blazenut Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 Hey guys, I'm looking to buy a pinless moisture meter. Whats the best one for the money? The protimeter sm? best site to get it from? Thanks for the advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Fabry Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 I'm on my fourth SurveyMaster (don't ask). Every one that I've bought I bought on Ebay for between $280 and $340. Be patient and you'll save at least a hundred off the tool store prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kibbel Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 If you don't want the pins, Protimeter also has one called the Aquant. Go to the TIJ front page and click on HI-Essentials, the site sponsor on the right column. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terence McCann Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 Hey guys, I'm looking to buy a pinless moisture meter. Whats the best one for the money? The protimeter sm? best site to get it from? Thanks for the advice. If I may ask why pinless? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Jones Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 I have been using a Tramex Moisture Encounter Plus for years and it works great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Manor Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 If I could only have one moisture meter, it would be the surveymaster. -Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 I'm on my fourth SurveyMaster (don't ask). Every one that I've bought I bought on Ebay for between $280 and $340. Be patient and you'll save at least a hundred off the tool store prices. Open it up, unscrew the board, flip it over, and look at the corner of the tiny little transformer. The wires are thin as a hair and they break from vibration and dropping, etc.. Get it soldered, make sure that the transformer is glued in place well and then use some Kleenex stuffed in the housing and pressing against the board to make sure it'd held in place and won't shake loose. My SM went over 10 years old last month. It's had about 4 broken transformer wire repairs. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 I've repaired mine twice. Going on 16 years. Fabry, I have to ask...........how? It's a stinkin' $400 dollar gizmo, how do you muck them up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 I've repaired mine twice. Going on 16 years. Fabry, I have to ask...........how? It's a stinkin' $400 dollar gizmo, how do you muck them up? Maybe he confuses them with sheep shears? OT - OF!!! M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 [:-dev3] I just like to give the boy xxxx for messing up his tools. He's a tool guy, you know, and it's weird for a tool guy to be messing up 4 in a row, isn't it? We may have to perform an exorcism........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Fabry Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 Fabry, I have to ask...........how? It's a stinkin' $400 dollar gizmo, how do you muck them up? I lost one in an attic. It fell out of my pocket as I was turning 90 degrees to extrude myself through a 12x14 hatch from 24 inch high crawl. I know it's there but the seller wouldn't let me back in to get it. My buyer had loose lips and blab blabbed everything I found wrong with the house while I was still there. The environment was bordering on hostile as I was packing up so I didn't go through my normal routine of a spot for everything and everything in its spot. I didn't notice it missing until the next day. I dropped one down a chimney chase. I heard it hit and explode. I dropped one from 19 feet while scanning the wall area in a skylight shaft. I mourned for each of them. But to be clear, I'm on my fourth, I haven't yet mucked up four. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 You're forgiven........ I'm actually looking at a new one; the current one started acting oddly about 3 days ago. It will give me a reading, then the numbers go to 0.00. If I twist it, it will give me a reading. When I turn it on, it jumps to 6.5 for about 3 seconds, then to 0.00. I've checked it against my friends Lignometer, and it gives the same readings. I just don't like that number jumping around thing. Anyone else had that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blazenut Posted October 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 the reason i was looking at a pinless one is because i have two cheaper pinned ones, id like to have one that wont leave marks on the walls. Does anyone have experience with the aquant? What are the main differences between the two? I'm really interested in a deep scanning one for looking around windows in stucco houses, drywall and plaster ceiling and walls, and rim and rake boards where leaks are evident. Based on these tasks id like to perform (plus it would be nice to get one that fits in my tool belt!) which one would you guys suggest? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 Aquant. Here's the thing, though...... When you're scanning all those areas for moisture, those are also the same areas where there's metal reinforcement, corner bead, lots of metal fasteners, metal lath, etc., etc. I stopped caring about pinless after I found lots of metal masquerading as moisture. The other thing I found is it won't find "ponded" water; at least I couldn't find it. It will find vaporized water distributed throughout a material, but I couldn't find thin layers of saturation. Specifically, I had some water sandwiched between two layers of vinyl flooring that never came up on the meter, and it wouldn't find a "pocket" of water sandwiched between foam sheathing and housewrap. Vapor, no problem. Saturated materials, no problem. Thin layers of "pure" water pockets sandwiched between waterproof materials, nope. Anyone else had that problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bernhardt Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 What are the main differences between the two? I'm really interested in a deep scanning one for looking around windows in stucco houses, drywall and plaster ceiling and walls, and rim and rake boards where leaks are evident. Based on these tasks id like to perform (plus it would be nice to get one that fits in my tool belt!) which one would you guys suggest? Ones not better than the other, you need both IMO. The SM or Aquant only scan about 1/4" deep. If the roof's leaking and the back of the ceiling drywall is wet, an SM won't detect it. You would need a Tramex moisture encounter plus to do that. So, if there are moisture stains on the ceiling, a SM can't be relied on to confirm or deny wetness of ceiling drywall unles it happens to be saturated all the way thru. If a substrate has gotten wet and started to dryout, an SM will probably not indicate anything significant, but the Tramex is likely too. Using both together they can help you characterize the degree and depth of suspected moisture. If you're trying to scan EFIS, you'll need an expensive Tramex Wet Wall detector. but I couldn't find thin layers of saturation. I have done a number of experiments, and your right if there's a thin layer of moisture between two layers of saran wrap, the SM doesn't indicate well, but I have not had that problem with moisture trapped between two layers of vinyl. In my experience you can reliably tell if the moisture is trapped in a thin layer near the surface by using a Tramex and an SM in conjunction with each other. Chris, Oregon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 Chris, very helpful. And, you bounce the information gleaned from the detectors off your IR camera images, no? Where's IR fit into these methods? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bernhardt Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 After I got the IR cam, I also started delving into the capabilities of the different moisture meters out there, and whenever I found anything interesting, I looked at it on IR and applied several different moisture meters to it. Durring the rainy season here, IR is great at finding roof leaks via looking at the ceiling. Sometimes, there is just no visual evidence of a leak, but IR indicates it and scanning with a Tramex confirms it. But what I found was that the SM was not picking up a number of leaks indicated at the ceiling because it can't scan deep enough. On the other hand the tramex can be too sensitive and can indicate elevated residual moisture in a floor say at the toilet or tub, where an SM indicates there's really no saturation or big deal. Used in conjunction, IR and moisture meters with different sensitivities, I can get a better understanding of what's going on, and how to investigate it further. I think the truth is that roofs, walls, windows leak far more than we know and by using more powerful tools we begin to find this out. The trick is to decide how much leaking really is a problem. Chris, Oregon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Raymond Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 I have found IR useful for detecting leaks, but there has to be at least a 15 degree F Delta T. Anything less and you just don't see anything. This window was obviously leaking, there was water dripping from behind the head casing: Click to Enlarge 14.19 KB You can plainly see the header is wet, but look at the bottom of the same window: Click to Enlarge 14.1 KB There was no visible evidence of water at the bottom of the window, but it is there in the IR image. Both shots have a Delta T of about 20 degrees. I had another that was leaking so badly the moldings were black and spongy, but with a 10 degree Delta T I couldn't make out any detail, no matter the setting on the camera. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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