do u guys think that u absalutely need a temperature gun or some people just like having them

I think you need one. You dont need a laser pointer gun, but you do need some sort of temp gun. I have tested my raytek, with my buddies laser raytek, and my newest Atomik unit. The Atomik temp checker is just as accurate, and costs alot less.

Matt

it is nice to have one

It is very nice to have one. I like my venom onboard temp guage. Its nice to have it constantly monitor the temp. I also have tried the infrared and I don't like them because there is a lot of room for human error.

I have both the infrared and the Venom and prefer the infrared over the Venom any day! (More acurate IMO.)

Thats interesting, cause my infrared would give me a different reading every time I temped it. I could temp, move the gun, move back and temp again and it would be thirty degrees hotter, after I shut the engine off.

Of course, the engine does get hotter when you first shut it off. (Same deal as in your 1/1 car.) All the heat is sitting there and not being moved out of the engine by fuel and exhaust gasses. It has to radiate to dissapate and will increase a bit before it drops off. Your infrared wasn't giving you false readings, but rather you where getting accurate fast readings. Also the variance in readings could be a result of not reading the same spot on the head every time.

thanx guys

The problem with Temp guns is people rely on them, its not the way to tune an engine. Tuning should be done by sound and smoke trail, not how hot the motor is. If you are a noob and have no idea how to tune, they can be used as a reference to help you out but never under any circumstances should it be used as a tuning tool. It can be very misleading.

http://www.hobbypeople.net/gallery/851315.asp is this a good temp guage?

It is pretty much the same as the venom. So I would assume it is pretty good.

G1GY, With my venom temp guage, the temp drops off after I shut off the engine. And I can not see a 30 degree variance when the engine is shut off in a nitro. Thirty degrees is the difference between tuned and burned. As far as taking readings from different parts of the head, that is what I meant when I said to much human error. it can be very difficult to get an accurate reading because you can get the beam off by a tiny bit. Also infrared reads differently depending on how reflective the head is and depending on the material being tested. So you have to make sure your Temp gun is calibrated correctly. I checked mine calibration by freezing the head and glow plug then checking and adjusting the temp gun. But then comparing the gun I bought against a Raytek I borrowed, I came up with different readings constantly. Then when I switched to the venom I was getting readings that where way off from the two infrareds.