moisture meter

[Granite Statah]

I picked up a cheap meter on Amazon and tried it out this weekend. Does this look like a fairly accurate reading? This was a maple that I dropped a couple of hours before measuring. I probed a few chunks in my woodpile that I knew were dry and got anywhere from 0-5%. The meter one has no settings, just turn it on and go, and I'm wondering this will be OK to use. Thanks.

Having some issues posting my picture.....moisture reading is 37%.

 

[St. Coemgen]

Measure the wood on a fresh split only. And not on end grain since you are measuring across a moisture gradient (i.e outside to inside). But fresh cut wood, I would expect, to be about 35% or more on average (Black locust, which is just loaded with water, will be even higher with a fresh cut).

The moisture meter only tells you the moisture at the site of the wood where the probes contact. Surface wood, exposed to heat and weather, even over a very short period of time, will always be less then the interior moisture content. Your probe of your "dry" wood may be just a surface measurement, and thus may be unreliable as a measurement for total wood water content of your firewood. You need to test a fresh split and test the interior of the wood. As I explain here:

https://stcoemgen.com/2016/08/30/firewood-and-proper-use-of-a-moisture-meter/

By the way, my moisture meter has a test feature to calibrate its reading. For what it is worth.

 

[gzecc]

Measure the wood on a fresh split only. And not on end grain since you are measuring across a moisture gradient (i.e outside to inside). But fresh cut wood, I would expect to be about 30% or more on average (Black locust, which is just loaded with water, will be even higher with a fresh cut).

The moisture meter only tells you the moisture at the site of the wood where the probes contact. Surface wood, exposed to heat and weather even over a very short period of time, will always be less then the interior moisture content and thus is unreliable as a measurement source. As I explain here:

https://stcoemgen.com/2016/08/30/firewood-and-proper-use-of-a-moisture-meter/

Wow Hungary!

 

[St. Coemgen]

Wow Hungary!

American Expat living in Hungary.....

With German and Italian wood stoves, and new German made prefab chimneys.

My wife if 100% Hungarian, however.

 

[JSeery]

Looks right to me. I think I have the same moisture meter, and I've been pretty happy with it.

Like others said, you should just test on a fresh split. I think the act of sawing actually dries out the wood so I don't usually measure on fresh cuts, just splits.

 

[Sprinter]

Looks right to me. I think I have the same moisture meter, and I've been pretty happy with it.

Like others said, you should just test on a fresh split. I think the act of sawing actually dries out the wood so I don't usually measure on fresh cuts, just splits.

On a freshly cut round of a green tree, the moisture will be pretty uniform, so your reading is probably good. But what really counts is the moisture content in the center of the piece, so as the wood seasons, you will have to split it and measure the face of a fresh split.

BTW, I had the same model meter. It was fine, but I broke the bulkhead on it by trying to push too hard. Just be a little careful of it and it should be fine.

 

[toddnic]

Cut, split, and stack that maple and 2 or 3 years from now the moisture content should be under 20%. Your reading is fairly normal for "green" wood.

 

[claydogg84]

Cut, split, and stack that maple and 2 or 3 years from now the moisture content should be under 20%. Your reading is fairly normal for "green" wood.

I've never had Maple, hard or soft, take more than 2 years to be well below 20%.

 

[toddnic]

I've never had Maple, hard or soft, take more than 2 years to be well below 20%.

It all depends upon the climate that you live in. In western NC we get a lot of rain and it takes longer for wood to season properly. I try to stay 3 years ahead so that I have dry wood for each winter. Someone living in the southwestern U.S. would not need as much time for the wood to season due to their drier climate.

 

[gzecc]

American Expat living in Hungary.....

With German and Italian wood stoves, and new German made prefab chimneys.

My wife if 100% Hungarian, however.

Show us some pictures of the Hungarian scrounging areas. Never been to Hungary.