Customer Reviews

Wagner MMC205 Shopline 5% to 20% Pinless Digital Wood Moisture Meter

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This Wagner MMC205 is the one to have. No hassle when you have to ask the seller if they mind having pin holes in their wood. (Taking measurements at the end of the wood helps to avoid that, but still a minor consideration) It actually measures moisture content 3/4" of an inch into the wood. So surface moisture, which can vary based on humidity in the air, or a recent rain, etc, does not become a factor. It does so without any tampering with the wood. (No holes) Pin models, only go so deep, unless you really gouge the wood.
Another consideration, is that the more expensive Wagner meter measures wood above 20% moisture content. Considering that usable wood starts at 12%, and if you want to make furniture you will need wood around 4 to 6%, the need to know measurements up to 35% is not all that neccessary.
Their isn't any calculations neccessary with this meter as well. They do give you a handly little booklet, with all of the wood types listed. That way you can set it for the specific wood type to get a very exacting measurement.
It comes in a handy carrying case. Large easy to read numbers. Takes a few uses to get the hang of it. Like holding the setting down, in order for it to go into the changing mode.
When buying wood, the amount of time is has aged-cured, or been properly kiln dried is of the essence. If you buy wood that has too much moisture content in it, you will be forced to either age it yourself, or suffer the movement as it cures over time.
It is interesting to actually take this meter into some of the larger retail Home stores and measure what appears to be kiln dried, planed wood. Sometimes those pallets are left out in the rain for awhile. Since they are strapped together, a good soaking has the oppotunity to go deep within the grain. The individual boards in that case are not exposed to the air again, until they are unwrapped.
In conclusion, moisture measurements are essential in woodworking. This unit is at a good price point, if you want to do the best job, without breaking the bank. If I had to do it all over again, I would still buy this one. Highly recommended.

Compact, concise, accurate! Complements any wood shop, a must have for the serious professional. I've used this to check 2000 bd. ft. of hickory, 300 bd. ft.of cocobolo, 150 bd. ft. of black walnut for flooring, and I've used it for dozens of smaller lots of other hard and soft woods. Helps in dickering with price on supposedly kiln dried lumber.

As a woodworker, I've been running blind, trusting my lumber providers to give me accurate moisture content numbers. This ended last month when I installed $2500 worth of IPE flooring. The IPE had been stored in the room that it was to be eventually installed in for two months, rotated frequently to insure even dryness and installed with a vapor barrier over a basement. It shrunk! In some places over 1/8"!
I bought the moisture meter from Amazon and tested the installed wood, 9 to 12%. I returned to my lumber dealer and tested his pile, 12 to 14%! He won't give me money back, but at least now I'm armed with accurate information.
I've tested red oak also, 6 to 7%.
This meter won't go above .70 in specific gravity, so with IPE, for instance, set it to .50 and divide the result by 2 since IPE is incredibly dense at 1.0. It responds quickly and I feel that it will eventually make me a better judge of wood.
I've still haven't gotten used to switching it to it's various modes and the single button is a bit touchy.

This moisture meter is a must for every woodworker. Don't make the same mistakes I made by making furniture with air dried wood and seeing it crack a few months after completion. Buy this handy and accurate digital moisture meter and get that wood down to 6% or 7%. You will be glad you did!

I read reviews and specs on several meters. I'm a retired electrical engineer and reviewed in some detail the pdf files for the meter. I got the impression that they have done their research thoroughly and even give the equation they use to calculate moisture content based on the moisture reading in the meter and the SG (specific gravity) that you enter manually for the particular wood you are measuring. You do NOT have to correct for temperature as you do with the pin types of meters that I reviewed. This is convenient and one of the key items that I looked for in a meter.

The meter face has a texture that allows you to write with pencil the SG values for the types of wood you are interested in, so you do not have to carry a table of temperature correction values plus wood types with you when you go to the wood store like you must do with the pin type meters. I wasn't confident in the accuracy of the pin-type meters. And the temperature dependence and table look-up to get MC (moisture content) looked like a pain in the neck. Pinless meters are the only way to go in my opinion. They are perhaps measuring capacitance or some measure of capacitive losses. At any rate, pinless meters allow you to read to greater depth and volume instantly without damage to the wood. I highly recommend this product.

I should have read Saylor's review before ordering this device. What he/she says is true, but an absurd limitation...

I was ok with the 5% - 20% range for moisture content; that was disclosed up front. What wasn't disclosed is the fact this thing only has adjustment for wood with specific gravity values of .30 to .70. Of course the wood I primarily wanted to test it outside this range. I might even be ok with that if it would give you a "raw" number that you could then just plug into the formula they provide in the instruction manual as to how the specific gravity affects the reading. Unfortunately, no matter what value you choose, you will have to basically reverse engineer what the moisture content should be with no specific gravity adjustment, and then run that through the formula again with your wood's actual SG (density). You've got to be kidding me.

It does seem like a decent device, however becomes essentially unusable if you have wood that falls outside their density range (which would've required basically zero effort or additional cost to accept input for). They need to put a little '*' by the "No manual corrections needed" claim. If their most expensive devices allow for a wider SG range but they exclude it from their lower end models, this is a company I will have no future dealings with.