Lidl - infra red temperature probe

Take temps from various spots on your engine. Like the head, heat exchanger, exhaust elbow... ect.. Paint the temp in that position with a small brush. If you have any doubt about your cooling system. A quick zap of each spot could tell you quickly where the problem lies... or if indeed you have a problem.
 
Been using one of these for several years. Bought it to calibrate my home-made exhaust temp alarm - components for alarm cost under a tenner - the thermometer about £15. Exhaust alarm proved its worth a few weeks ago with a failed coolant impeller.

Someone tell me how these thermometers work please. And are they accurate? Can I zap a baking tray in the oven and get the oven temperature?
 
They work by detecting the infrared heat emitted by the item. They are more accurate with black items with high emissivity and poorer with shiny things like stainless.
 
Keith-i said:
They work by detecting the infrared heat emitted by the item. They are more accurate with black items with high emissivity and poorer with shiny things like stainless.
Click to expand...

As Keith-i has said, they are subject to error due to differing emissivity of different materials

To correct the reading on the unit, multiply it by the factor below.

Aluminum foil 0.03
Aluminum, anodized 0.9
Asphalt 0.88
Brick 0.90
Concrete, rough 0.91
Copper, polished 0.04
Copper, oxidized 0.87
Glass, smooth (uncoated) 0.95
Ice 0.97
Limestone 0.92
Marble (polished) 0.89 to 0.92
Paint (including white) 0.9
Paper, roofing or white 0.88 to 0.86
Plaster, rough 0.89
Silver, polished 0.02
Silver, oxidized 0.04
Snow 0.8 to 0.9
Water, pure 0.96

Some of the values are not what one would expect but Wikipedia could be wrong
 
Amulet said:
Been using one of these for several years. Bought it to calibrate my home-made exhaust temp alarm - components for alarm cost under a tenner - the thermometer about £15. Exhaust alarm proved its worth a few weeks ago with a failed coolant impeller.

Someone tell me how these thermometers work please. And are they accurate? Can I zap a baking tray in the oven and get the oven temperature?
Click to expand...

Will be an error if the baking tray is shiny and the glass door will/may absorb a % of the IR
 
I picked it up then placed it back down 'i'll check on forum first' i laughed when i saw this thread as i had almost forgotten all about it.

Ill get ine tomorrow
 
Be aware that although these things aim with a laser, they 'look' over a fairly broad angle.
I have one I've used for all sorts of things, from checking hot electronic components at work to investigating the insulation of my house.
I also have a thermocouple thermometer for contact measurements. There are cheap LCD thermistor based thermometers on ebay which are useful too.
 
I used it to balance my radiators. I reckon it will pay for itself it his winter, although it would have done so more quickly if I'd seen the amazon link that was posted first.
 
Re Ovens:

The glass door will make a huge difference.

I've tried it!

Also 'oven temp' is some vague mix of air temp and wall temp.
 
Jcorstorphine said:
As Keith-i has said, they are subject to error due to differing emissivity of different materials

To correct the reading on the unit, multiply it by the factor below.

Aluminum foil 0.03
Aluminum, anodized 0.9
Asphalt 0.88
Brick 0.90
Concrete, rough 0.91
Copper, polished 0.04
Copper, oxidized 0.87
Glass, smooth (uncoated) 0.95
Ice 0.97
Limestone 0.92
Marble (polished) 0.89 to 0.92
Paint (including white) 0.9
Paper, roofing or white 0.88 to 0.86
Plaster, rough 0.89
Silver, polished 0.02
Silver, oxidized 0.04
Snow 0.8 to 0.9
Water, pure 0.96

Some of the values are not what one would expect but Wikipedia could be wrong
Click to expand...
Surely the O.03, 0.02,0.04 numbers should be 1.03,1.02,1.04. Otherwise the corrected temperature is only 3% of the reading.
 
LIDL Infra-Red thermometer - Faulty

These eventually appeared in my local LIDL yesterday. Bought one. (yes, I know I could source one cheaper elsewhere, but never having experienced one before, the 'no-quibble easy return' factor was attractive.)

Very impressed with the first few readings, which agree within 0.5C with my calibrated thermocouple meter. Then readings become erratic eventually settling at about 6C below actual temperature. Suspected supplied battery might be culprit .... but not so. Problem seems to be temperature related because it takes longer to occur if device has been in cold ambient temperature than it does if it has been at room temperature.

It will of course be going back to LIDL, but wondering if others have observed a similar problem? .... and hence whether worth getting an exchange and hoping for a good one next time.
 
I suspect that might be a problem with cheaper devices. I believe callibrated IR cameras have a temperature controlled sensor to overcome this problem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top