Moisture Meter opinions

KenOfCary

Ken
Staff member
Corporate Member
Not familiar with that brand. I really like my Lignomat non-pin meter. You can set the depth of the reading to either 1/4" or 3/4".

Not super cheap, but not super expensive either for a non-pin meter.
 

wooduser

New User
Lecil
Delmhorst has been a well recognized industry brand for years. The fact the it is a pin type to me is better to get the moisture below the surface. I would learn to use it for your projects.
 

Hmerkle

Board of Directors, Development Director
Hank
Staff member
Corporate Member
Where feasable, I weigh the wood. When it stops losing weight, it is dry.

I should have been "dry" years ago! (I have a REALLY hard time losing weight!) ha ha

(in all seriousness Matt, that is a good idea)
 

bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
Delmhorst has been a well recognized industry brand for years. The fact the it is a pin type to me is better to get the moisture below the surface. I would learn to use it for your projects.

Mine is a Delmhorst with a little age on it. It still works but is a little awkward compared to some of the modern types. Batteries are a little scarce. Thought I'd include photos for a little humor. I used to have a board measure stick that was older than this meter but it got away from me along the line.

1 delmhorst - 1.jpg
1 delmhorst - 2.jpg
1 delmhorst - 3.jpg
 

danmart77

Dan
Corporate Member
I purchased a Delmhorst J-lite moisture meter.
I was wondering if it is a good meter - I found these reviews: Delmhorst J-LITE 6% to 30% Pin LED Wood Moisture Meter - Delmhorst Moisture Meter - Amazon.com

As usual "Great price" and "easy to use" is not a reccomendation of the product itself...

Any input from the NCWW minds?
Hank wondering what use you will have for the meter? I worked with a guy who installed red oak unfinished flooring for a couple year on the side and after he got tired of opening packs and finding the internal boards were green and the outside dry he put the thing away and lived with the difference. Its important to understand: most flooring suppliers laughed at him when he showed up with wood that was "wet" according to his meter.

I use green wood with a purpose in the work I do so I hope it isn't dripping but I do want it to shrink for a tighter fit. The leg system is better with the use of green woods carefully used. I don't have a meter but I gage it by common sense.
186313
 

nn4jw

New User
Jim
The problem I have with all moisture meters, regardless of brand and price point, is that they are actually just fancy ohm meters but cost way more than a multimeter. What you are really buying in a moisture meter is a single range ohm meter with its readout printed, or lit up, to read some resistance value as moisture content. For an interesting thread on using a multimeter as a moisture meter take a look here:

Using a multimeter to measure wood moisture level

There are other similar threads out there but that one has all the usual back and forth.

The only advantage I can see to a moisture meter as such is using its probe and not having to drive a couple of finish nails 1-1/4" apart. That and not having to remember that a 3 megohm reading is pretty much in the 20% moisture range. If you read through that link be sure to take a look at the #6 post for a link to the USFS document that explains resistance and wood moisture.

If you have a multimeter laying around your house or shop you already have what you need unless you are in the lumber drying business where you need to hand a basically clueless minion a direct reading device and send him out to take a lot of readings . Or you can go out and pay 10 times the cost of a multimeter for a "moisture" meter.
 

bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
Moisture meters are great for checking that stash of "grandaddy's barn" wood that someone is offering. I've been burned by that scam many times which is why I got a second-hand moisture meter in 1980.
Moisture meters will answer questions as to suitability for a particular environment. Using 6% moisture content wood can be just as risky as using 15% in a home that averages 9%. For a picnic table, moisture content isn't so important.
If you've got wood stored under varied conditions, its good to know what wood needs to be stored differently before it can be used in a chest of drawers. A warped out drawer side can give you fits. Dovetails can loosen. Hanging leaves of a drop leaf table can get like a potato chip.

Years back I was working at a lumber yard. A young budding woodworker came in and bought a bunch of C&better yellow pine that was normally used for exterior trim. He came in with a complaint about the wood. The table top had warped so badly it looked like a dog watering a fire hydrant. He hadn't known about moisture content conventions of the wood he was using. It was all I could do to keep a straight face.
 

bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
Hank, maybe you can tell us what you think of the one you've got. It looks easier to use than what I've got. The price isn't too bad either. I've internet shopped moisture meters in the past and got so confused that I gave up.
 

Hmerkle

Board of Directors, Development Director
Hank
Staff member
Corporate Member
I have another, that I rarely use (much due to what Dan pointed out) - but I thought it would be a good tool to have for the situation you pointed out (that stack of unknown wood!)
I will probably be selling one or the other of them...
But I didn't want to go through the effort if it ended up to be a dud!
 

nn4jw

New User
Jim
If you're going to be negotiating a big pile of barnwood or such I can see where an actual moisture meter might be handy to 1) get a quick read on its mositure level and 2) if it's a wet mess but you still want it (?!?) then showing the moisture reading to the seller would probably be more effective in talking the price down than trying to explain the same thing with an ohm meter. Especially if the seller was claiming it was dry wood. The readings would mean the same but you'd be unlikely to get the seller to believe your ohm meter I'd think.

In my own shop on my own wood I'd not spend the money on one though.

Has anyone found wet wood represented as dry? Especially in areas of the state where there has been flooding? Just a curiosity question.
 

Jeff

New User
Jeff
Not familiar with that brand. I really like my Lignomat non-pin meter. You can set the depth of the reading to either 1/4" or 3/4".

Not super cheap, but not super expensive either for a non-pin meter.

Just a question for general discussion by the group. What are the pros/cons of a pinless meter vs a meter with pins? I have the Lignomat mini-Ligno meter that was fairly cheap compared to the Ligno pinless meters. It's a PITA to push those pins deep enough in many hardwoods to turn on the meter and I wonder if there's more accuracy on various wood thicknesses with a pinless meter?
 

KenOfCary

Ken
Staff member
Corporate Member
You just mentioned one of the disadvantages of the pin meter. It's a PITA to use and it damages the wood (at least slightly).
 

Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
Delmhorst is the standard but I use a knock off that works as well not as versatile (use for work) but still works fine for most applications.

Weighing the wood works best but not always an option. Make sure to check what is optimum % dry for each species of wood.
 

ehpoole

Administrator
Ethan
Mine is a Delmhorst with a little age on it. It still works but is a little awkward compared to some of the modern types. Batteries are a little scarce. Thought I'd include photos for a little humor. I used to have a board measure stick that was older than this meter but it got away from me along the line.

If you ever get desperate, you can chain 9V batteries together to achieve the necessary plate voltage...or use a DC-to-DC Boost Converter to generate the necessary voltage from a lower voltage cell that is more readily available.
 

bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
If you ever get desperate, you can chain 9V batteries together to achieve the necessary plate voltage.

That's something I've been considering and probably will do it in the near future. I've just got to work on the geometry to get five 9-volt batteries in there. I may just make a separate case and go with that. It wouldn't hurt to try.
 

bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
If that's a 455 45v battery then Amazon has them. Not cheap, but there.
I tried that once. The battery went dead in less than a year. Called the dealer and they said that a year is what one should expect. Not acceptable. I tore the battery apart and found that the plastic wrap enclosed stacks of coin batteries like CR2032s. Won't do that again.
 

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