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Suggested Temperature Gun
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EPAIII:
I need a way of measuring the temperature of a number of things, not all electronic. There seems to be quite a number of them with a very wide range of prices. I recently purchased a solder pot that does not indicate the temperature of the solder. Checking it would be one use. But I want something that can be used for as wide a range of situations as possible.

Any suggestions about features and brands would be appreciated. I do not have any price/budget in mind yet.
xrunner:
You said "Suggested Temperature Gun" - not sure what you mean by that. Do you mean you want an IR thermometer, which has a simple digital readout? Or do you mean an IR camera, which is more capable and displays a wider area with colors to show the temps of all the items in the field of view? Pic shows both of them on my bench.
mendip_discovery:
If I had the money I would go IR Camera, you can see the temperature clearer.

You could still buy a K-type thermometer display and then use the array of probes you can buy for them.
wraper:

--- Quote from: EPAIII on October 17, 2023, 05:52:42 am ---I recently purchased a solder pot that does not indicate the temperature of the solder. Checking it would be one use.

--- End quote ---
Would be pretty much useless for this purpose. It's much more complicated than pointing it at just anything and getting correct measurement. If you have the money, get a thermal camera. With it it's at least much easier to figure out you're measuring not what you want.
CatalinaWOW:
If you really want to know the temperature, use a thermocouple probe.  The various temperature guns depend on assumption of emissivity of the surface you are measuring.  This can be quite accurate, or wildly wrong for a variety of reasons, many not obvious at first glance.  With that as a background, I find that the cheap guns ($20-$40) work well enough to not be the dominant error source.  As with any temperature measurement system you will need to take the time to characterize it.  Figure out how large the measuring spot is and how accurate the red laser indicating spot is, and get a sense of how reflections, surface roughness and surface coatings can change temperature indications.
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