Etekcity Lasergrip 800 Digital IR Thermometer ► Check Amazon
Hey, everyone. In today’s video we’re going to be reviewing the Lasergrip 800 infrared thermometer by Etekcity…stay tuned.
Infrared thermometers have uses in lots of industries. Because of their ability to provide accurate non-contact temperature readings they also bring with them a level of safety. In fact, I used the Lasergrip 800 myself in the Beacon-Morris heater review video, and I’ve used it to measure the catalytic converter temperature when one of my cars had a misfire.
Etekcity is based in Anaheim, California, and they have offices in Germany and in China…and based on what I can tell, they’ve been around since 2011. To see more of their product offerings, you can check out their website at etekcity.com
So, let’s go over the features and specifications of the Lasergrip 800. It has a 16:1 distance-spot ratio…we’ll cover a distance-spot ratio a little bit later in this video so we have a little bit better understanding of what that means. This tool also uses a 9 volt battery, and a standard battery should last up to about 12 hours of cumulative use. The measurement range is -58°F to 1382°F…you can see the translation in Celsius there. The accuracy of this tool is plus or minus 2% or plus or minus 2°C, and the resolution is down to 0.1°F or °C. Response time is a little less than 500 milliseconds…and this tool comes with a 30-day refund policy and a 2 year warranty for personal use only. This tool is not really considered a commercial product.
In the packaging for the Lasergrip 800, you get the Lasergrip 800 itself, a 9-volt battery, and a very detailed set of user instructions.
Distance-spot ratio is a very important concept to keep in mind when you’re looking at purchasing one of these infrared thermometers. Not observing an infrared thermometers distance-spot ratio can lead to inaccurate and inconsistent measurements and general overall frustration. In this diagram, I’m modeling the Lasergrip 800’s 16:1 distance-spot ratio. As an example, if your target is two inches in diameter, the maximum distance of the thermometer from that target to obtain an accurate reading is 32 inches. This figure is reached by multiplying our 16:1 ratio by our target spot’s diameter…basically, the further you are from your target, the wider the spot being measured, which could result in unintended services being captured in the measurement and yield inaccurate results. Now, now for the best results, Etekcity recommends holding the thermometer 14.17 inches from the target, which will accurately measure a spot 0.89 inches in diameter.
Alright, let’s take a look around the Lasergrip 800…we’re going to start with the front here. We have an infrared sensor right there…that holes where the laser’s shot out…there’s our trigger mechanism on this side…we have a label that it has some specification information…on the opposite side we have a label that has some cautionary information. On the back, we have an LCD screen…this button here turns on the backlight for the LCD screen…this button on the left converts the temperature to Celsius…this button on the right converts the temperature to Fahrenheit…and this last button at the bottom turns the laser off and on. So, it’s off right now, and when you see a triangle with an asterisk in the middle on the screen, that means the laser’s turned on.
Okay, let’s take a closer look at the display. So, I press the button on the front, and notice that hold showed up on the screen. So, anytime the button’s depressed, you see the laser out there getting a reading for us, once I let go, hold shows up and my last temperature reading is held on the screen. The screen will stay lit for 15 seconds after releasing the button then it will go blank to preserve the battery life. Some indicators have yet to see are high or “HI”, which shows up when the temperature you’re trying to read is above the range of the thermometer…or low or “LO” when the temperature you’re trying to read is below the range of the thermometer.
The original 9-volt battery is still running strong at 9.1V after occasional use of the thermometer over the last couple years, so I’d never seen a low battery indicator show up on the display. I decided to do a little experiment in which I drained down a 9-volt battery using an incandescent light bulb and a socket, and I observed that the low battery indicator appeared when the battery’s voltage decreased to 7.3V.
The battery compartment for the thermometer’s in the handle… so, all you do is grasp right here…notice there’s an indent right here and on the opposite side for your fingers…just grasp the front part of the handle and pull forward and that opens up and reveals your 9-volt battery.
Let’s take a look at the grip here…and even though the handle’s made out of plastic, the grip has a bit of a soft texture to it. Notice the three indentations on the front for your fingers, which seem to be fairly well located.
Here, I’ve plugged in a griddle and set the temperature to 350°F, and I’m using the Lasergrip 800 to check the temperature of this griddle…and based on the location of the griddle’s coil, the temperature reading seems to be fairly accurate.
I decided to measure the temperature of a fluorescent light bulb in a socket…the temperature at the end of the bulb should be considerably higher than the temperature in the center of the bulb. So, I’ll start with the thermometer about seven inches away from the bulb and measure the “V” in Sylvania…the temperature at the “V” in Sylvania was 129 degrees. The temperature at the center of the bulb was 99°F.
Next, I backed the thermometer up to 14 inches from the bulb and pointed the laser at the “V in Sylvania. Our reading this time was 120°F.
The last reading I took by pointing the laser at the “V” in Sylvania was 28 inches from the bulb. The temperature this time was 113 degrees. So, in conclusion, as we back further away from our target, the spot we were measuring increased in size, resulting in a lower temperature on our last reading.
On the DIY apprentice Wrench Rating scale, I’m gonna give this tool a 5 out 5. Based on the testing that we’ve done, and also my own personal use, it seems to be fairly accurate. It’s also very easy to use…it doesn’t take much time to really get up to speed with this tool. Temperatures can be displayed in Celsius and Fahrenheit, which is a really nice feature. I also like the hold feature on this tool and that the temperature that’s last read is held on the screen for you…and it also includes an automatic shutoff after 15 seconds, which is a true 15 seconds. In terms of durability, it seems to be very durable. I’ve dropped this tool many times over the last couple years and it’s still functioning just fine.
Etekcity Lasergrip 800 Digital IR Thermometer ► Check Amazon
