Temperature Measurement

Temperature Measurements

When you’re measuring temperatures in the fridge or the freezer, you need to ensure you’re doing it right.

IR Gun

IR guns, or infrared guns, are quick and easy ways to clock temperatures. You need to keep in mind, however, is that IR guns can be misleading. They will often read inaccurate temperatures depending on where you’re aiming.

• If you’re aiming it at the back wall where the evaporator is, you’re going to read very low temparatures because that’s the coldest part of the fridge.

Thermcoouple

A thermocouple is a temperature measurement device that connects to your multimeter, and it’s on a line with a tiny probe at the end. While these take longer than IR guns to get temperatures, they’re not subjected to innacurate readings based on reflective surfaces.

Air Temp

Air temperature refers to the ambinet temperatures inside the compartments. This temperature can fluctuate due to a variety of factors:

• Doors being opened.
• Hot items being placed in the unit.
• Defrost cycles.

Product Temperature

Product temperature refers to the actual temperature of the items inside the unit. This is often the metric that you want to get, since the items in the unit are what actually matter.

If you have an air temp of 18°F because the door was open or a defrost cycle is occuring, but you’ve got a product temperature of 1°F, then the unit is working like it should.

How to take a product temp: Place a thermocouple between two items, and let it bottom out.

Why Getting Accurate Temps Matters

On a lot of newer units, ice makers require freezer temperatures of below 8-10°F. If the temperatures are above that, then the unit won’t make ice.

If you’re getting inaccurate readings – maybe you’re aiming an IR gun at the evap cover and are seeing -8°F – but the air temp and the product temp are 9°F, then you’re chasing ghosts due to inaccurate temperature readings.