aimed
IR thermometer out of my tool box. Go around and check the temps
of the brakes, to find the one running hot.

Other use -- read a thermostat on top of the motor. Find what
temp the thermostat maintains.

I don't have a thermal camera, but I did a 'scan' of some walls and
ceilings, and found I had cold spots. I found my IR thermometer very
useful.

tom @ www.MedJobSite.com

Stormin Mormon wrote:

Thought a brake was hanging up. Got out, and dig the laser aimed
IR thermometer out of my tool box. Go around and check the temps
of the brakes, to find the one running hot.

Other use -- read a thermostat on top of the motor. Find what
temp the thermostat maintains.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
.

Yep, they're so useful I keep one in the shop and one in the kitchen.

Pete C.

On Thu, 18 Jan 2007 17:46:27 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

Thought a brake was hanging up. Got out, and dig the laser aimed
IR thermometer out of my tool box. Go around and check the temps
of the brakes, to find the one running hot.

Other use -- read a thermostat on top of the motor. Find what
temp the thermostat maintains.

Does it work for finding cold leaks into the house, or heat leaks out
of the house? I mean, can you point it at the edges of the door or
window or pipe and get a temp reading off of air that is blowing in or
out, or do only solid things radiate IR?

Point it up at the zenith of a clear, dark sky on a warm night. Brrr!

"Stormin Mormon" wrote:

Does it work for finding cold leaks into the house, or heat leaks out
of the house? I mean, can you point it at the edges of the door or
window or pipe and get a temp reading off of air that is blowing in or
out, or do only solid things radiate IR?

Gases don't radiate, generally, but you might sense lower-temp wood trim.
Or feel around the door with your hands on a cold day, with a large window
exhaust fan running. You can find which rooms have the largest air leaks
and measure airsealing progress with a $70 Kestrel 1000 wind velocity meter
in another partially open window. When you open a door to a leaky room,
the air velocity will decrease. As you airseal, it will increase.

Richard J Kinch wrote:

Point it up at the zenith of a clear, dark sky on a warm night. Brrr!

Inexpensive IR thermometers ignore water vapor (so people can use them in
boiler rooms full of steam), so this might also work on a warm summer day.

Nick

wrote:
"Stormin Mormon" wrote:

Does it work for finding cold leaks into the house, or heat leaks out
of the house? I mean, can you point it at the edges of the door or
window or pipe and get a temp reading off of air that is blowing in or
out, or do only solid things radiate IR?

Gases don't radiate, generally, but you might sense lower-temp wood trim.

My house inspector just pointed his at the registers of the furnace/AC
to see how well the air was distributing. I assume after a short time
the solid material equilibrates to the temp of the air going through.

z wrote:

wrote:

Gases don't radiate, generally, but you might sense lower-temp wood trim.

My house inspector just pointed his at the registers of the furnace/AC
to see how well the air was distributing. I assume after a short time
the solid material equilibrates to the temp of the air going through.

Sure. If you want the room air temp, wave a piece of paper in the air
for a few seconds, then aim at that.

Nick

Point it up at the zenith of a clear, dark sky on a warm night. Brrr!

Inexpensive IR thermometers ignore water vapor (so people can use them
in boiler rooms full of steam), so this might also work on a warm
summer day.

Don't misunderstand. You're reading the near-absolute-zero temperature of
outer space, through a thin veil of warmer air. The integrated temperature
is still below zero even on a warm night. The clear night sky is a cold
window.

"Ignore water vapor" is fantasy. Blackbody radiation is the same whether
it's a gas, liquid, or solid radiator.

Richard J Kinch wrote:

Point it up at the zenith of a clear, dark sky on a warm night. Brrr!

Inexpensive IR thermometers ignore water vapor (so people can use them
in boiler rooms full of steam), so this might also work on a warm
summer day.

Try it.

Don't misunderstand. You're reading the near-absolute-zero temperature of
outer space, through a thin veil of warmer air.

I understand that.

The integrated temperature is still below zero even on a warm night.

What's an "integrated temperature"? :-)

The clear night sky is a cold window.

Clear skies are, but water vapor and clouds absorb IR. So do windows...

"Ignore water vapor" is fantasy. Blackbody radiation is the same whether
it's a gas, liquid, or solid radiator.

Very wrong :-)

Nick

The integrated temperature is still below zero even on a warm night.

What's an "integrated temperature"? :-)

What the radiation thermometer reads, looking at the background of outer
space, overlaid with a transparent but blackbody-radiating layer of
atmosphere. This type of thermometer is performing a digital numerical
integration as part of its analysis of the blackbody spectrum of the
target.

The clear night sky is a cold window.

Clear skies are, but water vapor and clouds absorb IR. So do windows...

No, your understanding is naive. Ceramics emit radiation like anything
else. Nothing absorbs IR from the darkness of outer space, because there's
no IR to absorb. A room temperature skylight window is emitting IR, not
absorbing it, on a clear night.

Stormin Mormon wrote:
Thought a brake was hanging up. Got out, and dig the laser aimed
IR thermometer out of my tool box. Go around and check the temps
of the brakes, to find the one running hot.

Other use -- read a thermostat on top of the motor. Find what
temp the thermostat maintains.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
.

Check breakers and wiring.

Dave