Moisture meter
- Thread starter Richard Pryor
- Start date
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albrown60
New Member
I have the EnnoLogic, paid $40.00. Works fine for me.
XmasTreefarmer
Feeling the Heat
I've had the Calculated Industries 7440 AccuMASTER XT Digital Moisture Meter that I got on Amazon for about a year now. Very pleased with it.
For what it's worth a friend of mine has one that has a test load in the cap and I tested mine with that and mine read 18.0% which is exactly what it should read.
For what it's worth a friend of mine has one that has a test load in the cap and I tested mine with that and mine read 18.0% which is exactly what it should read.
I recently purchased this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008V6I840/?tag=hearthamazon-20
Comes with spare pins and a carrying case, and it runs on a standard 9V battery. Works good so far.
Comes with spare pins and a carrying case, and it runs on a standard 9V battery. Works good so far.
Been heating with wood for over two decades and never heard of "moisture content". Wood was seasoned or it wasn't. Anyway I went to Lowe's and bought a digital moisture meter with several settings for what is being tested. No prongs and I'm not about to re split what I already split. Nothing I was concerned about tested above 16%, this was a 7 cord load I got a deal on but never again. Oh, all my wood is under cover in a two stall barn, horse died, and a 10X20 car port setup. So never any elements on it.
maple1
Minister of Fire
I think that only has a 3/4" max depth of reading, so if you're not re-splitting you're likely not getting a good reading.
What did you mean by 'never again'? Was it bad somehow?
I asked for a quote on 7 cords and it was fair. However a lot of the wood for my use was nothing more than kindling.(3") My Harmon takes big stuff. My regular guy sold his biz so I was looking. When they dump 7+ cords in the pasture the top looks good but as you start loading you see the crap. Sadly my go to guy called me after this.
Sawset
Minister of Fire
I had a moisture meter, but I never really used it much. If I use the driest wood available from the lot, then things are what they are and I don't try to analyze it. The first couple years I could just tell intuitively that something was up, and that moisture was most likely the issue. Not a bad issue, but something that needed more work to get around, like longer startups, or monitoring the stove more while the water boiled off, then watching it to make sure it was shut down properly and at the right time. Later, when inventory was up, I had the pick of the place to be able to use the driest available. It felt great for a change to almost be able to light a match to large splits and watch them catch easily. Over time you will be able to get a feel for it. Any moisture coming out while it burns? Does it light easily, do the splits have a ring tone vs thud, were the stacks under cover, or at least brought in during a dry time of the year, were they seasoned long enough. All questions to ask and store away to think about and learn over time.
lsucet
Minister of Fire
You want one with prongs for firewood. The ones without prongs are for other applications like MC on studs. walls, beams etc, that dont requires splitting. You dont need to split the whole stack, just a few pieces from the stack you are planning to use. Bring few pieces inside for 24 to 48 hrs, split it and measure MC on fresh split. That give you an idea how ready is the stack in use. But you want the one with prongs as mentioned before.
Well said Sawset. Moisture meters are useful (I have one I bought for structure testing purposes) and I have used it to measure moisture in firewood. But, IMHO, there is no measure like experience
Excuse my laziness, but here is a post with some links I made a cpl yrs ago regarding moisture meters, some of the info may be of interest to the scientific folks:
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Here are a couple of links regarding moisture meter accuracy, tips for use etc: The first pdf is the best for the science buffs (Battenkiller - you'll be digging the first link) . Jump to pg 72 for the conclusions. Note that temperature of the wood is rather important in using the both types of MM and especially the resistance type of moisture meters
http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/publications/2000/P420.pdf
http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Electric_Moisture_Meters.html
(broken link removed to http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/nreos/wood/wpn/methods_moisture.htm)
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