IR Temp Monitoring

Dry Dock · Jul 28, 2021

Just looking for comments/opinions on the points/locations to perform IR temp checks on the engines while underway.

Seems a history of inlet/outlet temps of the oil cooler, transmission cooler and raw water heat exchanger would be a good diagnostic tool.

Thoughts/comments and crude remarks are always welcome.

SoWhat · Jul 28, 2021

Dry Dock said:
Seems a history of inlet/outlet temps of the oil cooler, transmission cooler and raw water heat exchanger would be a good diagnostic tool.

All good locations. I would also add engine block points just below the injectors. Pick a spot at each cylinder where there is sufficient mass to give a stable reading.

Lepke · Jul 29, 2021

Measuring the head exhaust ports will give you an indication that all cylinders are producing the same horsepower. On bigger engines we adjusted the injectors by exhaust port temps until all cylinders were making the same effort. I do that on my Detroits.

jleonard · Jul 29, 2021

You want a reading as close to the temperature sending unit as possible. This will give you confidence in the gage reading.

Prospective · Jul 29, 2021

jleonard said:
You want a reading as close to the temperature sending unit as possible. This will give you confidence in the gage reading.

I just ordered an IR temp gun for this exact reason. My engines have both an electronic temp sensor that feeds the computer and mechanical one that feed the gauges. My Port engine is showing about 8 degrees difference between the two which are both located on the t-stat housing. Hoping to measure the temp at the sensor location and compare to the starboard engine where the temps read the same between the two sensors.

firehoser75 · Jul 29, 2021

There is a lot of good info under Tony"s Tips at sbmar.com. FYI it is Cummins leaning, but much does apply to other brands/models.
See the following for info on places to track IR temps:
https://www.sbmar.com/articles/ir-gun-temperature-check/

kapnd · Aug 3, 2021

To produce accurate readings, you must shoot the target from a set distance, say 6”.
I have a white motor, so I’ve drawn circles with a magic marker that are my “targets”, and write the temp in the circle, so I know if anything is changing.

IR Temp Monitoring

Dry Dock

Member

SoWhat

Guru

Lepke

Guru

jleonard

Guru

Prospective

Senior Member

firehoser75

Guru

kapnd

Guru

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