What to buy - Pin less moisture meter

DJL220

DJL220

Joined
Sep 13, 2019
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Hertfordshire
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64,185
MH
Bailey 79-4T
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Since 2019
Hi Funsters

So I’m looking to upgrade my moisture meter from my pin version to a pin-less version. Thoughts on make and model plus personal experience of said meter.

I am thinking of this one: -

Protimeter Aquant Non-Invasive Moisture Meter BLD5765​

TIA
 
It was explained to me that the pin less ones are fine on bare wood or dry wall, if the area is painted or covered in a plasticised covering it won't show a damp area. And that is what it does shows a damp area, where as the pin type will pin point it (sorry for the pun).
 
LesW said:
Blimey.. at that price I think I'll stick to using my nose and hands..:oops:
Click to expand...
Hence why I’m reaching out! My pin version was around £20-30 and works well except for the pin marks
 
I had one of the below.. Worked really well and was always very close to the figures given by the engineer doing the hab checks on my old Autotrail.. I've been hunting for it for weeks.. Have a sneaky suspision that i loaned it to someone and it never came back. :crying:

Amazon product ASIN B00MMW2H4G

OR....
bargainfox.com

Wood Moisture Meter, Dr.Meter Pinless Non-Destructive Moisture Detector F - BargainFox.com

Wood Moisture Meter, Dr.meter Pinless Non-Destructive Moisture Detector for Wood Firewood, 4%-80% Measuring Range Digital Sensor Scanner
bargainfox.com bargainfox.com

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I have a pinless one that works fine, and was inexpensive from amazon, though it was a long time ago I bought it so details not to hand. You dont need to spend a fortune.
 
Clivefog said:
It was explained to me that the pin less ones are fine on bare wood or dry wall, if the area is painted or covered in a plasticised covering it won't show a damp area. And that is what it does shows a damp area, where as the pin type will pin point it (sorry for the pun).
Click to expand...

I think that somebody has been tugging your chain, :giggle: the pinless one I have works just fine on the surfaces in our van, although it will go a bit bananas if it gets too near metalwork.

MO57: Pinless Moisture Meter | Extech Instruments

MO57: Pinless Spherical Sensor Moisture Meter for Non-Invasive Measurements on Wood and Other Building Materials
www.extech.com www.extech.com
 
Two on Tour said:
I think that somebody has been tugging your chain, :giggle: the pinless one I have works just fine on the surfaces in our van, although it will go a bit bananas if it gets too near metalwork.

MO57: Pinless Moisture Meter | Extech Instruments

MO57: Pinless Spherical Sensor Moisture Meter for Non-Invasive Measurements on Wood and Other Building Materials
www.extech.com www.extech.com
Click to expand...

That would be all of our aluminium sandwich bodywork then! :LOL:
 
This is the one I have, it reads up to 40mm deep and works fine on vinyl covered surfaces etc, I also use a pin type that I received from Stihl which is very compact and useful when testing in places with poor access

B1F8DEF3-7B91-4D74-BD24-1B3F3D90CF25.jpeg
 
A pinless one will be hopeless on a laquered or painted surface. If you think about it that must be true.

They work by calculating the lack of resistance to the flow of electricity . A pinless one works by calculating the flow across its surface, but if the surface is not representative of what's underneath then it's meaningless. It will work out the conductivity of the surface only. That's fine on bare wood.

I would stick to the one with pins. Yes they do penetrate the surface slightly but you will get a proper result. In terms of damage, so long as you are not doing it every day it will take years and years to damage the surface to a degree that you would notice.

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gpat said:
A pinless one will be hopeless on a laquered or painted surface. If you think about it that must be true.

They work by calculating the lack of resistance to the flow of electricity . A pinless one works by calculating the flow across its surface, but if the surface is not representative of what's underneath then it's meaningless. It will work out the conductivity of the surface only. That's fine on bare wood.

I would stick to the one with pins. Yes they do penetrate the surface slightly but you will get a proper result. In terms of damage, so long as you are not doing it every day it will take years and years to damage the surface to a degree that you would notice.
Click to expand...


