fga

My Feedback: (2)

looking to buy my first temp gauge. Been doing this a few years, figured its about time. Any suggestions for one?
It'd be easier if Tower carries it, but i'm open. Looking for something decent cost, and accurate.

fga

My Feedback: (2)

any opinion on these?
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXEMG5&P=7

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXLXW8&P=7

or the several "on-board" type?

Seek and Destroy

don't get the raytek raynger st. I have it and it sucks. It's huge, it's almost impossible to get into your pocket. And reads in-accurately. I have had it read almost 100* lower than what it should be. And I have had it read almost 100* higher than it should be. I want a new one, but don't want to spend $25 on a new temp gun.

con69

just do the spit test den

HerrSavage

NOT the Duratrax Flashpoint...

97talontsi

I have the DuraTrax FlashPoint

HerrSavage

Before going out and breaking in my first engine, I got the Flashpoint too.. I tried to do everything perfectly and really carefully. Well, not being that experienced, I did a lot of unnecessary worrying, cuz the damn thing was constantly showing 300 degrees and up(340 even a time or two..) After a while I just thought it was the normal(Hot Bodies Lightning GT, Force 26 engine..) running temp.., until one day I came across a guy with a decent temp gun who checked it, and his was showing like 260 while mine was 300...

I recently got a new one from Atomic - about the same size and shape as the Flashpoint, but black - and comes in a cool silver case - and am much much happier with it..

I didn't start hearing other people complain about the Flashpoint til I'd already gotten it - but lots of other people have... Do you actually like yours??

I recently got a Savage X SS, and there was a Duratrax failsafe with it, but I've just heard so many awful things about Duratrax that I don't know if I want to risk it with a Duratrax failsafe.......

happywing

I have the O'Donnell temp gauge that you linked. I compared it to a friend of mine's gauge and they were within a couple of degrees. The difference is that his gauge cost over $100, while the O'Donnell is $40.00. So far, I think it's a great gauge. I had the Duratrax one for a little while. If you don't mine a +/- varience of 10-20 degrees, it's OK...but I wouldn't buy it.

89ram

i've got a flashpoint. it seems to be correct, but i have'nt compared it with anything else. time for some experiments.

duckedup

I've got the Flashpoint also, I don't use it much anymore but seemed to work fine when I did.. although, I didn't compare it to anything else either...

Bria1

Don't buy the Duratrax one. I know several people that have tried it and none were accurate. I have the Atomik one, basically the same thing. I thought mine was accurate, but it is not. According to it, water boils at 172 degrees F and it's consistently off compared to several others that read the same. I'm not sure about the odonnell one, but [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXLCA4&P=7]this OFNA one [/link] seems to work pretty good. I also hear the onboards don't work so well.

Uglysteve

Yes...I own the OFNA PCR and it's a good'n. But i haven't used it since i got my Sensor Radio. I would use it at first in conjunction with the Sensor's temp sensor, but i came to find out that the Sensor was more accurate than most if not all of the IR ones at the track. We measured the temps with about 8 guns, then my sensor. The sensor was right in the middle of all of them.

mcstarr25

i bought the flashpoint a few years ago when i raced my rc10, it was ok. but when compared to a expensive gun it was off by 15 or more degrees

i just ordered the o'donnel gun , waiting for it. from this thread and other places ive looked it's supposed to be a nicely accurate gun for the price, with some good features the cheapo flashpoint lacks

will be testing it soon!

fga

My Feedback: (2)

me too. I ordered the O'donnell. I t was debating between that and the OFNA, same price. Deal breaker was the O'Donnell pouch they include with it. I'm alittle obssessed with order and things being in place.

fourwheels0

My Feedback: (7)

look on e-bay motors they have raytec's starting at $25. do not get the duracrap flashpoint or anything like it we have checked them against all the raytec's and everyone was off by 30-50 degree's.

mike54937

The Dura Trax Flash Point is actually pretty good. It has 1E - 95 E emissivity settings, the key is to have it set properly. I am a dispatcher a local concrete company in WI and we have to make sure our concrete is at the proper temps and we have three diff. temp guns that all go for $300 - $500 each and I have checked my Dura Trax Flash Point with those three guns and it works fine. Read the owners manual closely and play with the emissivity settings and you will be amazed at how close they really are.

paintball4ever90

I have a Venom Smart Temp Fail Safe on my Revo 3.3 Works good. Just have to find a place to mount it on.
http://venom-racing.com/

duckedup

Not trying to be an arse here... but you are literally the 1st person I have seen/read that actually recommends the SmartTemp.. I had one and it sucked, it was nothing but problems from day 1.. and that's what you'll usually hear/read about it.....

HerrSavage

That's what I heard too.. In fact I heard it so much I just sold mine before even using it..

The guy I bought my first Savage from was a competitive racer, and even after I asked if I should buy one - from him - he said no. He doesn't believe in failsafes cuz he says they just screw up the electronics.. Which has been my experience too.. Had a Venom failsafe on my onroader, which blatanly did NOT prevent a VERY high-speed crash.. Just don't use them since then.. And prob wouldn't buy anything from Venom anymore..

scottywilkes

i use my mates duratrax gun and its awesome. I find it to be very accuarate as i tested it against a grocery store, 200 dollar laser light heat gun and it was only about 2 degress off. So im happy with it, i never liked venom, people have to many problems with there products

duckedup

yeah, Venom is good for cheap/high capacity battery packs for bashing.. that's about it, IMO...

scottywilkes

o guy i know has the speed metre, that thing is ok and pretty cool for the novelty factor, but it is to prone ot getting smashed and waterlogged. His haslasted for a long time, but its the only person i know who has had a venom product last that long lol. I bought venom tyres for my onroad when i first got it and they had no grip, and wore very quickly. DTX make good elecs IMO and some of there vehicles are good to, ie nitro evader, and the mini quake, the kit mini quake is awesome

natz

You just have to set the proper emissivity!

From the FlashPoint manual...

1. Aluminum: Sandblasted (standard car and
airplane engines, not anodized) set the
emissivity at 21E.

2. Aluminum: Anodized (for colored car and
airplane engines, may be powder coated) set
the emissivity at 77E.

3. Batteries Packs (with or without covering) and
Airplane Covering: Leave at default 95E.

By default it is set to 95E... would explain why your readings are inaccurate!

Chronic

I use a Duratrax Flashpoint... it's okay. Like others have said, it is adjustable. Once you establish something to base your settings on, you can adjust the emissivity until it reads properly. I used a digital temp probe that we had at work to test mine. It ended up around 65 though, so don't trust that recommendation in the book until you test it.

It really is kind of stupid to use a cheap gauge though, and I plan to eventually pick up something better.

jombo

http://search.harborfreight.com/cpis...ord=temp+gauge
i just got the top one for $39. i also have the flash point and read it wasent accurate so i got this one. i think i just wasted some money because it works the same. well i guess now i have a backup if one fails