Moisture Meters
Choosing The
Right Meter
First decide whether the pin-
type or pinless meter is right
for your
application. (It is not
uncommon for advanced or
professional woodworkers to
have one of each kind.)
Pinless Meters are extremely fast in operation, and you can measure enormous quantities of wood very quickly, just by sliding the meter sensing pad along the length of each board. They use sophisticated electronics to sense water inside wood. A sensing pad is pressed against the wood sample and unlike Pin Meters there is no punctures or damage to the wood.
These meters are essential for some applications, such as testing finished or antique furniture, fiberglass boats, building inspection--or any situation where the holes from pin-type meters would not be acceptable.
Pin Type Meters... just push the button on the front panel and the needle points to the measured moisture content. The pins may be part of the meter casing (and therefore pushed by hand) or may be mounted separately in a probe (which can be pushed or hammered with great force) connected to the meter itself via a cable. Actually, by using a pair of nails or wood screws inserted into your wood sample, and hooked up to built-in meter pins with wire, you can make your own "hammer probe" at zero cost! This kind of trick also lets you monitor boards in a stack as they are drying.
A good average moisture reading is obtained if the pins penetrate to a depth of one-quarter of the wood thickness. With a pin-type meter, the roughness of the wood surface does not matter, and even small pieces can be measured.
All our meters incorporate rugged reliable solid-state electronic components and modern advanced integrated circuits. In the critical moisture range of 6% to 12%, pin-type meters are accurate to half of one percent, while our pinless meters are accurate to one percent, and we offer a two year unconditional guarantee. All models use standard, readily available, 9- volt batteries. Complete information, instructions, and batteries, are included with every meter.