Well, this rather knocks that idea on the head. (y)

1646573821267.png


1646574086268.png
 
gpat said:
Yes it does. How much are these. Can you select the depth of the measurement you want to see.
Click to expand...

It's the Extech MO57 that I have and I bought it 3 or 4 years ago from CPC.
CPC still stock them and appear to be the best price as well.

https://cpc.farnell.com/extech-inst...r-pinless/dp/IN07923?ost=extech+mo57&cfm=true

It basically is telling me what the moisture level is in the area I'm testing, but I like that it's easy to move it over the surface to give you readings to indicate the dampness and pinpoint the highest reading as the likely point at which water is getting in. Fingers crossed that I have not found any levels of dampness to worry about in our van to date.
I accept that the Extech MO57 is not cutting edge for the money, but it will tell you if you have a problem.

Here's the user manual if you want to cast an eye over it.

 
I have one of these: https://uk.farnell.com/tenma/ten01072/moisture-meter-pinless/dp/3409785

I have used it for years on many different projects around the house and motorhome and have no bad things to say about it.

You can pay anything from £30 to £300. The thing to remember is to calibrate your tool for the environment it is being used in. So, first you need to obtain a datum measurement. This can be done by taking several readings from surfaces that could not realistically be damp, internal panels etc. This will be your base line, so anything above this will need investigating.

Geoff

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donkey said:
I have one of these: https://uk.farnell.com/tenma/ten01072/moisture-meter-pinless/dp/3409785

I have used it for years on many different projects around the house and motorhome and have no bad things to say about it.

You can pay anything from £30 to £300. The thing to remember is to calibrate your tool for the environment it is being used in. So, first you need to obtain a datum measurement. This can be done by taking several readings from surfaces that could not realistically be damp, internal panels etc. This will be your base line, so anything above this will need investigating.

Geoff
Click to expand...
I Use a piece of wood that has been outside in the rain, and another that has been kept in the dry to get the 100-10% calibration ....
 
I've got the Trotec one same as Spanner above and it works fine for me - makes it very easy to slide over wallboard. Takes a bit of learning to use close to corners and screws. Found damp round a rooflight with it very easily, and round a wheelarch where Elddis had forgotten a bit of sealant - I took photos of the readings n/s and o/s to send to them, saving me a 160m round trip. And of course I used it on a friend's house wall to locate damp as well. I would add the 'hold' feature's worth having as damp's never where you want it, well, not that you... you know what I mean!
Just re-read some of the posts and there's one seems the wrong way round to me - afaik radio ones measures damp in depth which is why they're affected by corners and hidden screws whereas ones with pins measure surface conductivity, I thought with DC. But maybe I'm wrong - Margaret says I am quite a lot, dunno where she gets that idea from...
 
Two on Tour said:
It's the Extech MO57 that I have and I bought it 3 or 4 years ago from CPC.
CPC still stock them and appear to be the best price as well.

https://cpc.farnell.com/extech-inst...r-pinless/dp/IN07923?ost=extech+mo57&cfm=true

It basically is telling me what the moisture level is in the area I'm testing, but I like that it's easy to move it over the surface to give you readings to indicate the dampness and pinpoint the highest reading as the likely point at which water is getting in. Fingers crossed that I have not found any levels of dampness to worry about in our van to date.
I accept that the Extech MO57 is not cutting edge for the money, but it will tell you if you have a problem.

Here's the user manual if you want to cast an eye over it.

Click to expand...

I have one of those and it does read fairly well in the MH. Of course where the walls or roof are covered by plastic panels set away from the outside surface it cannot give a reading. It will also read very high in the vicinity of metal, for instance if you are measuring the backwall and the bike rack hangers go across the outside at that area then you will be able to trace the metal hangers, so any dampness in those areas may well be masked.

I did a lot of research before buying that one and I am convinced that no dampmeters are produced which are optimise solely for MH use so there will always be a compromise with whichever you buy.
 

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