Pinless Moisture Meter Recommendation

[msweig]

I think it is finally time to get a moisture meter, and I know I want to go with a pinless meter.  The general impression I have gotten is that two of the really good companies are Wagner and Lignomat.  I noticed that both of them make meters (Orion 930 and Ligno-Scanner SD) that will do two depths (1/4" and 3/4"), which strikes me as being helpful.  Any recommendations between these two?  Or something else I should really consider.  The Ligno is cheaper, but the Wagner has a way to calibrate it yourself (but I'm not sure if them going out of calibration is a common issue).

Thanks in advance!

Mark

[kurt18947]

I think it is finally time to get a moisture meter, and I know I want to go with a pinless meter.  The general impression I have gotten is that two of the really good companies are Wagner and Lignomat.  I noticed that both of them make meters (Orion 930 and Ligno-Scanner SD) that will do two depths (1/4" and 3/4"), which strikes me as being helpful.  Any recommendations between these two?  Or something else I should really consider.  The Ligno is cheaper, but the Wagner has a way to calibrate it yourself (but I'm not sure if them going out of calibration is a common issue).

Thanks in advance!

Mark

Do you buy rough or finished lumber? If rough I don't know that a pinless meter would work well. You could plane a spot smooth  on rough lumber but the dealer may take a dim view of that. Beyond that I don't know that one is better than the other. Both companies have been around for some time.

[Rob Young]

Do you buy rough or finished lumber? If rough I don't know that a pinless meter would work well. You could plane a spot smooth  on rough lumber but the dealer may take a dim view of that. Beyond that I don't know that one is better than the other. Both companies have been around for some time.

I have an RF moisture meter that works very well on rough, smooth and non-wood materials. Because they are tuned to measure at a depth, it doesn't particularly mater if they aren't in complete contact (but should be resting on the material).

FYI, you have to be a bit careful using them if your material is resting on your workbench. Thinner material, you are potentially reading a combination of the material and the bench. So I generally lift up the stock and measure with plenty of air behind.

Also works on drywall, carpets, flooring. Loaned it to a friend that had damage due to dishwasher leak and we found the extent of the flooring damage that way. Got a baseline reading across the room and kept moving inward until we saw the reading of the flooring jump.

I can't recall the brand name right now, but not one of the two previously mentioned. It has a calibratable scale but generally what I do is monitor for change and when the change stops I call it good. Or I can use it to compare to something I know has been hanging around the shop a long time. Once the two woods give the same reading, I call it good.

[JohnnyEgo]

Usually the dual purpose ones have a range setting for drywall and a range setting for everything else. That is because drywall is so dry that it is considered compromised at values above 1% MC. Which is to say make sure you either make your measurements referential like Rob is suggesting, or make sure you use the right scale. I have a General branded pin/pinless that I mostly use for work, but is good enough to make a dry/not dry call for most lumber. I think it was $100.