Re: Wood moisture meters

from what I have been reading at woodnet, even the cheap ones perform ok Willy, pin or pinless... Panda has a chiwanese one that sells for less than 1K. haven't tried it since I get my stock at 6 to 8% tested.

Re: Wood moisture meters

from what I have been reading at woodnet, even the cheap ones perform ok Willy, pin or pinless... Panda has a chiwanese one that sells for less than 1K. haven't tried it since I get my stock at 6 to 8% tested.

Tnx Timb, I will try try to visit Panda 2moro and test their model.

Re: Wood moisture meters

as an alternative sir
you could also try units at goodhandsecurity at #545 EDSA Cubao Crame Quezon City,harap ng Hypermart Cubao
meron din sila meter cost range from 2k to 3.5k

Re: Wood moisture meters

For non-China/Taiwan, maybe Avesco?

Good Hand has a website: http://www.goodhand88.com/cinstruments.php
Haven't tried any of their meters (unfamiliar brands) but they did have good prices on Garrett metal detectors.

Given an existing pin meter, I would probably lean pinless on a second/check meter. Unless I'm missing something, doesn't non-invasive have clear advantage? (Except for cost and assuming 3/4" depth is enough.) The Lignomat pinless models (D, SD, SDM) appear to be less costly than the Wagner and the pinned Delmhorst models mentioned? D is probably enough, though SD and SDM offer choice of depth. SDM claims to do bamboo and relative readings on other building materials. I think the bamboo claim is just additional entries in the specific gravity table, not really additional capability? I understand Wagner can better factor out surface moisture.

I'll bring my cheap meter to compare against Extech? If they read different, it means one is definitely wrong, if not both. If they read the same, it means they could both be wrong. 🙂

Re: Wood moisture meters

I'll bring my cheap meter to compare against Extech? If they read different, it means one is definitely wrong, if not both. If they read the same, it means they could both be wrong. 🙂

HI GUAD,
[COLOR="Red"]SEE HERE'S WHAT'S CONFUSING ME....
(Sawing and Drying)
From contributor D:
If you dry lumber, you should buy a moisture meter that reads up to 60% or more. If you only handle lumber that has been dried, then a cheaper meter works for you. Much is made of the fact that moisture meters are not accurate over 30% because of free water, but they do give you a decent range and work pretty well. Delmhorst, Lingnomat and Gann are the most established and reliable.

Pin meters and pinless meters are about equal in accuracy and Wagner is the best known in pinless. Pin meters generally are handier but you should buy one with a ram-in electrode and not one with just two thumbtack style pins on the side. I feel the pinless meter should be the second meter you buy.

[COLOR="red"]AND THIS ONE SAYS...
From the original questioner:
Thanks for the response. So are you saying that pinless meters are inaccurate and I should get a pin meter? I am leaning toward the Delmhorst J-2000, like you have. Would you recommend that meter?

From contributor N:
I'm saying that either type can be inaccurate. On the other hand, I've seen them read very close to baked samples. As others have said, the pinless type is nice for stepping (don't slide) along a board or pack and getting multiple readings. The pin-type is nice when you want to know the MC at different levels from the surface. I would recommend the J-2000. It has a lot of species settings, compensation for different temperatures, it's more rugged than it looks and Delmhorst is good when things don't go right.
[COLOR="red"]
AND FINALLY THIS GUY SAYS....
From Professor Gene Wengert, technical advisor:
Did you read the article in the archives about meters? (See link.) I believe that you cannot get a good meter under $200 that will work for kiln-dried or air-dried lumber. I also believe that you cannot use a meter to dry lumber; there is too much uncertainty. Rather, it is useful only after air-drying or kiln-drying is completed. Even then, as stated and as you will read in the article, they only estimate the MC. At low MCs, the estimates are very good, especially if you make appropriate temperature and species corrections.

WOODWEB article on Moisture Meter Accuracy
"Moisture meters aren't perfectly accurate, and wood moisture content can also vary within a piece... October 25, 2006"

[COLOR="red"]MY HEAD IS SPINNING.:dunno::confused:

Re: Wood moisture meters

WOODWEB article on Moisture Meter Accuracy
"Moisture meters aren't perfectly accurate, and wood moisture content can also vary within a piece... October 25, 2006"

MY HEAD IS SPINNING.:dunno::confused:

My sentiments exactly Willy, that is why the wood I get has been checked by a reliable meter from my source. So when I get a 6% dry wood, I can safely say it would still be ok even with % errors.
A friend who got the cheaper MM from Panda says it nicely "it doesn't really need to be dead accurate, a vicinity reading of the desired MC is enough" which really is for me as well.

Re: Wood moisture meters

The Woodweb threads being referred to:
Moisture Meter Accuracy
Electric Moisture Meters

If one approaches the discussion hoping to know 'which is more accurate', I could see how it could look confusing. If it is already understood/accepted that meters at this price range (or lower) are 'accurate enough' and that differences in accuracy are not significant for most purposes, then the thread is not so confusing ... I think everyone is more or less correct. 🙂

I suspected that 'perfect accuracy' in measuring 'MC' is impossible anyway. What would perfect measurement be? Number (or density) of water molecules in a defined volume relative to some level arbitrarily considered to be 100%? This would seem to be quantumly (Heisenbergly) impossible to determine. Number of water molecules in a fuzzily defined volume beneath a pinless scanner, or in a fuzzily defined volume between two pinpoints in 3D space ... are even more screwy concepts.

Given that perfect accuracy is elusive in MC (as in ... air pollution?), we are happy to just have 'good estimates' ... which pin and pinless meters arrive at by different methods. The considerations then are not accuracy but other things like...
having diversity in method
invasiveness (having to make holes, pin breakage/replacement), speed, convenience
depth(s) needed
whether MC vs. depth (gradient) is needed
etc.

Interesting to learn from one of the above links that pin meters are essentially megohmmeters with range of about 0.5 to less than 100,000 megohm. Typical megohmmeter for measuring wire insulation resistance covers some of that range. To replace or verify a pin meter using a megohmmeter, all we need to know (or deduce) now is the conversion function from ohms to %MC, and how it is parameterized by specific gravity (and temperature?).

Or the reverse ... could we use a relatively cheap pin meter as a poor man's megohmmeter?

Re: Wood moisture meters

My sentiments exactly Willy, that is why the wood I get has been checked by a reliable meter from my source. So when I get a 6% dry wood, I can safely say it would still be ok even with % errors.

A friend who got the cheaper MM from Panda says it nicely "it doesn't really need to be dead accurate, a vicinity reading of the desired MC is enough" which really is for me as well.

Hmmm... you've got me thinking there brader. What do you think should I get? A much cheaper model pin or pinless type? Kya lang as you've said, you get your wood from a source that has a [COLOR="Blue"]reliable meter to begin with. Eh ako ung isa sa mga sources ng wood sa market na dapat [COLOR="Blue"]very [COLOR="blue"]reliable din ang equipment b ba? Kya nga naisip ko ung J-2000 na kunin ko. Haaay... what to get, what to choose?:unsure: