I am in need of a moisture meter, I am curious what everyone is using. Pros and cons, would you buy another, etc. I am just looking for some direction as far as what I should buy.
Moisture Meters
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Poindexter
Minister of Fire
Under $50 at lowes-depot menards tractor supply they are all about the same as near as i can tell. The "general" label is pretty common here but i wouldnt go out of my way to find one if i had a different name in my hand.
You dont need to spend big dollars on this. The high dollar ones are for the guys making grandfather clocks out of mahogany using only hand tools.
You dont need to spend big dollars on this. The high dollar ones are for the guys making grandfather clocks out of mahogany using only hand tools.
lsucet
Minister of Fire
I have two. One from HD or Lowes if i remember correctly. The other i bought it from Amazon. I read the reviews and bought the one with better reviews including reviews from wood burners. I don't remember the brands. I think that anyone will help you on getting the general idea so so, unless that is completely off. Maybe is good to have two, to can compare them. Once you get a few years ahead in you wood, you don't need it much, just a routine to know.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008V6I840/?tag=hearthamazon-20
bought it last year, zero problem.
bought it last year, zero problem.
WoodyIsGoody
Minister of Fire
Amazon says there is a newer model (same price). Supposed to have a wider range, better accuracy. Just bought one.
Whatever you buy, make sure you can easily get replacement tips. I have a general tools moisture meter and while it worked great, it is currently sitting useless as I am unable to find probes for it in Canada. Everyone sells the meter but not the probes.
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WoodyIsGoody
Minister of Fire
It looks like the meter I just bought has replacement probes available for $17.99 (includes free shipping). Of course the replacement probes come attached to another meter.
Woody5506
Minister of Fire
I bought that DR METER one off amazon as well, seems to work fine and it comes with a replacement set of probes which I haven't needed yet.
WoodyIsGoody
Minister of Fire
It looks like the meter I just bought has replacement probes available for $17.99 (includes free shipping). Of course the replacement probes come attached to another meter.
This is the meter I just bought to compliment the free Blaze King branded meter that came with my woodstove:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008V5XFK8/?tag=hearthamazon-20
I got mine last week for $17.99 with free shipping but it looks like it's been raised to $19.99. I like this better than the free BK meter because it has a large, easy to read LCD display (instead of a row of LED's) and it has 4 ranges for different species of wood (but the specie list for each range is far from comprehensive so the default range will probably be used). It is also claimed to have higher accuracy and temperature compensation (it's necessary to let the meter acclimatize to the temperature of the wood for 20 minutes to benefit from this function since it has no way to sense actual wood temperature). That's a nice feature because it means you don't have to bring the wood inside, let it acclimatize and then take it back out to split it before measuring MC. The meter acclimatizes to temperature much faster than a split of wood. In my very brief initial testing it appears to be very stable and repeatable.
It comes with a well made zippered pouch and one set of spare probes that are threaded on one end. It also came with a shrink-wrapped 9 volt battery which was non-operable from the get go. As soon as I put a new Duracell in there it came to life and worked fine. Since the included battery made almost as much "tongue-tingle" (highly sensitive 9V battery test technique) compared to the new Duracell, I re-inserted the included "Golite" branded battery but to no avail. It only reads 8.45 V on the multimeter. I guess the battery brand name of "Golite" is descriptive because it weighs 30% less than the Duracell.
For the price this is a very nice meter!
I bought the one at Harbor Freight. I've used it 2 times in 12 months. Worked both times.
https://www.harborfreight.com/digital-mini-moisture-meter-67143.html
When you have solid wood that is around 20% or less moisture, it makes a nice ringing sound when you hit two together. I use that to tell if it is dry most of the time.
https://www.harborfreight.com/digital-mini-moisture-meter-67143.html
When you have solid wood that is around 20% or less moisture, it makes a nice ringing sound when you hit two together. I use that to tell if it is dry most of the time.
Got two... just to cross/sanity check each other.
General:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/General-Too...06&rk=1&rkt=1&&_trksid=p2045573.c100506.m3226
and the cheapest chinese unit i could find lol
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LCD-Display...369829&hash=item35e81e11a2:g:oYoAAOSwhvFZAt22
General:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/General-Too...06&rk=1&rkt=1&&_trksid=p2045573.c100506.m3226
and the cheapest chinese unit i could find lol
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LCD-Display...369829&hash=item35e81e11a2:g:oYoAAOSwhvFZAt22
ErikR
Burning Hunk
This is the same one I have. Just an FYI... It's cheaper to buy an Energizer A544 battery and take it apart to get the 4 button cells out of it and use them in the moisture meter, than it is to buy 4 of the little button batteries...
WoodyIsGoody
Minister of Fire
The cheapest I've seen the Energizer A544 is $1.95 each at Battery Junction. BJ also has the A76 batteries for sale for $0.50/each. Since 4 A76's make up one A544, they are about the same price. At least I wouldn't be disassembling them for 0.05 profit.
ValleyCottageSplitter
Feeling the Heat
Oh damn. That newer model would have been nice. I bought my Dr. Meter last year but most fresh cut wood just shows as "39%". I'm wondering if that species selection option may increase accuracy as well.
WoodyIsGoody
Minister of Fire
I leave the species selection option on "3" (the default setting) for all species around here. The instruction have a very abbreviated list of species and, as I recall, none are local to my area. Your meter is likely calibrated to the "3" range so I don't think this function would increase accuracy for you. But they do claim higher accuracy and a wider range so that might help you.
Having used this meter more, I'm very impressed with it. I verified the temperature compensation works (well, at least it appears to apply the proper correction at 50F). My Blaze King MM, one with a row of LED's to indicate moisture, reads 1-2 points lower moisture (which is actually a difference of about 5-10% lower). at 50 degrees, that 1-2 points becomes 2-3.5 points lower (which is how I know the temperature compensation is working).
I have both versions of the Dr Meter. The "3" setting is what I leave on for myself as well. It reads identically to my original version of the meter which does not have any settings.
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WoodyIsGoody
Minister of Fire
I put my multi-meter on the probes of both my moisture meters today. Blaze King MM and Dr. Meter MM both run on a single 9V battery. BK meter reads 2.6 V in high range and .03 V in low moisture range. Dr. Meter reads over 23 volts!
