moisture meter

[fbelec]

so i bought a moisture meter from harbour frieght. when i split a split in haft and check it's moisture it reads about 15%. yet i put the wood in the stove and it sizzles. beside buy a new one any way to check calibration

 

[xman23]

I never had one or needed one. I use the old school method, season 3 years. Feel the wood for a lighter weight. Bang the wood together. It should have a higher pitch sound not a thud method. But if I was using the meter you have, I would test it with a variety of wood from other sources. Then you should be able to tell what seasoned wood looks like on the meter.

 

[mass_burner]

Weight, depending on species, is my meter now. But an mm comes in handy as a homeowner.

 

[woodhog73]

I'm no expert with drying wood but I just air dry when it feels light, looks discolored gray, and doesn't thud when banged together, I burn it.

Having said that I've had well seasoned pine that I burn outside in the fire pit sizzle some. I'm wonder if it's the type of wood? 15 percent moisture sounds good for burning but still that 15 percent moisture has to burn off. Perhaps it's more noticeable on certain wood species ? Perhaps your fire was not very hot so it created a burning environment where the little moisture had time to " sizzle " while the split was burning slowly ? So more noticeable ?

Not sure really. I'm just guessing.

I will say though I've had large oak rounds that I bucked over a year ago and just splitting them now and they are still very green inside. The ends looked dry but the insides were green . Wood generally doesn't dry well until it's split, stacked, and off the ground

 

[Sprinter]

beside buy a new one any way to check calibration

A couple of ways. Maybe you can find a sample of known MC from a friend or something. Or find someone who has a different one to check against. A rather primitive but surprisingly consistent thing you can do is place the pins on your palm. Normally, it will read around 35%. It will vary some, but it's a quick and dirty check.

What kind of wood is it, and how has it been seasoned? If the wood really does sizzle and you can see some foam from the ends, there is no way it's really 15%. I've only seen sizzling and foam from 30% +

 

[D8Chumley]

^^^ this. I was going to say the same about the 35% palm reading, but be careful it can hurt a little if you press too hard trust me lol

 

[FTG-05]

I use one but mostly for checking the starting moisture reading for wood that I'm CSS at the moment.

Like the FPNI guy said: I use the 3 year method; except for me it appears it's now the 4 year or maybe the 5 year method. Whatever. Wood I'm putting up now, I might need to use 2020 or 2021, not really sure. Mostly depends on recreational i.e. firepit burning vs. home wood heat burning.

 

[CenterTree]

^^^ this. I was going to say the same about the 35% palm reading, but be careful it can hurt a little if you press too hard trust me lol

To get a good and true reading though ya got to push them in the whole way!


Don't forget to do BOTH hands too.


.

 

[Sprinter]

but be careful it can hurt a little if you press too hard trust me lol

I'm pretty sure that blood will read higher...

 

[Sprinter]

Having said that I've had well seasoned pine that I burn outside in the fire pit sizzle some.

Pine and other high resinous wood can appear to sizzle even when well seasoned. I see that all the time, but in my case at least, it's just the pitch melting and sizzling and then burning. Sometimes, an otherwise well-seasoned split can sizzle a bit of water near the bark, usually just a little from rain, or from being buried in the stack near the bottom.

 

[CenterTree]

I'm pretty sure that blood will read higher...

That's why ya gotta push it all the way into the bone.

Dem Bones, dem bones,dem DRY bones.

See?

 

[Sprinter]

That's why ya gotta push it all the way into the bone.

Dem Bones, dem bones,dem DRY bones.

See?

Let us know how that works out for ya....

 

[D8Chumley]

That's why ya gotta push it all the way into the bone.

Dem Bones, dem bones,dem DRY bones.

See?

I'm cracking up! Good stuff CenterTree

 

[Seanm]

For me having a moisture meter is a great tool. Since I burn softwoods that are often standing dead and go into the stove 6 months later I like to know where in my yard to put different wood for the final stage of drying. I dont go to crazy with this but poke a number of fresh splits before they go in the stacks. The three year plan works great for those who have the space but many of us dont. One point that hasnt been mentioned above unless I missed it is that if the wood is cold you will get a low reading. They are calibrated to doug fir in most cases and give optimal readings when the wood is around 70f. I also find it interesting when Im splitting and testing to probe it in the center as instructed but I also like to play around a bit and stab it closer to the outside. Sometimes Ill see wood that is 17% in the center and then find its quite a bit higher on the outside. Enjoy!

 

[Sprinter]

For me having a moisture meter is a great tool. Since I burn softwoods that are often standing dead and go into the stove 6 months later I like to know where in my yard to put different wood for the final stage of drying. I dont go to crazy with this but poke a number of fresh splits before they go in the stacks. The three year plan works great for those who have the space but many of us dont. One point that hasnt been mentioned above unless I missed it is that if the wood is cold you will get a low reading. They are calibrated to doug fir in most cases and give optimal readings when the wood is around 70f. I also find it interesting when Im splitting and testing to probe it in the center as instructed but I also like to play around a bit and stab it closer to the outside. Sometimes Ill see wood that is 17% in the center and then find its quite a bit higher on the outside. Enjoy!

Now that I have a working three-year system, I don't often use the MM anymore, but there are plenty of cases where I don't know for sure. And there are times that I'm just curious. My MM cost a whopping $12 and is right there handy. IMO, there is little reason not to have one.

There are charts that show correction factors for different species and temps.
(broken link removed)

(broken link removed to http://www.delmhorst.com/Documents/PDFs/Product-Support/Temperature-Correction-Table.pdf)

 

[TheBigIron]

so i bought a moisture meter from harbour frieght. when i split a split in haft and check it's moisture it reads about 15%. yet i put the wood in the stove and it sizzles. beside buy a new one any way to check calibration

I read a post on the Hearth about using a multi meter to check moisture in wood. I believe it's on here somewhere, use the search and hopefully you find it..

 

[TheBigIron]

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/using-a-multimeter-to-measure-wood-moisture-level.40033/

It's in the wood shed, sticky threads.

 

[fbelec]

thanks guys. we do have a group great people here. made me laugh. i did try my hand but i have really dry skin. below 10% after looking at the delmhorst chart it would just about work for the cheapo meter i have. i was getting 15% sometimes 13% readings and it was around high teens to 20 degrees. just plain weird to see foam on three year oak and more so on three year apple on those if the bark was still on i would take it off. big difference on the steam

 

[fbelec]

going to try the multimeter comp also.