Got a moisture meter... Seems to be telling me too much good news...

[mrplow]

i bought a moisture meter (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00275F5O2/ref=oss_product), once I figured out I wasn't going to get it as a present.

Does anyone have experience with this model?

It seems to be telling me too much good news. I checked the wood in my woodpile, and the stuff that I split last winter is at 10-15%. The year-dead apple that I didnt' cut until November of 2010 was already down to 14-16% or less. Even the fairly green round that sits just off the edge of the deck, which I use as a platform for splitting kindling, and which got rained on at least 20 days in the past month, it's reading barely above 25%...

Am i doing it wrong? is my meter inaccurate? is it possible that all this wood is just seasoning really quickly? I'm jabbing the prongs 1/8" or so into the ends of my logs. do I need to jab farther than that? Should i be going to the hilt every time?

I'm going to have to test it on some freshly cut live trees when I get up to the in-laws next weekend.

When burning the wood on my wood pile (10-15% content read), it doesn't spit and hiss, but some logs do let off some steam when put on the fire.

I guess i was expecting to see that at least some of these logs were closer to the 25% limit.

 

[Mcbride]

i bought a moisture meter (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00275F5O2/ref=oss_product), once I figured out I wasn't going to get it as a present.

Does anyone have experience with this model?

It seems to be telling me too much good news. I checked the wood in my woodpile, and the stuff that I split last winter is at 10-15%. The year-dead apple that I didnt' cut until November of 2010 was already down to 14-16% or less. Even the fairly green round that sits just off the edge of the deck, which I use as a platform for splitting kindling, and which got rained on at least 20 days in the past month, it's reading barely above 25%...

Am i doing it wrong? is my meter inaccurate? is it possible that all this wood is just seasoning really quickly? I'm jabbing the prongs 1/8" or so into the ends of my logs. do I need to jab farther than that? Should i be going to the hilt every time?

I'm going to have to test it on some freshly cut live trees when I get up to the in-laws next weekend.

When burning the wood on my wood pile (10-15% content read), it doesn't spit and hiss, but some logs do let off some steam when put on the fire.

I guess i was expecting to see that at least some of these logs were closer to the 25% limit.

Make a fresh split with your axe, and try it inside the new cut.

I can get a reading of say 15% on an ild split, then split that piece in half and test it, and it says 35%.

Sure the very surface is dry, but deeper into the piece of wood is not.

Logical really, as the exposed surface will be dry a lot faster, than say 3 inches under that exposed surface.

 

[muncybob]

Yep, what he ^^^ said. and, just to keep my peace of mind I frequently resplit wood that I'm about to bring in for the next week's burn to assure myself that it is indeed dry. I test in the middle of the fresh split and prongs going with the grain although I'n not sure that matters much but at least the prongs are basically in the same area away from the sides.

 

[Danno77]

yeah, you are doing it wrong. Not on the ends of the splits. do it with the points parallel to the grain of the wood on the inside of a fresh split.

 

[DanCorcoran]

Ditto. The instructions that came with my Harbor Freight meter specify that the points be inserted parallel to the grain, on a freshly split surface.

 

[mrplow]

Ditto. The instructions that came with my Harbor Freight meter specify that the points be inserted parallel to the grain, on a freshly split surface.

Instructions you say? I'm sorry, i don't speak that language.

I'll try it again on a freshly split piece. Thanks for the advice.

 

[PJF1313]

Ditto. The instructions that came with my Harbor Freight meter specify that the points be inserted parallel to the grain, on a freshly split surface.

Isn't that just packing material ?!

+1 You're doin' it wrong! Test to the face of a freshly split piece, NOT the end grain.

 

[Danno77]

Good job on at least recognizing that your #s were off. For that, here's a new picture for your avatar...

 

[mrplow]

Good job on at least recognizing that your #s were off. For that, here's a new picture for your avatar...

Thanks Danno!

 

[PJF1313]

... Re...sis..tttt...... the temptation.... to... post.... something......else..........