Vent: Bought a $200 infrared paint meter from a random tool supplier and it gave me bad readings on a 2018 Accord

I dropped $200 on that ProHeat infrared paint meter from a no-name supplier online and it was reading 2 mils over actual on a whole bumper, so I ended up sanding through clear coat before I caught the error, has anyone else gotten burned by cheap infrared meters?

3 comments

3 Comments

elizabethhayes16d ago

Good to know it's not just me getting burned by these things lol. Honestly, on dark colors like that Honda pearl, the cheap meters go totally haywire. Best practical tip I can give you is to test it on a known scrap panel first before you touch a customers car. Like, grab a fender from a junkyard and check it with a magnet gauge or even a high end borrowed meter to see what the cheap one is actually doing. Also, if you see the reading jumping around more than half a mil when you hold it steady, return it immediately. Saved me from wrecking another bumper that way.

shane65516d ago

You mentioned "it was reading 2 mils over actual on a whole bumper" and man, that's exactly what happened to me with a cheap meter I bought last year. I used to think all those infrared meters were basically the same, just paying for a name brand. But after I got burned on a fender repair because my meter was off by almost 3 mils, I completely flipped my thinking. I ended up having to strip and redo the whole panel because I sanded through clear thinking I had way more material than I did. The cheap ones just don't have the same calibration or stability, especially on dark colors like that Honda paint. Now I'd rather borrow a friends high end meter or just stick with what I know works.

ellis.mia4d ago

Yeah I read something similar on another forum, someone was saying those cheap infrared meters are basically just guessing on metallic paints. @shane655 nailed it with the calibration issue, I think they use a generic sensor that can't compensate for the way different paint layers reflect light. On my 2019 Camry dark blue, the $150 meter I had was off by 2.5 mils on the roof, but actually pretty close on the hood. It's weird but I've heard the angle you hold it at can mess with readings too. If you're gonna keep using it, at least test it on a known good panel first like elizabethhayes said. I just gave up and bought a gauge that uses magnetic induction instead, no more guessing games for me.