Infrared Thermometers

Nuggy
Nuggy Forum Participant Posts: 512
edited February 2018 in Caravans #1

I was recently in our local Maplins shop, looking at Infrared hand held gun type thermometers. Point it at the surface you want to check and it gives a digital reading of the surface temperature. My question is, has anyone used this type of gadget? any opinions good or bad? could it be used to check a tyre wall temp when taking a break during a long journey?

I recently had a binding brake pad and the breakdown man used one to check the temp of the brake disc.

Comments

  • lornalou1
    lornalou1 Forum Participant Posts: 2,169
    1000 Comments
    edited February 2018 #2

    very good instrument. used one when I was working, had to heat aluminium casings up to a specific temp to get the bearings out and  made life a lot easier with no guessing. unless you know the correct temp the tyres/drums should be while travelling how do you know when they are overheating??? 

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
    1000 Comments
    edited February 2018 #3

    If one side or one brake is way hotter than the other then it suggests there's a problem  ..... you don' need to know a specific temp. 😉

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
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    edited February 2018 #4

    Yes Nuggy, it wouls be able to give the tyre temp, but as Lornalou says, what temp are you looking for? Machinemart sell them too.

  • Nuggy
    Nuggy Forum Participant Posts: 512
    edited February 2018 #5

    Thanks for the comments, using the instrument during a season of towing and checking from time to time I could get an overall idea as to what would be an average temp. Obviously I would have to take into account the various ambient temps, but a quick check before the journey and subsequent checks when convenient to me would give me an overall picture of what was reasonable to expect. I'm not keen to use the tyrepal type of TPMS 

    Digressing slightly, It is frustrating that 4x4 's and AWD cars cannot be MOT tested on a rolling road to test individual wheels. All the testing stations round here and even the main 4x4 dealership still use a Tapley meter, or equivalent decelerometer, which is an instrument I used at work in the 1970's. This only gives an overall picture of braking efficiency and this is where an IR thermometer comes into it's own. Rant now over.

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
    1000 Comments
    edited February 2018 #6

    'My' test station uses their rolling road brake tester on my R Class which is permanently  4 wheel drive. It turns the wheels on each axle in opposite directions. 

  • Nuggy
    Nuggy Forum Participant Posts: 512
    edited February 2018 #7

    Your testing station is the exception. My car handbook has a diagram showing one set of wheels on the rolling road being tested and the wheels at the other end of the car are sat on free turning rollers. The testing stations round here do not have that equipment, hence the Tapley meter. Getting back to IR thermometers, I might indulge and treat it as an informative toy.

  • Navigateur
    Navigateur Club Member Posts: 3,880 ✭✭✭✭✭
    1000 Comments
    edited February 2018 #8

    Tapley meter is quite sophisticated - I remember tester using a house brick stood on end.

    Infrared thermometers are also at Aldi/Lidl quite often.

     

     

  • Nuggy
    Nuggy Forum Participant Posts: 512
    edited February 2018 #9

    Cheers for that, I will keep my eyes open at our local Lidl.

    As for the brick, the vision of that on the car floor made me smile.

  • ABM
    ABM Forum Participant Posts: 14,578
    1000 Comments
    edited February 2018 #10

    It  can  get  quite  hot  in  these  supermarkets  nowadays 

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