Some time ago I bought one of the hand held infra red thermometers (the type that has a laser spot) from Maplins for £19.99 on offer. I cheked it against my Fluke multimeter and it was suprisingly accurate. I've used it many times around the workshop and it is a very useful thing.

David.

After reading the request and the answer about the infra red thermometer.Please tell which model of Fluke are you using. Could it be the 77 on milli volt range.I have two different models of fluke and both are excellent.Ted

Mine is a 179 which I won by filling in one of those [not so] daft questionairs while waiting in RS. It is a fantastic piece of kit!

These laser point and read devices are particular about the type of surface you point at, best matt and black, not shiny, do noy like bare copper so I have found.

These laser point and read devices are particular about the type of surface you point at

Be aware also that the alignment between the point that the measurement is taken from may not be accurately aligned with the laser dot.

We came across this during attempts to accurately measure temperatures across a flat heating element at work for a development project – the readings from the hand-held meter did not seem "right", judged from readings given from other areas of similar colour (the element was glowing dull red).

Experimentally rotating the meter while keeping the laser spot on the same point gave different readings, suggesting that the actual reading was being taken from one side of the laser spot. In our case, when attempting to take a reading from the LH edge of the element the actual reading was being taken off the side of the element in fresh air & hence gave a much lower result.

This may not matter for large areas, but is something to bear in mind if an accurate spot reading is required.

Nigel B.