Moisture Meter

[elektrobot]

I picked up this little moisture meter from a store called harbor freight:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=2757

It's a little cheapo plastic device, but it was the least expensive one I could find (some are upwards of $200.00), and I have tried it out and it proves to work just fine.

I am hoping it will help me track the drying process of my firewood across this summer. It only measures up to 35% moisture content -but I think it will be helpful in knowing how close to 20% the wood is. I have some ash that has been drying for about 2 months already, and the outside of it is bone dry, but i re-split a log of it, and the inside was still about 30%. I got a hold of a bunch of pin oak this week, and I am really hoping it will dry enough in time to burn this winter.

If you are looking to pick one of these up, they are $19.99 on the harborfreight.com website, or if you have a local harbor freight store they should be in stock there. One tip -the in store price for my location was $10.00 higher than the internet price, so I printed off a copy of the website price and the local store price matched it. You might want to call ahead and ask the local stores price before visiting.


One other point worth mentioning, the cheap 9 volt battery that comes with it is not worth using. The terminals broke off the one I had, and I had to dig them out of the harness before installing a different battery. To avoid any troubles with it.....I would suggest not even trying to use the battery that is included in the box.

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[bottlefed89]

WHat moisture content % does everyone shoot for??

 

[Whiteindustries]

I think 12%

WHat moisture content % does everyone shoot for??

Hi,
If I remember correctly 12% is considered seasoned.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

I bought one of those meters awhile back. I really had to slam it into the wood to get it to go in, and I quickly dulled one of the pins! Then one day it stopped working altogether! I hope that you have better luck with yours!

 

[Gark]

Not being as sophisticated as those with moisture meters, I judge its dryness by how it burns. Does it light up and burn without sizzling? If yes, it's about right. Average hardwoods gotta be split & stacked (off the ground, lightly covered) before June in a windy sunny spot. Oak takes 2 summers. Seat 'o the pants firewood burning.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Shoot for 20%, gives best burn vs heat output.

To get an accurate reading you will have to split 4-5 pieces from the same pile and check them in the center.


The reason some are so expensive is that they allow you to slam them deep in the wood to get a good reading.

Some even have a slide hammer built in.

 

[Newfie]

Good god,it's only firewood. A moisture meter is a waste of time unless you are offering a kiln-dried preoduct for some big bucks.

Seasoned air -dried firewood is not going to get down to 12%, about 20% is the best you will ever due in moist areas due to relative humidity of the surrounding air. Even kiln-dried framing lumber is only dried to about 20% because of this factor.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

The only reason that I bought the $25 moisture meter from Harbor Freight was to fool around with it. We used it to "test" the MC in wood that had been split late in the Summer to see how close it actually was to being seasoned. It was interesting-according to the meter, my own personal firewood "stash" that is kept in my garage measured around 7 % moisture; the garage gets hot like a kiln in Summer and just draws the moisture out. And wood stacked outside the garage actually took on moisture. Like you guys, I can tell by look, feel, sound when clunked together, etc. if wood is dry or not-but it was kind of a lark using this meter. Unfortuanetly, I paid $25 for it, and that's what I got out of it about $25 worth before it took a dive! I don't feel the need to spend $200 or more on one-I wouldn't use it much since I split way in advance and know that I've got seasoned wood!:greenchainsaw: