heat gun reliability?

[arbok]

Hey all im just wondering if anyone has experienced something similar to me.

i have 3 click clacks set up on a heat cord in one tub i have a microclimate b2 diming thermostat, and a thermometre.
when its all running the thermometre reads the hot spot as 30 - 32 degrees, but when i check the temps with an infared thermometre, it reads 39 - 43 in some spots and 30 in the other spots... all around the thermostat and thermometre.

i have a few theorys, maybe the infared is traveling through the plastic container and jumping between the heat cords temp and the tubs temp? or maybe my other thermometre/ thermostat are both busted :shock:

any ideas?

 

[junglepython2]

If you are holding the gun close it will be picking up the direct temp of the individual runs of cord. I have noticed the same thing.

 

[arbok]

mmm thats what i thought, but it makes me wonder why the probe thermometre doesnt do the same thing?

 

[junglepython2]

The probe thermo would be more affected by the air temp surrounding the probe which wouldn't be anywhere near as warm as the cord itself.

 

[spongebob]

The probe thermo would be more affected by the air temp surrounding the probe which wouldn't be anywhere near as warm as the cord itself.

I would agree. The heat gun cant take air temps or it wouldn't work. It's measuring the temperature of the solid it is bounced off. The thermostat probe is generally surrounded by air (until you bury it in a dense substrate like sand) so is measuring the air temp. Of course the part of the click clack in contact with the heat source will be the hottest part of the plastic.

 

[arbok]

mmm thanks for your help guys, should i drop down the dial a bit so the floor isnt to hot? or maybe just chuck a peice of wood in between or something.

ive never had a problem with heat cords before :S

 

[junglepython2]

Id leave it how it is as long as the python is basking on it.

 

[spongebob]

Dont worry it's fine. A heat cord does give a concentrated heat source but the animals bulk dissipates the heat. Put your hand where the hottest part is and feel for yourself. Often it feels too hot initially but if you keep your hand there for a moment the heat becomes more 'gentle'. The plastic tub is a poor conductor of heat, so the heat sort of sits in the one place but a reptile (or human hand) being essentially mostly water is a good conductor and spreads the heat.

 

[arbok]

alright thanks for the help guys!

 

[MaRkAS]

Take the heat gun down to your local university and have it calibrated, then you can be sure it's reading correctly. Then you can check your thermometer in a pot of warmed water, check it over a range of temperatures, ie 10, 25 and 50 degC.
The thermostat temperature settings are really only a rough indication, you should use a properly calibrated thermometer to check the temperature.

 

[pythonmum]

I've noticed big differences between cheap normal thermometers and my temp gun readings. If the hot spot is small (just the cord), don't worry too much, but if a whole area of the cage is too hot, you may want to drop your temps. Check out where the snakes are hanging out - they will let you know if it's not warm enough by parking over the hot spot a lot. They will generally avoid hot spots, too. I found a fairly large spot of 50 degrees in one of my enclosures when I first got the temp gun. I had to rearrange furniture and adjust thermostats to get things right.

 

[James_Scott]

Try and get hold of a mercury thermometer. They are hard to come by nowadays, but are the 100% accurate. However do not leave it in the enclosure! Use it to test your thermometers outside of the enclosure and you will work out if your temps are +/- what they are meant to be and you can adjust your temps accordingly.
Remember Mercury is deadly and should never be left in an enclosure and for that reason they are very hard to get nowadays.

 

[junglepython2]

Where do you get the idea that mercury thermometers are 100% accurate.? They should be calibrated just like any other thermometer.

 

[MaRkAS]

Where do you get the idea that mercury thermometers are 100% accurate.? They should be calibrated just like any other thermometer.

Yep they only as accurate as the printed scale.
Like I said, get the heat gun calibrated

 

[mckellar007]

temp guns ive found to be unreliable, i went outside and it said it was -10 on a 40 degree day