The outfit I work for has a policy for "log sheet" data collection on every system we break into.

This is both good and bad.
Good because a tech has to take all the readings and these will help to keep him on track, honest and creat a paper trail for future referance.

Bad in that it is very time consuming.
Also bad in the fact that most of the men are NOT online here so they dont know the term: emissivity.

They simply grab a uei IR meter and point, write down what the meter tells em.
Or they use a single probe K lead and put it to the line or into the duct.


Myself, I want to use the best of both worlds to log my data.
I am looking at the Fluke 572CF meter. It does infrared, plus close focus. Plus it has a port to plug in K type probes into.
I will probably want to get a Fluke 54 dual probe meter to go along with it on PM's where I am doing a ton of temp measurements.
In which case I would connect two air temp probes with 20 foot leads into the 54 and get my Delta T acrss the coils. Plus it would give me a back up meter to the IR thermometor should there arise a question about what the temp somewhere REALLY IS.

With the 572CF, I would connect a simple beaded probe and carry the Fluke pipe clamp also.
This would enable me to simply/ quickly clamp each line I need to measure the temp on and vioalla ... I got it.

With adjustable emissivity, I should be able to dial in when and where I can accurately use the IR feature of the meter.
Perhaps I will need to carry "neutral" color patches which I can quickly adhere to the line or unit I wish to scan and shoot that spot, so to speak.

I heard some guys bringing a can of flat black spray paint to use wherever they want an accurate temp reading using an IR thermometor.


What has been your experiences for this type of task?


Thanks