Temping a motor!!!
 

Took the ole thermal imager to the track today. In pit row I asked a gentleman if I could take an image of his buggy, he agreed and I did. The buggy was on pit row for almost 45 seconds before I took the image. I took the image and suggested to him he was running a bit lean and towards the 300 °F mark on the OUTSIDE of the head button. He disagreed and showed me his temp reading that only showed 220 °F "On the glow plug", my image of glow plug shows 295.1 °F.

I did not stick around to see the results. Please remember temp guns can be way off!

Thats pretty cool chuck i got to get me one of those things :D

Yeah, temp guns and the like can be off. Thats why if I'm suspicious about a reading, especially if its reading lower than I think it should be, I'll do the old spit test.

Yeah, its not going to tell me the exact temp, but it'll tell me if its too hot...:)

exergens are pretty accurate and read in the right spot

That' why i don't even use a temp gun. Most of them are so off it's not even funny.

Yup. I don't use them either.

I use a IR tempgun and it works quite good. The temperature that is shown in the display is the same as i was expecting and it corresponds with the spitting test on the cooling head.

Temp Gun
 

I use a Ray Tec MT4 lazer temp gun in the real world of automotive work.
In Rc nitro it is for ref any way too get you in the ball park..You want to tune
for power...start with HSN leaning and good blue smoke..Then LSN lean a bit
and last your Idle screw..I am sure you have all seen vids on doing this..every
engine is different..some run cooler ,some hotter...My engine likes and preformes best around 260 to 270 deg.but that is a ref..I go by good blue smoke..Hey A thermal imager is very costly $2,000. and up...I think I gave $69.00 for my Ray Tec MT4 it is very reliable..But like I said I use it for a ref ;)
...

As long as you always use the same temp gun, and know what temp your engine runs well at on that specific temp gun, you should be O.K. Ive stopped tuning them to temp, just figure out where it runs good, and use it as a reference.

What's a temp gun. I haven't used one of those in a very long time. Since I've stopped using the temp as a reference my engines have run better and last just as long. I tune only by performance and sound.

You need to realise that when people say 220 F or whatever, 9/10 times its measured using an RC temp gauge.

Spit test is the way I do it also.

the spit test
 

thank you for looking at an old thread.

Question #1) When doing the spit test is it on the glow plug or on the top of the head/fin?

Question #2(bonus) When using a raytek temp gun it shows real time and max temp. I sweep it over the plug and over the head bolts. I usually see the real time temps at 230 or so but then the max sometimes grabs a 290 degree. Would you say the engine is running at 290 then?

Please spare the anti-temp gun speech. almost to that point but not quite. Thanks!

My hands are like sandpaper so i touch it quickly if i don't yell then i put my hand on until i do cuss. My method isn't for everyone but i can hold it at about 200, at 250 i say yup she's pretty hot, more than that and i'm at the cussing/getting ice stage and shutting the motor off. :tire::nod::nod::tire:

zero points awarded :) questions 1 and 2 still stand