Infrared Thermometers???

[prickett]

I'm new to casting and don't yet have a thermometer. I saw infrared 'meters on sale at Harbor Freight. Would those work? I seem to remember seeing somewhere that infrared 'meters don't work well on shiny targets.

[Russ in WY]

You are correct, they seem to be way off on the shiny surface of molten lead. Some have tried floating another metal object on the top & using that as the target. Don't recall that it was the complete answer either, IIRC it was a penny. Harbor Freight had a Digital Probe model at one time ,but when I was there last it was gone. And the probe would probably need replacing with a more heat resistant type from what the guys here have said. Not a big deal to do or very costly. I finally broke down & ordered a S/S type was the same as the RCBS ,but with out the Logo & cheaper.
http://www.teltru.com/p-272-big-gree...degrees-f.aspx . Think it was from that website. Didn't copy & paste as a Hyper link just use the [www.teltru.com] & go from there. Good luck Russ.

[GLL]

This Harbor Freight digital model works VERY well ! It was on a close-out sale and I replaced the probe, but the total investment was still just $32.00.

Jerry

[ReloaderFred]

I have one of the infra-red temperature guns and it doesn't work satisfactorily with molten lead alloy. When I use my lead casting thermometer, it will read say 710 degrees, but the infra-red gun will only read 521 degrees off the surface of the melt, whether it's shiny or not. I was disappointed in the results, but find that it works well for other applications, just not lead.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[prickett]

You are correct, they seem to be way off on the shiny surface of molten lead. Some have tried floating another metal object on the top & using that as the target. Don't recall that it was the complete answer either, IIRC it was a penny. Harbor Freight had a Digital Probe model at one time ,but when I was there last it was gone. And the probe would probably need replacing with a more heat resistant type from what the guys here have said. Not a big deal to do or very costly. I finally broke down & ordered a S/S type was the same as the RCBS ,but with out the Logo & cheaper.
http://www.teltru.com/p-272-big-gree...degrees-f.aspx . Think it was from that website. Didn't copy & paste as a Hyper link just use the [www.teltru.com] & go from there. Good luck Russ.

Thanks for the teltru link. Ordered one today. Its a shame the infrared won't work because I'd be able to use if for other things as well. Oh, well.

[Dollar Bill]

I have an infrared and when I got an obvious wrong reading, I took a reading off the side of the pot just above the melt and it seemed to agree with the Lyman fairly close. I guess I'll check it with a thermocouple I have that hooks up to a multimeter. NBow you guys got me wondering....

[Shiloh]

We use one to check the solution and blanket warmers in the hospital. Works great at up to about 120 degrees. Accuracy fall of fast wwhen checking over 200 degrees. It is old though.

SHiloh

[Tippet]

I affixed a thermocouple along the probe of my Lyman thermometer, side by side they read within a few degrees of each other. I think that's close enough for the ladies we dance with.