Just wasted $80 on a fancy lumber moisture meter that's totally useless

I picked up one of those pinless meters from a big box store thinking it'd save me time on my deck project. Turns out it gives wildly different readings depending on how hard you press it against the wood. I tested it on a piece of kiln-dried pine and got readings from 6% to 14% just by changing pressure. Checked with my old pin meter and it was a steady 8% every time. Anyone else had bad luck with these pinless gadgets or is there a trick I'm missing?

3 comments

3 Comments

ben66223d ago

Guess you just need to press harder when you want it to say 14% and lighter when you want 6%. Sounds like a feature, not a bug.

christopher_sullivan23d ago

plus it saves me from having to actually learn how to use a multimeter. now I just poke at numbers until something happens, which is basically my approach to most things in life. my wife loves it when I fix the toaster by smacking it until it works again. same principle, just more expensive hardware involved. at least with a multimeter I get a satisfying beep when I touch the right wires together.

hannahw3020d ago

Haha yeah my technique's probably similar to yours - I just press harder when I want the reading to match the wood I'm hoping it is. Real scientific approach over here.