moisture meter

[Rob D]

All the cheap moisture meters will be fine for firewood but next to useless for seeing how dry planks are! They seem to give inconsistant readings. I went through about 3 cheapies before getting the Delmhorst ones.

[18 stoner]

How come they are so different between logs and planks Rob?

 

Is it just that they are accurate enough for firewood (to within a couple of %) but need to be more accurate for planks?

[cosworth]

I bought mine off alaskanmill really happy with mine worth the extra cash!

[taz.horses]

I got mine from Amazon for £19.95 - seems to work well.

 

However, if you are measuring firewood be sure to measure the INSIDE of the log. Split in half and measure the middle of the freshly exposed face in a couple of places to get a feel for the actual moisture level.

 

Also, measure the middle of your biggest log and a smaller one - if both are the same then they have been well seasoned and reached an equilibrium with the environment in which they were stored. If the small log is significantly lower then they havent been seasoned for long enough....

 

Hope that helps...

 

FG

What is a good moisture level for firewood ??

[doobin]

got this from ebay for £14 delivered next day:thumbup:

 

Does yours read anything other than between 30-60%?

 

Mine doesn't, no matter if I stick it in kiln dried oak or a bowl of water

[Joy Yeomans]

got a good german one from ebay, measures from 0 to three figures with decimal increments in between, definately worth the £36 - had no problems with it in two years and we are constantly using it for milling timber and firewood

[armchairarborist]

Does yours read anything other than between 30-60%?

 

Mine doesn't, no matter if I stick it in kiln dried oak or a bowl of water

 

yes it works fine, i have readings of 22% in my woodstore and 2% in the fire surround:thumbup: we have tested it compared to another type moisture meter on the same pieces of wood and have very close readings, probably won't last long at the price i paid though:001_smile:

[Rob D]

How come they are so different between logs and planks Rob?

 

Is it just that they are accurate enough for firewood (to within a couple of %) but need to be more accurate for planks?

 

 

 

I just think with moisture meters you get what you pay for. Of the 3 cheapies i bought 2 broke and the third gave me different readings from the same piece of wood - within 5% (where the Delmhorst meters gave a consistant reading in the same spots). The cheapies will tell you whether wood is dry or not but just don't give an accurate reading if you're looking at planked timber.