Moisure meter arrived

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szumbrun

Member
Oct 25, 2010
61
Middletown, MD
Bought the harbor freight Cen-Tech digital mini moisture meter http://www.harborfreight.com/digital-mini-moisture-meter-67143.html
as someone on this site had recommended. This thing is great and gives me some peace of mind in knowing that what I think is fully seasoned really is. Found that one stack of ~3/8 cord oak and something else unidentified was around 12-15%. Another pile that I thought needed another several months of seasoning was actually at 18%. The "old" stuff that I was planning to burn soon was actually 25%+.

I also learned that rounds that have not been split retain moisture. I had 4 of these that have been sitting in my hard for 6 months. I split them and they were 35%+.

range is 6%-42% +/-2% for wood. Jamming it into my living maple in the back was a good positive control. It registered as "OL" which is over the 42% range.
 
Man, my story with my same meter was the same as your's. My two year old wood, registered around 14%. My wood that has been c/s/s for 10 months, I thought would register a little over 20%, acutally read from 16-18%. Almost got to the point where I wasn't trusting the meter. Stuck it into my living Magnolia tree in my yard, and it registered OL, as well. Actually posted a question about what this meant in the "Wood" section of the forums, so thanks for clearing that up.
 
Possibly "OL" means "outside limit" of the meter?

Shari
 
Take some of the splits of oak and resplit them. If they still read ~15% moisture, you're golden.
 
Yes, meters will only register accurately if the wood is freshly (as in today) split. Poking it into the side of a 6-month old split will not work.
 
DanCorcoran said:
Yes, meters will only register accurately if the wood is freshly (as in today) split. Poking it into the side of a 6-month old split will not work.

I just got my meter this last week and was taking reading's on 4 day old fresh saw cuts on old saw mill slabs that have been outside for the last 3 years most of them was in the 5-10% range.

would this be a good reading to go on? most of these slabs are already on the verge of being gloried mulch. But it was quick and easy wood to get and works as great shoulder season wood.

thanks
sublime out.
 
Just take one piece and split it and measure it. If the ones you measured before were in a hot, dry, windy spot, you could be getting a false low reading. If they were recently rained on or in heavy dew, you could be getting a false high reading. My guess is that 4 days is probably fine, but why not check one that measured 5-10% and see if you get a similar reading on a fresh split?
 
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