Best Moisture Meter for Firewood

[Bustergasket]

Iam currently using a cheap Stihl meter to give an indication of the moisture, iam sure there must be something better, it’s only for firewood not sawn timber, any recommendations appreciated [emoji106]

[Squaredy]

19 minutes ago, Bustergasket said:

 

Iam currently using a cheap Stihl meter to give an indication of the moisture, iam sure there must be something better, it’s only for firewood not sawn timber, any recommendations appreciated

 

Do you not trust your Stihl one?  Unless you spend hundreds of pounds you won't get a professional one.  

 

Most important thing is to check the middle of the log - ie split it again and check the freshly split face.  And if you want to test the Stihl meter find pieces of wood with a known moisture content like freshly cut unseasoned Oak (off the scale - 90%+) and a piece of furniture in a dry warm house (about 10 or 12%) etc.

[Bustergasket]

Thanks Edy, i agree not to trust the stihl (prob made by someone else) cheap meter, i can mostly tell just by the weight, feel and sound, but the meter is objective as opposed to a subjective test, i always knock them in half but ideally would like a decent meter that i can count on, i have heard about a hammer in type, i don’t mind spending on the right bit of kit, great idea about measuring a bit of timber in the house, when i measure some bits it can read 0% which to me is not right

[Woodworks]

I have the early version of this http://www.merlinlazer.com/Mini-Moisture-Meter-2?gclid=CjwKCAjwu5veBRBBEiwAFTqDwd0w1MCYIisIJmFQ6E5Hmmw174HNMRUfz8SJQfPo2p8eeb9hj8w-HBoCUgsQAvD_BwE. No complaints and it's proved pretty close when I have done some oven drying to check calibration. It might be worth doing some oven drying and then checking your Stihl one. No point in changing it if it is right. https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/FNR/FNR-156.pdf

Edited October 17, 2018 by Woodworks

[Bustergasket]

Cheers woodworks, that looks a good one, and the info on the oven testing is going to test my maths [emoji106] is anyone using a hammer in type ?

[richardwale]

bone dry furniture/wood  in a warm house should not be 10 to 12 %. Less than 6 for sure and on most metres not even highlighting. 

Dont reckon it's worth spending money on high end metres as dry firewood is pretty obvious to tell, and we all know anything less than 25......

[Bustergasket]

Seems to be big difference of opinion and big difference in meters !

[Rough Hewn]

The stihl moisture meter works by sending a micro voltage charge between the two electrode spikes and measuring the resistance.
Great idea but only tests about 1mm-2mm deep.
As has been suggested above, to gain a true moisture reading, cut the log in half and test the centre.
[emoji106]