Has anybody had any experience with protecting tire Infrared temperature sensors from road debris? Can I just put helicopter tape over them and will they still work?

I am running three AIM IR sensors across each tire. The sensors are installed in the wheel liners. Unfortunately, they seem to be very prone to damage from road debris and on a typical race weekend, including testing days I lose on average 1 - 2 sensors to debris, which is starting to get a bit expensive. The front sensors are installed at the top (12 o'clock position) in order to allow for measurements when the tire is turned. The rear sensors are installed in front of tire (9 o'clock position) to minimize debris kicked up from the tire.

For me the active tire temps are an essential part of managing and monitoring my car set-up so I don't want to blank them out with a cover.

 

I've had a full compliment of 12 sensors of my Corvette for years and only lost one sensor in that time.

Like yours, the fronts are at the 12 o'clock position on the opposite side of the fender liner with holes in the liner so they can view the tires. Here they are mounted in an aluminum c-channel with what is supposed to be a water drain hole.



Here are the holes in the fender lender liner with the sensing lens having a view of the tires.



The rear sensors are behind the tires and again mounted on the back of the fender liner. I've also included a c-channel on the tire side to help protect the lenses of the sensors.


This set up has worked great.

 

Many thanks for sharing. Your setup looks great! I especially like your c-channel setup. My sensors are mounted directly to the wheel liner because the liners are highly curved. Let me see whether I can replicate your c-channel setup to recess them a bit more.




Busted sensor:

 

You can't put just any protection material in front of the lenses. When companies build in lenses, it's a special glass that doesn't interfere with the temp readings.

The protection above looks good. I have had the same sensors on my car for going on a decade with only one front sensor ever dying. It's curious that you have had so many problems. The factory Mercedes and Porsche mounting is very similar to how you do it.