# Best Moisture Meter - pin or pinless?



## reichner (Jan 11, 2010)

Hi Everyone!
I am new to posting to your forum but have been reading it for quite some time. I do have a question for someone out there that has experience with moisture meters. I am going to buy one but don't know which way to go - pin or pinless. It almost looks like you need one of each so when you don't want marks on your wood you go pinless but if it don't matter, the pin type is more accurate.

Any help is very much appreciated.

Reid


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## Ralph Barker (Dec 15, 2008)

The choice, I think, depends on your personal situation, and what kind of wood you are reading, and shy. If, for example, you are air drying your own rough lumber, a pin-style meter, applied to the ends or sides of the lumber may be a good choice. If you are working with partially-finished stock (e.g. S2S), a pinless meter may be a better choice. Note, too, that the better pinless meters provide different "depth" settings, so you can measure the center of various thicknesses of stock. 

Then, there are the old bicep meters. You lift the board, and if it's too heavy for its size, it's still too wet.


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## barking spider (Dec 26, 2010)

As a home inspector I use moisture meters all the time, and own several. Pinless meters would probably work fine for checking wood, but can give "false positives" during home inspections.

However, I would use a pin type for checking MC in wood. You can put the pins in sides or ends of wood and should not have an adverse effect on the finished product.

I do own a moisture meter that is BOTH a pin type and pinless, but is pretty pricey. I think its in the $400 - 500 range. State of the art for home inspection use, but probably overkill for the average workshop (unless you have a fair amount of disposable income).


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## reichner (Jan 11, 2010)

I did not know they made a combination pin and pinless meter. If you buy a good pinless you are paying about $300 and if you buy a pin type at around $100 for those times you don't care about marks in the wood, you are probably close to what you paid for the combination. What brand is your combination? I don't mind investing in GOOD tools - ever!


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

G'day Reid

Welcome to the router forum. 

Thank you for joining us


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## barking spider (Dec 26, 2010)

Its a Protimeter Surveymaster.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Amazon.com: Surveymaster Home Inspection Moisture Meter & DVD: Home Improvement

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## reichner (Jan 11, 2010)

Thanks for the information on the SurveyMaster. I ended up purchasing a Lignomat pin type to start with since they are less expensive and then will possibly graduate to the SurveyMaster.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi

What model did you buy and why ?

Amazon.com: Lignomat Home Improvement

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reichner said:


> Thanks for the information on the SurveyMaster. I ended up purchasing a Lignomat pin type to start with since they are less expensive and then will possibly graduate to the SurveyMaster.


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## reichner (Jan 11, 2010)

I bought the Mini-Ligno E/D with built in pins. I talked to a local cabinet maker and he suggested Lignomat because of the quality and reliability. I also liked the better resolution below 10%. A lot of meters out there have a 1% resolution and this one has .1% below 10% so it is much more accurate.


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## surfmuttgds (Nov 2, 2011)

What Brand and model number is it?


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## Daikusan (Apr 12, 2013)

7/16 (10mm) seems a bit short for 6/4 if you are wanting to check the MC of air dried boards especially in the center. I like the .1% resolution but I am not sure air dried will get below 10%. So with that said are there other options? Something that is fairly accurate and will read close to an inch depth in the $100 price range?


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Hey Steve...

I"ve a Mini-Ligno E/D, When I was looking for a meter, I questioned the issue of thicker stock as you have. I was advised that if there is a concern.flip the board over and take a reading from the other sie...made sense to me. Using this method, I'd thnk you'd be good up to at least 8/4 stock. For anything thicker, I think you'll be laying out a good bit
more money...

http://www.lignomatusa.com/MoistureMeter/moisture_pin_meters_mini.ED.htm


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## Daikusan (Apr 12, 2013)

TwoSkies57 said:


> Hey Steve...
> 
> I"ve a Mini-Ligno E/D, When I was looking for a meter, I questioned the issue of thicker stock as you have. I was advised that if there is a concern.flip the board over and take a reading from the other sie...made sense to me. Using this method, I'd thnk you'd be good up to at least 8/4 stock. For anything thicker, I think you'll be laying out a good bit
> more money...
> ...


Bill
Thanks for your input


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## Daikusan (Apr 12, 2013)

TwoSkies57 said:


> Hey Steve...
> 
> I"ve a Mini-Ligno E/D, When I was looking for a meter, I questioned the issue of thicker stock as you have. I was advised that if there is a concern.flip the board over and take a reading from the other sie...made sense to me. Using this method, I'd thnk you'd be good up to at least 8/4 stock. For anything thicker, I think you'll be laying out a good bit
> more money...
> ...


Bill
I happened to be at a home improvement store this afternoon and checked on a meter. It was 10000¥ ($100 US) so I went ahead and bought it. It seems to be a fair unit 2-60% resolution of .5% with an accuracy of ∓1% (no clue why MS doesn’t have a normal plus minus symbol), though the instructions booklet doesn’t give temp correction.

The meter has 4 settings for types of wood. It list Sakura (Japanese cherry) the wood I am drying. The pins are 1/2 inch (12mm). It is from a well known Japanese instrument co. Sato. I couldn’t find information on it in America, so I have no clue how it stacks up. 

I found this information in USDA Drying Hardwood Lumber. To determine average MC for a piece of wood, the pins need to be 1/5 to 1/4 of the thickness of the wood. 4/4 need to be 1/4 inch (6mm) and 8/4 1/2 inch (12mm). The thickest I am currently drying is 6/4 so the meter will suffice.
Steve


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

± is ALT+241 using the numeric keypad w/ number lock on....


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## Daikusan (Apr 12, 2013)

Stick486 said:


> ± is ALT+241 using the numeric keypad w/ number lock on....


Stick
Your the man - Thanks for the info!

But . . . ALT+241 dosent work on my Japanese keyboard. It gives me this ñ. qwerty is normal but shift+numbers are different. It also has a few extra keys for typing in kanji. I did find ± in the symbols though character code 00B1 in Unicode (hex).


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