FLIR or Fluke IR Thermometer?

[Brad93]

I need a IR thermometer. A pretty accurate one.
So I’m looking at flir and fluke on RS. Particularly this model.

FLIR TG56 IR Thermometer, Max Temperature +650°C, ±1 °C, Centigrade, Fahrenheit | RS

uk.rs-online.com

Now I know very little about K type contact probes except they are very accurate and the things to use on steel for temperature measurement.

Are IR guns that do this okay, and is the supplied probe any good?

am I better buying an RS Pro K Type Surface probe that does say 600°C and a small RS digital thermometer that the probe plugs into?

 

[Brad93]

Oh yeah I need it for like tomorrow too!

 

[Brad93]

I’ve got loads of tempilsticks but obviously none that measure the temperature I need!

 

[hotponyshoes]

All the ir guns that I have used on metal tend to under read the actual temperature.
If it was a repetitive job you could use a k type probe on the same thing to work out what the error was then use the ir for speed.

I don't know what sort of probe is supplied with that one but they range from a couple of quid each to a few hundred .
The cheap ones tend to be accurate enough for anything I need and are often easier to get into things and you can treat them as disposable.
The expensive ones tend to be fitted into some sort of housing which can slow down the reaction time.

If its only for use on metal then as you have already mentioned, I think you would be better off with a thermometer that you can plug whatever probe you like into.

You can also get multimeters that accept a k type probe which might work out better value for money?

 

[hotponyshoes]

Edit: check what temp the multimeter versions are capable of, just checked my flir and its 400c max

 

[daleyd]

Can you get access to the item when it’s being heated? If you have no chance of getting a thermocouple to it then you are stuck with non contact measurement. What application do you need it for? How accurate do you need it to be? A lot of my work is in the heat treatment industry so I may be able to help a bit (I’m no metallurgist mind, I only write code to make the ovens get hot at the right time and to the right temperature )

A lot of the cheap ir types have non adjustable emissivity - ideally get one with adjustment so you can set it for metals which will give you a fighting chance of getting somewhere near.

 

[Brad93]

I think I’m gonna buy the flir and see how I get on. It comes with a probe too.

I’d like a fluke data logging thermometer that can export to Excel or something but that’s hundred and hundreds.

 

[julianf]

My employer purchased a fancy FLIR ir camera.

I forget how much, maybe £250 ish

Fair enough it gives visuals, and my £17 (Inc delivery) from China one just gives a temperature read out, so they're not really comparable, but they both read exactly the same temperature.

As above though, IR are rubbish on shiny metal.

 

[waddycall]

Yep, rubbish on shiny stuff

 

[Munkul]

the proper procedure for IR temp on variable materials is to paint some matte finish on it or bolt a disc of a certain colour, and reference it from that.

We had a FLIR guy come in and tell us this, we use a thermal camera with temp reference for a lot of jobs, and we ended up using a load of dye-pen developer chalk on stainless. It's still not as accurate as a proper thermocouple, but it gets repeatable measurements which you can trend.

 

[Brad93]

the proper procedure for IR temp on variable materials is to paint some matte finish on it or bolt a disc of a certain colour, and reference it from that.

We had a FLIR guy come in and tell us this, we use a thermal camera with temp reference for a lot of jobs, and we ended up using a load of dye-pen developer chalk on stainless. It's still not as accurate as a proper thermocouple, but it gets repeatable measurements which you can trend.

That sound like a good idea.

I could of bought the rs components model and a probe for £120 but I fancy a fancy one!
We use an rs model at work and it’s bulletproof.

 

[Brad93]

That’s what I’m working on tomorrow, Stainless

 

[MetalMonkey]

A good IR gun will allow you to adjust the emissivity setting which allows you to tweak the response for different materials. They don't read the same temperature from every surface as it is dependant on how reflective it is, and where you are aiming it.

Really they are more of an indicative measurement device for difficult situations rather than all that accurate.

The thermal imaging ones are particularly useful for troubleshooting as they give you a visual comparison - but they certainly don't give them away, especially when you get up to units like the E4 and E8.
There used to be a Rigol style hack you could do with the E4 to make it into an E8, but I think they stopped it.

 

[Parm]

Lidl are doing them for £14

 

[Brad93]

Do Lidl do calibration?

 

[Brad93]

In all seriousness I’ve bought the FLIR with the built in capacity to take a k type probe (included).

so reflective surface shouldn’t be an issue. I can confirm the measurement with the thermocouple.

 

[Brad93]

The FLIR has turned up. utter plasticky piece of crap

 

[daleyd]

That does surprise me - at my previous company (although I haven’t worked there for 8 years so things might well have changed...) we had a flir thermal camera and it was excellent. IIRC at the time they also made stuff that was rebranded for Fluke.

 

[Brad93]

That does surprise me - at my previous company (although I haven’t worked there for 8 years so things might well have changed...) we had a flir thermal camera and it was excellent. IIRC at the time they also made stuff that was rebranded for Fluke.

I’ll do a quick video. It’s going back that’s for certain.

 

[Parm]

I’ll do a quick video. It’s going back that’s for certain.

I did say Lidl