Since pinless meters rely on a flat surface to take accurate readings, the round surface of a log prevents this.

Would the logs be fully accessible, or stacked? What are the minimum and maximum diameters of the logs?Ĥ. However, if you do get dead or dried logs, here are the questions that would need to be answered first.ġ.What moisture contents (MC) would you be looking for? Anything over the fiber saturation point of about 30%MC is not going to be read accurately by any meter known to us.Ģ. Since most logs delivered to the yard fall under the green category this question may not even be answerable. If you are expecting to get accurate readings for green lumber then there is no meter that we are aware of that can do this.

There are some follow-up questions that would have to be answered first in order to completely answer the original question. But on extremely rough wood, you may want to add 1% to your reading. On most boards, simply pressing the meter firmly against the wood negates this factor. On the other hand, some EMW meters will read up to 1-2% lower on extremely rough surfaces as you begin to measure the air trapped there instead of the wood itself. Wet pockets, however, are impossible to correct with a pin meter. Surface texture, density, and species may either be assessed visually or will already be known. Although some woodworkers may rarely have to deal with chemicals, the factors affecting pin meters are the most difficult to assess. Temperature can also affect the resistance of wood measured by pin meters.įrom the above list, you may have already developed a healthy skepticism regarding the accuracy of pin meter readings. Pin moisture meters are affected by wet pockets, even if the surrounding wood is significantly drier, and may give a higher MC reading due to the smaller path of the current traveling through it. Since EMW meters read a large 3D-volume average of wood MC, the orientation of the wood won’t affect their readings. Some factors on this list may be familiar. **Some pin moisture meters may correct this using a lookup table. *Certain EMW moisture meters correct this either digitally or using a lookup table. Here’s a short list of factors that affect each type of meter: Pinless meters translate this electrical information to a percentage of moisture content. These moisture meters measure the capacity of wood to store energy (capacitance), the amount of power the wood absorbs from the field (power loss), or the wood’s resistance to the field (impedance). Pinless moisture meters are based on the capacitance method, but a properly designed meter will take many more factors into consideration. The field behaves differently depending on the amount of moisture present in the wood. 75” to 1.0”, depending on which model is specified. This creates an electromagnetic field (EMF) the size of the sensor to a depth of. An electrical wave is emitted through a sensor pressed against the wood. Often called a pinless moisture meter, this type measures the moisture content of wood without piercing the wood with pins. This process measures the resistance to the current between pins and correlates that resistance to wood moisture content.Įlectromagnetic Field Technology, EMF (Pinless Moisture Meters) Two or more pins are pushed directly into the wood in two different spots, and a direct current travels from one pin to the other. Resistance Meters (Pin Type Moisture Meters)Ĭommonly known as a pin moisture meter, this type used to be the most widely used meter throughout the world. Wood moisture meters use two primary methods of determining moisture content: Capacitance and resistance. What’s the difference between pin vs pinless moisture meters?

Wood moisture meeter