Temperature gun - suggestons

[ghh3rd]

I am going to pick up a temperature gun soon, nothing fancy since I'm on a budget. I figure it will come in handy in the boolit casting hobby. I am going to pick up a heating plate and something to put on it to distribute the heat evenly, and think that would be a good first time use for the temp. gun.

I was thinking of looking at Harbor Freight. Anyone have any suggestions on what I should look for in a temp. gun for our hobby, or warnings about what not to get?

Thanks

[John Boy]

or warnings about what not to get?
An infrared temperature gun only measures reflected heat of the surface temperature, not the heat in the pot and the melt temperature at the bottom up through ... Waste of money for this application

[3GRacing]

I have a 'Etekcity 1022D Dual Laser Digital Infrared Thermometer Temperature Gun Non-contact -58℉~1022℉' from amazon, $24, high ratings, boiling water reads 212.

[CastingFool]

I have one from HB, battery doesn't seem to last. Screen fades in and out when battery is low.

[Hossfly]

Won’t work on temp of lead, silver color not good black or dark reads for just referencing, some are real accurate for quick reference.

[OS OK]

I bought the HarborFreight unit thinking the same thing.
As it turns out it will read all over the place depending on how reflective the surface is. On a dark flat colored steel mould it's pretty close but a shiny black sprue plate will read differently...I finally gave up on the dang thing and it sits below the bench awaiting me to come up with another brain fart and use it again...hehehehe

[Walks]

As far as the the hot plate goes I found one for $20 at wally world. I bought a cast iron heat diffuser plate with rough black finish, $8 it works great to preheat molds and keep them hot while waiting for the pot to come back up to temp after having to refill it.

[MT Gianni]

Rotometals has a csating thermometer for just under $40. I really prefer a thermometer when measuring temps.

[Rizzo]

Well, regarding using a temp gun to monitor your alloy temperature, I would recommend putting the money into a temperature controller ( referred to as a PID). You have a temperature probe that sits in the alloy and the PID acts as a thermostat with digital readout of setting and actual temperature. A lot of casters use them, including myself.
You can put one together yourself from parts on Ebay. I use the MyPin PID myself.

There is a thread/Sticky on PIDs on this site I believe.
Check it out. You could also use one for regulating your mold hotplate temperature if you wanted to.

[ghh3rd]

I have already built a PID... just thought an inexpensive temp gun might be handy for mold temps and other uses. The PID is great to have on my pot and toaster oven.