Which meter to trust?

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Meter?

  • Dr meter

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  • General

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Kosmonauts

Kosmonauts

Member
Jan 15, 2016
220
Pennsylvania
Tried to upload a picture of a split with two meters in it. One general brand meter and the other is a dr. Meter. The dr. Meter reads 31% moisture and th General is reading 21%. Not really sure which to trust but my gut is thinking the higher one is probably right. I'm not gonna burn wet wood but I also don't want to have too dry of wood. Thanks!
 
I don't think there is such a thing as too dry of wood. My 2 cents. As long as it doesn't get wet it won't really rot. At least not before you can burn it.....
 
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Do the two meters act the same way on other splits? Is one or the other acting unstable or anything?

Try laying the pins of each meter on the palm of your hand. Normally, it should read about 35% or so. Sounds funny but it's more consistent than you may think. Just lay the pins on the palm, no need to draw blood;)
 
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Is it possible that one is using the dry method and the other using the wet method for calculation? I don't remember the math specifics behind the two methods, but I do know that there is a substantial difference in the resulting numbers.
 
Jags said:
Is it possible that one is using the dry method and the other using the wet method for calculation? I don't remember the math specifics behind the two methods, but I do know that there is a substantial difference in the resulting numbers.
Click to expand...
That's true, but common meters like these are all calibrated to the oven-dry method. It's pretty much a timber industry standard as I understand.

This is a good site about meters: http://www.esf.edu/nekda/documents/UsingWoodMoistureMeters-NEKDAFall2014-TomLaurenzi.pdf
 
Jags said:
Is it possible that one is using the dry method and the other using the wet method for calculation? I don't remember the math specifics behind the two methods, but I do know that there is a substantial difference in the resulting numbers.
Click to expand...

W=D/(1+D). D=W/(1-W). Where W and D are expressed as a decimal. Close, but the meters are probably not wet and dry.
 
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Eater309 said:
I don't think there is such a thing as too dry of wood.
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It's possible, but unless you are in Arizona or someplace, it's not going to happen. This from the National Firewood Association:
Also remember that it is possible for wood to be too dry, although not likely in any typical scenario. Wood that is too dry burns too intensely, using up all the available oxygen in the stove before the gaseous and airborne byproducts of combustion can be burned in the firebox. The result is increased smoke output. If there is, by chance, enough oxygen available, burning very dry wood results in a very hot fire that’s difficult to control and can warp and crack your stove and/or chimney.

Shoot for wood that’s between 15 -20% MC for the best results.
Click to expand...
In most places, it's pretty hard to achieve much less than 15%. There are sites that show typical equilibrium moisture content in different areas and months of the season, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. Just about anywhere, you can get the 20%.
 
Kosmonauts: Just curious, how did this turned out?
 
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