General Tool MMD4E Moisture Meter

[soupy1957]

Anyone buy the "MMD4E Moisture Meter" made by the General Tool Company? I did the typical "guy" thing and threw out the "Instructions," figuring.........."what's to know.....you plug in a battery, hold the prongs against the wood, and Whalah!"

Unfortunately, I put a battery in, took off the protective cap, and went around the Receiving Dock, poking the prongs into various skid wood to see if it would work, and all I got was the "low" LED light (Green) to light, and 3 or 4 horizontal underscore lines on the Display window.

So either, I did it wrong (assuming SOME sort of reading should show on the Display window), or the skid wood (various skids) were all below the 8% minimum that the gauge is set for. (Range, according to the gauge itself, states, "8% - 30% ±2%"

Can someone please tell me the proper use of this tool, or from experience, tell me why I'm getting the green light and horizontal lines?

-Soupy1957

 

[Gooserider]

Anyone buy the "MMD4E Moisture Meter" made by the General Tool Company? I did the typical "guy" thing and threw out the "Instructions," figuring.........."what's to know.....you plug in a battery, hold the prongs against the wood, and Whalah!"

Unfortunately, I put a battery in, took off the protective cap, and went around the Receiving Dock, poking the prongs into various skid wood to see if it would work, and all I got was the "low" LED light (Green) to light, and 3 or 4 horizontal underscore lines on the Display window.

So either, I did it wrong (assuming SOME sort of reading should show on the Display window), or the skid wood (various skids) were all below the 8% minimum that the gauge is set for. (Range, according to the gauge itself, states, "8% - 30% ±2%"

Can someone please tell me the proper use of this tool, or from experience, tell me why I'm getting the green light and horizontal lines?

-Soupy1957

It may well be that the skids are below the minimum to get a reading... Because of problems w/ transporting various bugs, most places now require skids to be made from kiln dried wood in order to ensure that they don't have anything living in them... This, plus the fact that busted up skids are usually smaller than most firewood, makes them good for verifying a "wet wood" diagnosis, but makes them somewhat problematic for regular burning as they can cause over-fires very easily...

However to check your meter, I'd say try licking your finger and holding it against the prongs (don't stab yourself!) - that should give a high to over-range number. If you rub some water (or spit) on a piece of skid wood, and then try to read off that spot it should also give you a reading, usually somewheres mid scale - at least that's what I've found...

Of course the best way is to actually use it on some firewood, but green and seasoned so you can see the difference... Remember though that you do NOT get a valid reading from the outside of a split, as the surface of any wood dries quite quickly. The only way to get a good reading is to re-split the piece, and take the reading from the center of the freshly exposed surface...

Gooserider