Moisture Meters: How Do They Work?

Moisture meters have proven to be invaluable tools that many industries make use of in order to detect the moisture level in a variety of different materials. For example, building and home inspectors use moisture meters to spot problems and structural damage that has occurred due to a build-up of moisture. Visit RS Components for a full range of moisture meters, 

Wood moisture meters are used by woodworking industries, including furniture manufacturers, to ensure the quality of their products, while moisture meters are used by flooring contractors to work out the ideal conditions during a floor installation that is taking place over a subfloor or concrete floor. 

How Moisture Meters Work

Moisture meters come with indicator scales, which can vary in appearance depending on the different types and models but which will all indicate the moisture content via a percentage. Although an analogue scale is offered by some moisture meters, others use digital scales. The accuracy of readings, in addition to the appropriate substrate scales, can vary by brand, meter and type. 

The majority of moisture meters are calibrated to wood, and will offer a reliable reading of the moisture content in wood, with the scale typically ranging between 5 to 40%. When testing the moisture content in substances not made of wood, like concrete, a relative scale that goes between 0 to 100% is often utilised. 0 indicates no moisture at all and 100% means saturated.

Moisture meters make use of visual LED indicators that are related to the scale’s percentage reading dry, wet, moderate and saturated readings. There may be a third scale on some meters for the purpose of reading gypsum, which can range from 0.2% to 50% moisture content. 

Moisture meters also feature colour indicators that can help to determine if the tested material is dry or if there may be a moisture problem. On these scales, green symbolises dry, yellow means moderate and red equals high moisture content, which can help to clear up any confusion caused by other readings. 

Caring for moisture meters

Moisture meters that are used for the purpose of inspection are usually factory calibrated. In order to ensure a meter remains in good working condition it should be a stored in a dry, clean location and the batteries and pins changed as required. A moisture meter may go out of calibration if is run on a low battery. 

A biodegradable cleaner can be used to keep the meter and the electrodes clean, though should only ever be used on external parts. 

If the meter does need to be repaired or recalibrated, it should be returned to the manufacturer or official service centre in order to ensure it is recalibrated to its original standards. 

Moisture meters can even be used to check for pest infestation by detecting moisture in areas that such pests can grow without having to interact with humans. 

Moisture meters have proven their worth in a number of applications for a wide array of different industries to ensure safety and quality in their work.