Moisture meter
- Thread starter Kelly
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I use a inexpensive General meter with pins. It fills my needs. Don't use it much.
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I bought a cheap Amazon Calculated Industries 7445 AccuMASTER (affiliated link) that has both pins and pinless. I don't have much to compare it to except it seems to correlate to my perceptions of moisture content in various conditions, including when I've purposely dampened materials to test their drying over days. You do have to sink the pins maybe 1/8" or more to get a good reading. I don't have much confidence in the pinless readings. I'm using it for drywall, plywood, sheathing, and other construction materials in addition to solid wood.
The tone was a bit loud so I took it apart and hot glued the electronic speaker to be barely audible. And the on/off button is raised which caused it to turn on unintentionally in my bag (despite the 3-second hold-down requirement), so I whittled down the button's plastic so it sits below flush of the chassis. I'd want better from a quality device, but about what I expect from cheap imported online purchases.
Get a Delmhorst if you're using one for any serious/legal/official testing or reporting.
The tone was a bit loud so I took it apart and hot glued the electronic speaker to be barely audible. And the on/off button is raised which caused it to turn on unintentionally in my bag (despite the 3-second hold-down requirement), so I whittled down the button's plastic so it sits below flush of the chassis. I'd want better from a quality device, but about what I expect from cheap imported online purchases.
Get a Delmhorst if you're using one for any serious/legal/official testing or reporting.
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I was given some sycamore, mostly spalted, in return for building something fir a charity auction.
I plan to build a full size blanket chest and a smaller matching miniature one.
The wood was cut and stored inside since fall of 2019. Since I haven’t worked with sycamore, I don’t have a sense for what it should feel like if it is dry. Hence the need for a mm.
Update: I bought a General from Lowe’s and checked it today. It was measuring 12-15%. I just moved it into my shop. Most of the other stuff in my shop is showing 5% or less.
So, I guess I need to wait a little longer to work it.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
I plan to build a full size blanket chest and a smaller matching miniature one.
The wood was cut and stored inside since fall of 2019. Since I haven’t worked with sycamore, I don’t have a sense for what it should feel like if it is dry. Hence the need for a mm.
Update: I bought a General from Lowe’s and checked it today. It was measuring 12-15%. I just moved it into my shop. Most of the other stuff in my shop is showing 5% or less.
So, I guess I need to wait a little longer to work it.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
Just ran across this as what looks like the most recent discussion on moisture meters. Most are pretty dated now, but I did see some names still out there. General still seems like a good option at a low cost. Anyway, I’m in similar boat, wanted a meter for some time to check mostly on air dried lumber. I no longer have a garage attic to store it for a couple of years. I decided to give a pinless a try when I saw a Povlen on sale on Amazon for under $20. At that price no biggie if it sucks and I miss the return window. What caught my attention is that it has 9 density ranges for various woods with a chart that seems halfway accurate for a wide variety of woods. These meters are typically +/- 4%, which is the percent error of the reading, not absolute, as I understand it, so if it reads 10%, then it could be 9.6 to 10.4 which is plenty close. The trick is finding the right density since wood varies. My initial testing some walnut, maple and 2x construction lumber marked kd/ht, looks quite reasonable. Going to try the measured/weighing oven drying control sample for comparison when time allows. But the walnut and maple read 5-6%, the 2x stuff 11-12%, both reasonable.
Moisture Meter Mini-Ligno S/D Black
Brand: Lignomat 4.2 out of 5 stars 35 ratings
$112.57 with 20 percent savings
List Price: $140.00 List Price: $140.00
This is a new version of the meter I have, it works well enough for me.
The one caution I have from experience is this type of meter measures moisture at the surface.
You really should cut at least one inch off the end of a board to see what the moisture level is inside the board.
I’m familiar with it, been around a long time. Just never could justify the cost for it, still can’t justify that much for something I’ll only rarely use. I’ve mostly avoided air dried lumber for any serious furniture. In former locations, I’ve always had reliable kiln dried availability. But every so often when I got some air dried, I’d just store it for some years in the garage attic. Never had any rush to use it so by the time I got into it, never had any issues. If I had a meter, I’d probably have been able to use it sooner, but it wasn’t a big deal. Only reason I got one now is that I see air dried lumber much more commonly available nearby compared to previous places I’ve lived. For my needs a $20 meter that’s reasonably accurate is just fine.
Moisture Meter Mini-Ligno S/D Black
Brand: Lignomat 4.2 out of 5 stars 35 ratings
$112.57 with 20 percent savings
List Price: $140.00 List Price: $140.00
This is a new version of the meter I have, it works well enough for me.
The one caution I have from experience is this type of meter measures moisture at the surface.
You really should cut at least one inch off the end of a board to see what the moisture level is inside the board.
Wood Moisture Meter - Digital Moisture Detector Moisture Tester, Pin-Type Water Leak Detector Damp Tester Dampness Meter for Wood Building Material Firewood Walls Paper Floor (Sliver) https://a.co/d/3xG2WpK
Bought this one on Amazon for about 40 bucks a couple years ago and it works well for the occasional use. Looks like it’s not available right now but maybe you can find it somewhere else or something similar. It has pins and settings for the different wood species.
Bought this one on Amazon for about 40 bucks a couple years ago and it works well for the occasional use. Looks like it’s not available right now but maybe you can find it somewhere else or something similar. It has pins and settings for the different wood species.
I bought the Povlen pinless - it was a tad under $20 so in my budget for trying out something I may not use very often. If I found that I really needed to rely on it routinely, I’d probably upgrade. But let’s see, nearly 50 yrs woodworking without a meter and no problems ever encountered. I highly doubt I’ll be upgrading. I just see a lot of small mills selling air dried lumber so figure it might prove helpful. I like the idea of pin-less since it’s easier to use and easier to check from front and back and various locations on a board without poking holes. Seems to measure ok on some rough sawn boards I checked as well, which can be a weakness of the pin-less if too rough.
I too don't use a moisture very often but when I do need one I go old school. I take a slice out of a board 12" from the end 1" wide and weigh it. I then throw it in a toaster oven set at 350 for and hour and then weigh it again. After another 30 min I weigh it again and repeat this until the weight does not change. When it stops changing subtract the ending weight from the starting weight and divide that by the starting weight and you have the moisture content. You have a accurate MC for that slice and the rest of the board. If you take the slice form the end you wont have an accurate measurement because it will be dryer than further in.
I'm not opposed to old school tech, and as a chem engineer I did my share of hands-on old school testing in labs so this is nothing new to me, just so happens I spent a good deal of time studying and optimizing our dryer operations for crystalline products. Anyway, its fine for checking wood but not something anyone will ever do regularly - in many cases an extra foot or so is not always available and testing an end piece isn't worth the effort, nor is the time to fuss with it always available. Good to know how to do it though, just in case.
