Aldi Moisture Meter ..... any good?

[jo10000_6]

Hi
Aldi have their moisture meter back in on Thursday - can I ask anyone who has one whether they were any good?
Thanks
Jo

 

[webby1]

Well................ mine has definitely never shown any damp anywhere so that must be good

But seriously, I don't know how you can tel,l until you find damp and realise it's been lying to you all along.

It certainly makes me feel good when I get those negative readings...........that's even if I am checking in the right places

 

[tonka]

The Experts and professionals will say waste of money but in my view it will give you an indication.
If you go around the van and most measurements are "x" and you suddenly find a spot that "xxx" at least you know it needs further investigation..

One thing the pics dont show is that this is a 2 prong meter where you push the prongs into the wood for testing. So you need to be careful where you test or you will see holes everywhere..

Meters without prongs, "non invasive" on ebay for £18 - £25 ish..

I have one of the Aldi type (Maplins) and also one of these.

 

[Snowbird]

They are OK for checking the moisture content of your logs before putting them in the woodburner. But as already said, they have prongs that need pushing into whatever you are testing.

 

[gus-lopez]

I have one works well. I find as long as the prongs touch the reading is the same as pushing it in.
Just used it actually to check my logs All 0% didn't move to the extent I was worried it wasn't working so had to find something damp to check it

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[Rusty Pumper]

I’m not sure what the Aldi meter costs but I use a Brennensthul Damp Detector, which is currently £17.55 on Amazon. Easy to use, and does what it says on the box.

Some folks might find this guide helpful:

 

[Janiemou]

Which is the £40 model that someone mentioned?

 

[tonka]

I’m not sure what the Aldi meter costs but I use a Brennensthul Damp Detector, which is currently £17.55 on Amazon. Easy to use, and does what it says on the box.

Some folks might find this guide helpful:

Aldi one is £9.99

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[jockaneezer]

I use my Aldi one for checking firewood, didn't fancy sticking the prongs in my motorhome but will give it a try as @gus-lopez says. Also there are 3 or 4 different modes to set it to, depending on what substance you're testing.
As an aside, my neighbour took his caravan for a trade in, the salesman went round it with a damp meter and showed him the "poor readings" around the windows, he had no idea they were damp. When he was telling a friend about it, his friend explained the salesman would be touching the rubber strip around his windows, apparently the carbon black in the rubber affects the value shown, giving a false higher reading !

 

[robnchris]

I’m not sure what the Aldi meter costs but I use a Brennensthul Damp Detector, which is currently £17.55 on Amazon. Easy to use, and does what it says on the box.

Some folks might find this guide helpful:

We have the same one, it also has settings to switch between masonry and wood.

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[mike mcglynn]

If you try to measure your hand with most moisture meters thy will read between 15% +20% unless you have wet hands , I used to use all kinds of different ones in my work. The Aldi one is basic but accurate I have had one for about 4 years and its ok for the price.

 

[webby1]

I think it is wrong to assume that just because things are more expensive then they are necessarily better......................particularly with the quality of Chinese technology.It is often just the European branding that puts the price up.............oh and being told that they are made "especially for motorhomes"

It's not always true but I believe that you can buy cheap..............buy thrice.........and still save money

 

[Marty Gilly and Pup]

If you try to measure your hand with most moisture meters thy will read between 15% +20% unless you have wet hands , I used to use all kinds of different ones in my work. The Aldi one is basic but accurate I have had one for about 4 years and its ok for the price.

Used to teach apprentices to use these and to prove they worked, did each one in the hand (minimal prong depth!) and even these surface tests produced readings from almost nothing to about 60%. Make if that what you will. They will find damp at the surface.

 

[soreeyes]

All you need is a method of indicating any damp and a cheap damp meter will do this if you get a damp spot .

I have a cheap eBay one that I used to check with reading from service engineers report and it was the same readings so cheap does not mean inaccuracies .

 

[nicholsong]

I have asked several tmes if there is a damp meter that can check a double aluminium sandwich MH construction

But I never got a readback.

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[Emmit]

Well................ mine has definitely never shown any damp anywhere so that must be good

But seriously, I don't know how you can tel,l until you find damp and realise it's been lying to you all along.

It certainly makes me feel good when I get those negative readings...........that's even if I am checking in the right places

Put some batteries in it

 

[Reallyretired]

I have asked several tmes if there is a damp meter that can check a double aluminium sandwich MH construction

But I never got a readback.

Mine is this construction, and I have a non-invasive meter as obviously you cant use the prong ones. It appears to work though any damp with this construction is probably rare.

Try ebay, they cost more than the prong type but not hugely expensive.

 

[REKERLY]

When I was working (nearly 20 yrs ago now) one of my duties was advice and control of drying out new and refurbished buildings . To aid this I had some very expensive meters etc. Very often I could find the damp level in drying plaster with my thumb nail.
So my advice would be is to use the best meter you can afford but don’t pay to much attention to readings under 20% but rather carefully keep records of the readings you take. Look for trends and as readings approach 20% seek expert advice.

 

[MikeD]

Aldi one is £9.99

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They were a Tenner in 2009.

https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/aldi-damp-meter-tester.10917/#post-140031