Another laser thermometer trick

[TollyWally]

I recently aquired a gyppo laser thermometer from the "Chinese Tool Store" (Harbor Frieght) for my Espar furnace trials and tribulations. I mentioned how cool it was a while back and have been using it all over the engine room monitoring manifolds, hoses etc.

Well I found another use. I have a seperate tank for furnace fuel mounted below deck. It is welded aluminum with out a site glass or any other means of measuring the amount of fuel unless you peer down through the fill opening or sound it with a stick.

OR you can shoot it with the laser along the side of the tank. I tried this after the last cruise and it worked well. The tank had warmed up from the heat of the engine but the fuel within was still cool. There was an easy to discern difference running the laser up the side of the tank.

I don't know how well this will work when the weather gets warmer. I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't. But then again furnace fuel won't be nearly the issue in May as it is in November! LOL

I love that little gizme!

Wally

[SomeSailor]

I'm sure it'll still work just as well. The tank is still gonna absorb heat from the engine, and the fuel is still gonna keep it cooler. Also works for checking propane tank levels, watch thermostats open, monitoring riser temps (great over time)... and they drive most cats NUTS!

[Go Aweigh2452]

and they drive most cats NUTS

and dogs...

I haven't tried it on my propane tank and was thinking last night how much propane I had left while I cooked my NY strip steak.... nice being a bachelor for a week...

[Randygh]

Great idea to check the propane tank levels. That will come in handy. My tank has a pressure reduction gauge, but it doesn't tell the amount of propane in the tank until it is empty.

Last night I installed a Marine Technologies SA-1 bilge sniffer. Got it new on eBay for $70 total. Much less expensive than at Worst Marine, Boat Fix or Fisheries Supply. I installed the same model in my Tolly and thought it was a worthwhile gizmo. I have a CO detector in the cabin.

Last year I installed an electric propane valve on the line right out of the tank. I wired a red indicator light next to the switch so when we hit the sack, if I forget to flip the switch the light is very evident. I don't like the idea of having propane going to the stove when we're sleeping.

[Go Aweigh2452]

Marine Technologies SA-1

Randy, I added the Fireboy®-Xintex® MB-1 last year (failed to put photos in my webshots)... Works great and does it SCREAM when it detects fumes... fuel AND battery... Mine runs the blower fan when I turn the ignition key partially on and I wait till I see a green light and then I start the engine. I was running hard one day and the wind was at my back and it went off. I heard it over the roar of the engine and totally shut down immediately I was so surprised. It was right in the middle of Haro Straits too... but it was not fumes, it was a loose connection that got looser when I hit a couple of pounding waves. I don't think it is possible to sleep through the alarm.
fume detector (http://www.cyber-marine.com/product_info.php/cPath/72_77/products_id/846?osCsid=728d0da71546ff737aab11b91bb3d105)

[Randygh]

I topped off my pickup and boat's fuel tanks at Costco last weekend. I was curious to see how my new laser thermometer worked. It definitely is a gizmo.

While the pickup tanks were filling, I strutted to the boat trailer wheels, aimed the laser on each hub and noted the temp. Several folks were watching and one even asked about the gizmo. Front hubs were 57 degrees and back were 59 and 60.

[SomeSailor]

It's actually a pretty good investment for $30 or so.

Imagine if one had been 200 degress! It would have paid for itself.

Sounds like maybe your tongue height might be a little tall? You can shift some weight onto those forward hubs if you lower the front drop a bit. 2 degress is pretty close though.

[Randygh]

The ball is mounted directly on my heavy-arse bumper. The tongue weight is alittle heavier when we head out because the water tank is full, the galley is stocked and I put the ice chest(s) in the cabin while under tow. I'll be curious to see differences in wheel temps when we pull up and over the hump in the summer.

[SomeSailor]

I know my rear axles were carrying a LOT more weight than the fronts on mine. I switched to a lower drop hitch and it helped. Tracked better too.

Didn't have a spiffy digital thermometer back then though :(

[heymagic]

You can trace a shorted wire in a harness from the temps. If I hadn't used one on Tim's boat we wouldn't have known the source of the extreme overheat . I use it when towing also. Find a cylinder misfire by shooting the exhaust ports.

[SomeSailor]

I'd bet its great on a race car. Power is all about heat anyways right? I know I can get some cool numbers off the turbine on my truck :)

[3788sam]

Way back when - when I thought I would be able to make a living drag racing. I went to school to get a TA (alcohol) funny car license.
You would be surprised how cold the engine would be after a pass. On humid days a layer of frost would form on the intake

[Randygh]

While flying in a Hughes 500, I remember asking the pilot what the TOT was. He explained it was the turbine output temp and if I remember correctly it usually ran about 600 degrees. What is the normal temp of the exhaust gas from a 5.7 that is running at 180 degrees radiator temp?

[heymagic]

Exhaust temp is related more to load and mixture than coolant temp. A raw water cooled boat exhaust sgould be about 100* at speed. Freshwater cooled manifold should be around 200*, elbows at 100* or so. Car exhaust is usually around 300* with a lite load..4-500* just cruising. A turbo car can see 12-1400* under load. Rotary Mazda the same. There is a thermal barrier between the actual exhaust and the surface of the manifolds, so the actual exhaust is hotter than the surface temp indicates.

[Dave C]

That reminds me of the winter of 1958. I was on a church retreat to Snoqualmie Pass one night looking at westbound traffic just before the summit. I see an early 50s gas pot semi tractor with no sides under the hood and above the fenders with the exhaust manifolds glowing cherry red! Man that is really impressive to a car crazy teenager :shock:

IMAX has a film / video on Indy cars, and in one scene they show an engine running on the dyno. with the headers glowing multiple shades of red. Evidently they were tweeking the mixture at umteen thousand RPM :D Pretty cool stuff.

[beyond kelp]

Its hard to imagine the exhaust valves going up and down a thousand times a minute while glowing cherry red.

[SomeSailor]

I see an early 50s gas pot semi tractor with no sides under the hood and above the fenders with the exhaust manifolds glowing cherry red!

Pop the hood on a Dodge with a Cummins diesel after an hour of traffic driving at night... she glows just like that... especially at the root of the turbine. :P

[Navigator53]

Mike (SS)

Do you let your Cummin's idle for a while before shutting it down?

I don't if I've been looking for a parking spot and going slow or driving 25 getting to my driveway.

I figure temps are equalized going easy.

Gotta wonder what happens to the oil sitting in the turbo :roll:

Mel

[SomeSailor]

I've always wanted to rig an Accusump on my truck for that very reason. They're designed as pre-oilers, but would also make great post run oilers for the turbine as it cools down. You could meter the flow through a restricter orifice and get several minutes of after-run lube while the turbine goes back to it's natural colors :D

[Navigator53]

Makes perfect sense to me Mike!

Kind of hard to see black oil AFTER an oil change on the Cummin's.

Our boat has had a pre & after oiler installed on it since new.

I like the idea of having full oil pressure before the starter engages.

I've been around the $$ industrial engines and they won't have a dry cylinder start because they can't turn over until they have oil pressure.

Not sure if it made any difference, but we'll run all summer long and maybe use a half quart of oil.

Kind of fun to circulate oil while winterized and sure makes it easy to change the oil :lol:

Mel