Moisture Meters

[timfromohio]

Relative newbie with some questions about moisture meters.

Am I correct in assuming a wood moisture meter could be used for both firewood and rough cut lumber? I didn't know if one exclusively for firewood would have a greater range, or if a moisture meter is a moisture meter.

Also, what does everybody recommend? Can you get something decent for under $50?

Thanks for opinions. This is a great forum.

 

[timfromohio]

Apologies - should have posted in gear section.

 

[n6crv]

I got one off of Ebay and it seems to work fine. With shipping it was like 26.00. It has 4 probes that you just stick in the wood for a reading. I would of liked it to read higher as it stops at 40%.
Don

 

[Gooserider]

All of the moisture meters are about the same in function, and should work on either firewood or lumber. If you use the search function, you will see lots of threads discussing them, seems like a lot of folks get the cheapo Harbor Freight unit, which is reported to work well, but be a bit on the fragile side. Some advocated drilling small holes for the probes to relieve stress on the unit.

In any case, regardless of the meter, it is important to note that for best accuracy you should grab a test split, and split it again to meter the moisture in the center of the wood, not just the outer surface.

Gooserider

 

[DiscoInferno]

In any case, regardless of the meter, it is important to note that for best accuracy you should grab a test split, and split it again to meter the moisture in the center of the wood, not just the outer surface.

I'd say for any accuracy. I recently grabbed and re-split a medium-size red oak split that had been stacked (on top) since may. Outside reading was less than 10%, center reading maxed out the meter (35%). There was also a visible color gradient from the gray outside to the pink center. This also reinforces the usual warning to folks about certain species needing more than a single summer to season. The outside might initially burn well, but once the center heats up there's a lot of water hiding in there.