Cheap 2-pin wood moisture meter

[Dan_Musicant]

:I have one! It works but I find it is a bit difficult to use. You really :have to push it in the 1/8" that the instructions say in order to get a :reading. I have a difficult time getting a reading through long grain. Not :such a problem with end grain. I got it to keep track of the moisture in my :bowl blanks for turning. That's my story and I gotta stick with it...... :George Hughes :Warner Robins, GA

I can't imagine why you'd have to get much penetration. Maybe not getting much of the probes embedded increases the resistance. Yeah, I guess that makes sense. The shame of it is that you are making holes in your wood - not an issue in my attic and I guess not particularly at HD, where most of the wood I buy is pretty much for crude stuff, anyway.

Dan : : :> I'm looking at the following at Harbor Freight: :>

:>

:> It's $20, and I wonder if it's worth the money. My initial purpose for :> it is to find leaks in my attic. I just had total roof job done to my :> very old house and there's a lot of discolored wood up there and have to :> guess if wood is wet or not. I figure the meter might make finding leaks :> a lot easier than digging my finger nail into a piece of wood or rubbing :> it with my hand. :>

:> Also, it might come in handy when trying to determine if wood is moist :> or not. For instance, is it ready to prime/paint yet? Might it warp or :> check unless allowed to dry further? Maybe picking out lumber at Home :> Depot, etc. :>

:> Thanks for any information. :>

:> Dan :

[Dan_Musicant]

: :"Dan_Musicant" wrote in message :news: [e-mail]... :> : :> The bottom-most layer of what they tore off on Oct. 28 and 29 was cedar :> shingles. Now, what I see from the attick above the skip sheathing is :> 1/2" CDX plywood, above which is 30# paper and then architectural :> asphalt composition shingles. : :Well it sounds like they did the job correctly in that respect. I would not :worry about it myself. If you see stains now it is most likely from the :cedar shingle roof. Cedar shingles swell and seal up the tiny holes when :they get wet. Not unusual for there to be a slight bit of seepage until :they did. : I see a LOT of signs of seepage, all over the attic, but haven't spotted any dry rot, so it doesn't worry me. What has bothered me is that I can't tell if those signs are current wet spots or spots that dried up decades ago. That's why I want to get this meter. A post I saw in a newsgroup suggested that you can make your own meter just using a multimeter (ohmmeter). I was playing around with a couple of mine last night and found that at the highest ranges they do show readings for wet wood. Thing is, I don't know how to interpret them. I guess I'll just buy the $20 meter.

[Dan_Musicant]

:Yes that's the one. Isn't it a pretty direct answer to your question? : :Or, to get to the point, did you DAGS first or post the question first? : :I hate to be net nanny, but it seems that's what's happened. : :With self-loathing, :H

Oh, no problem. Now I see what you meant by DAGS. Yes, I did DAGS first (Do a Google search). However, I didn't do it in such a way as to bring that thread to me attention, my bad, I guess. IOW, I could have done it more thoroughly. Anyway, I don't think I've done a ton of harm here.

Could you comment on why you were dissatisfied with the HF meter? You didn't in the thread. Thanks.

Dan

[Leon]

Sounds normal to me and I think the job would look shoddy if that many places were leaking now with that type roof.

First, does the decking look normal. It would have to get wet for the wood below it got wet and it would show signs of getting wet not just the wood below it. Second, if you see no signs of wet ceilings or insulation, take a look up there during and or immediately after a rain. If there is a leak it will be wet up there. Third, cedar shingle roofs experienced this every time it rained. No problem so far, right? Nothing falling apart, only dry stains? Fourth, if you have a next door neighbor, ask to take a look inside his attic. His roof was probably originally cedar shake also and probably the inside of his attic looks like yours.

[hylourgos]

No, it's I who must apologize for net nannying. I think everyone who's been watching a NG for over 5 years or so begins to be annoyed by the greater percentage of posts. Growing old and getting cranky I guess...

But to answer your question more specifically: when I first bought the HF unit it seemed poorly constructed. Seemed more like a cheap plastic toy. Performance was equivalent. It had several "levels" of measurement, but they didn't measure accurately or even consistently. I suppose it would be OK as long as you don't mind a error margin of +/-

40% moisture content.

Returned it and got some clamps.

Now happy, H

[g.a.miller]

try looging on to handyman.com and compare notes on these regaeds anthony

................................................................ Posted via TITANnews - Uncensored Newsgroups Access >>>> at

[Brooks Moses]

I'd say, for Dan's application, the lack of accurate measurement wouldn't be that big a problem if it was consistent -- he doesn't really know what the moisture numbers in the attic should be, and is mostly looking for a spot that's different from all the rest. But the lack of consistency sounds like it's definitely a problem.

I suspect that there's also the problem, even if you did buy it for something like Dan's attic, that in the future there's this temptation to use it for something else and actually believe the numbers it puts out.

Meanwhile, what I'd suggest to Dan as a practical solution is finding some sort of paper that changes color if it gets damp (I'm not sure exactly what to suggest, but some marks with a water-based pen on blotter paper ought to do fine for a start), and thumbtack bits of it up all over the attic in likely spots, and then after a few rainy weeks go up and look at them again and see if any got wet.

- Brooks

[Dan_Musicant]

:On Fri, 27 Jan 2006 20:42:18 GMT, Dan_Musicant :wrote: : :>I'm looking at the following at Harbor Freight: :>

:>

:>It's $20, and I wonder if it's worth the money. My initial purpose for :>it is to find leaks in my attic. I just had total roof job done to my :>very old house and there's a lot of discolored wood up there and have to :>guess if wood is wet or not. I figure the meter might make finding leaks :>a lot easier than digging my finger nail into a piece of wood or rubbing :>it with my hand. :>

:>Also, it might come in handy when trying to determine if wood is moist :>or not. For instance, is it ready to prime/paint yet? Might it warp or :>check unless allowed to dry further? Maybe picking out lumber at Home :>Depot, etc. :>

:>Thanks for any information. :>

:>Dan :try looging on to handyman.com and compare notes on these :regaeds :anthony

How could I find that once I hit the site

?

Thanks.

Dan :................................................................ : Posted via TITANnews - Uncensored Newsgroups Access : >>>> at

[g.a.miller]