Customer Reviews

Sonin 50211 Rapitest 10% to 28% Pinless Analog Wood, Concrete, Plaster, Carpet, and More Moisture Meter

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

If you have a couple hundred dollars to blow, you can waste your money on one of those obscenely overpriced name brand moisture meters. If you're looking for something that performs comparatively just as well, but you don't want to spend a fortune, look no further. It may not look as pretty or have a digital display, but it performs the same basic function just as well as any of the higher priced models. I've been using mine for my home inspection business since I purchased it about a year ago. I haven't had a problem with it's accuracy yet and it's very easy to operate. The only complaint is that it's too easy for the power switch to turn on when it's sliding around in your tool box. I went through alot of 9V batteries before I found out that SONIN offers a storage case for it. It was very inexpensive and well worth it in what I save in battery money. As for the Meter, this is the best price I've seen it for so far. I've seen it 2-3X this price on other web sites and paid much more for mine from a home inspection equipment supplier.

This is a pin-type meter designed for measuring relative wetness in drywall, concrete, and wood. Regardless what the sales literature says, it's really not designed for measuring absolute lumber moisture content. For the latter, one needs a good wood moisture meter, which can be quite pricey. I own a Wagner MMC-220 that costs $270 that I use to measure lumber moisture content. The readings given by the Wagner and this Sonin are drastically different when they are used to measure wood moisture content. I suspect the problem is it's almost impossible to push those thick pins of the Sonin-Rapidtest meter into lumber to get a good reading. If the pins are not pushed in deep enough into lumber or drywall, the reading will be off. It's not too difficult to push enough of the pins into drywall to get a meaningful reading, but it's almost impossible to push them into most woods. However, that said, it's important to keep in mind that this Sonin meter is intended primarily for home inspectors rather than woodworkers. For woodworkers and lumber yard owners the absolute moisture content is very important, but for home inspectors a general relative wetness indication (i.e. damp vs. dry) is good enough. Even though if used on wood, the moisture content will be way off, it is still useful as a general wet wood/dry wood indicator. Just don't rely on the absolute % of water content on the scale. Surprisingly it's not hard at all to get meaningful readings on concrete because you just have to push the pins hard against concrete without having to penetrate the concrete.

In terms of ergonomics, the thick pins are held in place in a molded plastic finger grip about the size of a quarter. It takes a considerable amount of pressure and gripping force on the little plastic grip to pierce drywall or wood with the thick pins. This almost always results in sore fingers after taking just a few readings. A better design would have encased the pins in a long hand grip instead of a tiny finger grip.

Overall, as long as you use it for its intended purposes, i.e. measuring general relative wetness in drywall, concrete, or even wood, it's a good meter, but don't rely on it to give accurate absolute moisture content readings.

great price. works well. BUT... the probe is problematic. The probe breaks very easily at the prongs. The solder joint inside the probe breaks under pressure and ruins the continuity ot the prong to the unit, thus rendering it useless. Sonin does offer a replacement probe for it however for about $5.00. Sonin ships very quickly and responds to your email quickly also. This unit is a real bargin for its price, much cheaper than its counterparts. Just be prepared to replace the probe. If the probe problem was fixed this unit would be an excellent value.

I do two home inspections per day. I have not had one of these last more than 6 or 7 months. They always seem to fail at the socket for the probe wire, or at the probe connection to the wire. I still keep buying them because they are easy to use, accurate for my purposes and cheap. If you must have one for your job have a spare hanging around just in case.

The price is great! It works great for what I bought it for, relative readings, finding the source of dampness, and to measure progress in "drying out" an area.

The coiled wire probe does let you read the scale, where as with the "box probes" you are restricted to where it is probing.

Drawbacks:

1.) It IS NOT a true gauge for moisture content. You will be disappointed if you acquire it for that reason.

2.) The two holes it makes are quite large, once the penetration depth is achieved for a good measurement the holes left behind are too big to just "paint over" they will need to be filled.

I am happy with it for what I bought it for

I actually bought this moisture meter to check the moisture content in my fire wood. For that it seems to work well. I just wanted to make sure the the wood I was selecting to burn wasn't too wet. No Problems there.

I do expect to be buying another moisture meter for the wood that I use for furniture building as this one would be useless for that.

I am pleased with it for what it does. Just don't expect too much from it.

Due to the improper instalation of a French Drain around my foundation, I was having a problem with water in my basement. I had the drain fixed, but I wanted to be able to monitor for signs that the water was coming back through the cyder block. This moisture detector has worked excellently for my purposes.

It isn't great in terms of giving you a quantitative measurement of how much water is in a certaing surface- depending how hard you push the prongs into the surface, the reading will change. But for getting an idea of how well your drainage system is working, it is hard to beat this detector for the value. I gave this item four stars because I am sure that there are more accurate and rugged detectors out there, but given the price this detector is a 5 star value and a useful tool for the average do-it-yourselfer.

I cut and saw my own wood, mostly oak for use in furniture building. The meter was very easy to use and gave me a fairly good range of % moisture content. I gave it 4 stars because it could be a little more accurate. But for the money, I felt this was a very good purchase.

It's amazing, but you literally can pay 10 times more (over $250!) for a moisture test meter that does the same job as this nifty device for under 30 bucks! The Sonin 50211 Rapitest Moisture Test Meter is not only a bargain, but a vital, handy tool to determine if moisture levels in your wood, rugs, walls etc. are so high that your property is endangered. I bought my Rapitest to make sure when a new pressure-treated deck has dried out enough for me to seal it, and the Rapitest is my guarantee that the sealing will not be rejected by too-wet wood.

Rapitest is inexpensive insurance for your valuable property, and operates with reliability on a simple 9-volt battery. --Mike Thompson (Miami, Florida)

We had house leaks and needed to continue to monitor the moisture level in the wood (ceiling) and drywall. My home inspector recommended this one as an inexpensive alternative to his $400+ Surveymaster moisture reader. However, this device was so inaccurate that made me doubt its usefulness.

Off the dry wall, when the reading from Surveymaster was 22%, this one's was 15%. Two locations off the ceiling wood, Surveymaster vs. Sonin were 18% vs. 8%, and 12% vs 8%. All the readings were done on the same day by my experienced home inspector who used the devices in the exact same location w/ exact same direction (when pining into the ceiling) and tried to use the same force to minimize the error bar caused by mishandling.

Sonin's readings were the same 8% even though there was a 10% difference in the readings from Surveymaster. 8%-12% would be considered ok for wood, but 18% is not. For example, mold remediation company would dry the ceiling wood below 16% before they put on the final coat. W/ such inaccuracy, I found it nearly impossible to have a good assessment on the situation and to take necessary actions.

Another drawback of the product: the pins are not sharp at all comparing to the Surveymaster's. In test, the pins couldn't penetrate into some plywood area under the roof, and hence couldn't get any readings.

In short, it is cheap for a reason. Use it w/ bucket load of grain of salt.