Usually when a thermocouple card reads high scale like that, it's because of faulty wiring. TC wiring is critical, every problem I've ever had was due to a loose, corroded or improperly connected wiring termination. If you read up on the maitenance recommendations from the TC supplier, you will find that the wiring should be checked on a routine basis, this is often iqnored. That's one of the reasons's I seldom use TC's. I prefer RTD's, much more robust, and require very little maintenance.