February 14, 2012 - 5:47am
IR Thermometer
We use them to check the WFO temp. Recently bought a new one that went up to 1000 degrees. Old one only went to 712. What we found was a 50 degree variation between the two at high temps. So the old one would read 500 and the new one 550. At low temps say 300 we only found a 5 degree variation. Can IR Thermometers be recalibrated?
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You know that IR thermometers measure temperatures not in a single spot but rather over some area, which depends on the distance from the sensor to the surface, right? So I wonder if these areas are not the same for your guns and you are simply measuring two different things. For example, my cheapo IR thermometer has 1.5" spot from 1' and since I usually keep it farther away and measure at an angle, the long axis of the spot could easily be 3-4", which is quite a bit.
Depends on how much you are willing to pay for the calibration (Davis Instrument quotes $125). Also, if your thermometer is a low-end unit (say, less than $250) it is probably not adjustable, so what you would receive from the calibration lab would be a graph showing what temperature it reads vs. the standard. You would have to keep that graph around and use it to determine what the thermometer reading meant.
sPh