One important issue to keep in mind is the emissivity of the surface.
You may get inaccurate readings when measuring the temperature of a
shiny object.  A surface that reflects the IR away rather than
absorbing it as heat will also give off less IR than normal for a
given temperature.  One solution to this problem is to apply a piece
of black tape to the object in question.
  HF used to sell a small IR thermometer for about $10 coupon price
that had a tutorial about this in its manual.  Unfortunately that
instrument was powered by expensive button cells.
   These things are great for physics teachers!

Larry A.

On Tue, Jul 5, 2011 at 8:50 AM, John Meeks <vanagon@gmail.com> wrote:
> Now that we have these shiny new laser guided temp guns, does anyone know
> the best places to take measurements and what the expected temps should be?
>
> John Meeks
> '91 Vanagon MV
> Northern Michigan
>
> Vanagon Rescue Squad
> www.vanagonauts.com
>
>
>
> On Tue, Jul 5, 2011 at 6:19 AM, John Reynolds <transporterjr@yahoo.com>wrote:
>
>> It does have a lazer beam!
>> PS - my brother is the one who passed this lead to me - he'll be happy to
>> hear all the people taking advantage of it.
>> "I'm confused now.... Does the one on sale at Lowes NOT use a laser beam?
>> Thanks, Anthony
>> '89 Syncro GL (Hidalgo)"
>>
>