Infared thermometer for the lead pot

[Hallorann]

Check this out:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=96451

They claim that it will measure up to 968 degrees F.

Has anyone used an infared for casting? Would you rather have the RCBS analog type?

[cbrick]

Being a sucker for toys and gadgets I may order one of those. It should be kept in mind though, these will read surface temp only and not near the bottom at the sides where the heating coils are. But still . . . would be something to compare with my four current thermometers that all read slightly different. [smilie=1:

Rick

[cbr]

My dad has one of them, I have been thinking of giving it a try next time I smelt a big batch.

[redbear705]

Please note that the thermometer uses reflectiuve infra red so you may get different temps even when checking the various areas on the top of melt. It has something to do with different colors giving off different readings even at the same temp.

I use one for plastic injection heating barrels when looking for hot spots. The thermometer would go up and down over 100F when moving along the barrel....then someone told me to spray the barrel all the same color( I had a dark gray paint but black seems to be better), that way the readings I would get would at least be close to being the same....he was correct it solved a bunch of questions about why the heck it was 550f in one spot and 395f 1/2" away!

So....I have not tried it while smelting or casting but I think having some slag floating on or near the top will cause some interesting readings.

Let us know what you find....JR

[leftiye]

Kinda surprised that no one has mentioned how nice it would be to know how hot an iron or aluminum mold block needs to be before it will cast well. Regular Lyman 2 cavity molds in the 30 cal to 35 cal range like to be about 325 degrees, my 22 mold likes to be in excess of 425 degrees. It depends on how much lead is available to heat the mold. I use a mold heater and harbor fart IR thermometer.

[brshooter]

Save your money and buy something with thermocouples. I have a $500 Raytek infra-red and have tried to measure lead temps with it. It gives squirrelly numbers on the surface temp of the lead that are not even close. I can get temps off the side of my gas fired cast iron pot but they are too high. When I shut the gas off I get good temps off the side of the pot, but that is pain in the bucket when you are trying to cast too.

_____________________________________________
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Life Member IBS, NBRSA and NYSRPA
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[Dye]

Kinda surprised that no one has mentioned how nice it would be to know how hot an iron or aluminum mold block needs to be before it will cast well. Regular Lyman 2 cavity molds in the 30 cal to 35 cal range like to be about 325 degrees, my 22 mold likes to be in excess of 425 degrees. It depends on how much lead is available to heat the mold. I use a mold heater and harbor fart IR thermometer.

Leftiye
I have a couple of questions on your post. 325 sounds about right fot the mould cavity temperature. Take a reading of the cavity not the outside of the mould. It should read between
300 and 350. Have your alloy temperatuure between 100- 150 degrese above slush temperature. What part of the country are you casting at, kind of pot you are using ,and are you left handed. We can start a new thread or keep on this if HALLORANN don't mind

Be carefull Dye

[454PB]

I use a IR thermometer to measure mould temperature. It will work on molten lead, but I have to put a gas check on the surface and let it darken first. Reflective surfaces make it crazy.

[dnepr]

I have an IR thermometer I bought for work . As 454PB has stated reflective surface screw with them badly. what I do is leave my stirring/ fluxing spoon in the melt until I feel it should be the same temp as the lead, then I measure that with the IR . I really like the idea of measuring the mold temps. I have alway just cast until I was getting good bullets but knowing at what temp a certain mold ussually makes good bullets might be really handy it figuring out what is going wrong when you can't get good bullets out of a mold.

[leftiye]

Dye, I'm in Utah, Lyman Pot (model 61s). Right handed, but it still works if I hold my mouth right!

I just measure the top of the outside of the mold. Don't want to give i a chance to cool off. Doesn't matter so long as the technique is constant. The more lead a boolit contains, the cooler the mold can be, but there's a limit.

[John Boy]

The best deal price wise and quality for measuring temperatures was those Cen-Tec digital K-type thermometers that Harbor Freight had for sale.

I'm holding the melt within 10 degrees with this thermometer

[uncle joe]

[QUOTE=brshooter;302725]Save your money and buy something with thermocouples. I have a $500 Raytek infra-red and have tried to measure lead temps with it. It gives squirrelly numbers on the surface temp of the lead that are not even close. _____________________________________________

Brshooter is right
I use one of these at work and they are not very reliable with liquid temps, something about the emissivity of what your checking. When I cast I leave the pouring ladle floating on top of the lead, you could shoot the cast iron of the ladle with the IR and get a fairly accurate reading.

[Hallorann]

The best deal price wise and quality for measuring temperatures was those Cen-Tec digital K-type thermometers that Harbor Freight had for sale.

I'm holding the melt within 10 degrees with this thermometer

How are you measuring the surface of the melted lead and getting an accurate reading?

[JIMinPHX]

Pep Boys has those IR things cheap too. The problem is that they are calibrated to read the correct temperature of a flat black surface & different colors or shiny surfaces mess them up. I get very different numbers from an IR thermometer & a Lyman thermometer that are measuring the same lead at the same time. The IR thing is handy for telling me when my molds are up to temperature though. When they read about 450, the mold is ready to go. I don't know or care what the actual mold temperature is. I just know that when that thing says 450, its time to start pouring.

[John Boy]

How are you measuring the surface of the melted lead and getting an accurate reading?
Hallorann - Never said I was measuring at the surface of the melt. The stainless steel probe goes deep into the pot.

I'm holding the melt within 10 degrees with this thermometer ... as in temperature