Anyone Use A Ryobi Moisture Meter?

[John McClanahan]

I noticed that Home Depot now sells a moisture meter made by Ryobi for $50. I was wandering if anyone has one of these and if so, what do you think of it?

Thanks,
John

[Josh Reet]

Didn't know they made one. Can't find it on the HD site, but here it is on Ryobi's site:

http://www.ryobitools.com/catalog/ac..._tools/E49MM01

Here's a mention of it by the Wood magazine guys as part of a list of new Ridgid/Ryobi tools:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=163252927170

[John McClanahan]

I failed to mention this is a pinless meter. It can also be used for measuring moisture content in walls.

John

[Josh Reet]

For the money, and the fact that you can pretty much return ridgid/ryobi stuff for 90 days for any reason, if I had a friend with a good moisture meter, I'd buy one at the local HD just to test it out.

But I don't actually have many woodworking friends local to me.

[John McClanahan]

I don't know anyone with a good meter, either. If I bought one, I would have to trust its readings as being accurate.

John

[Michael Schwartz]

I might head up to home depot some time next week and see if I can buy one of these. I will compare its readings to my timber-check and post results.

[Dave Lehnert]

I might head up to home depot some time next week and see if I can buy one of these. I will compare its readings to my timber-check and post results.

That would be great. Let us know what you find.

[Harold Burrell]

I might head up to home depot some time next week and see if I can buy one of these. I will compare its readings to my timber-check and post results.

Man, I love this place...

[Barry Vabeach]

You can actually do your own checking if you have a digital scale - this video shows the process pretty clearly http://www.viddler.com/explore/victo...orks/videos/5/

I tried to find a manual of the Ryobi to see if it dealt with different species of wood, but no luck at the Ryobi site.

[Josh Reet]

I tried to find a manual of the Ryobi to see if it dealt with different species of wood, but no luck at the Ryobi site.

The manual is linked to on the Ryobi page I posted above. The direct link is here:

http://www.ryobitools.com/product_ma...trilingual.pdf

The manual says it has 4 modes:

-Wall (for drywall)
-Masonry
-Hardwood
-Softwood

[Barry Vabeach]

Josh, thanks for the link to the manual - I looked in support and could not find it. Looking at the manual, I am guessing this won't be of much use to woodworkers - it seems more oriented to carpenters doing rehab of moisture damaged wood. The manual says its accuracy is plus or minus 3%, in contrast, the Electrophysics pinless models claim accuracy of 1% - the CT12 was rated by FWW as best value at $112. I haven't used one , but the FWW article said you would need a chart to determine the precise moisture content of a species, the Ryobi doesn't have a chart, I guess because that isn't the intended market.

[Chris Friesen]

The other thing to consider is that the Ryobi is only good for a depth of half an inch so you'd generally have to measure both sides of a board. For comparison, the Electrophysics ones start at 1", and Wagner ones are generally 3/4".

As a side note, does anyone else think the Electrophysics meters just scream "1950s"?

[John McClanahan]

Thanks for the replies. At this point, I don't think I will run out and buy one just yet. Other thoughts on this are still welcome.

John

[Barry Vabeach]

Chris, the Electrophysics scream Heath Technologies to me, IIRC the name of the company where you could buy electric meters and such either put together or as a kit.

[Mark Crenshaw]

I just read the specs on the Ryobi meter. My impression of this meter is that it's more for home inspection...checking for moisture in basements, attics, walls, crawl spaces. It measures 1/2" depth and it's only accurate to +/-3%. The "Caution" I saw in the manual states "These measurements are for reference only. Always consult a professional before beginning any repairs."

For me, the wood I use for guitar making needs to be in the 6-8% range. So a reading of 8% with this meter could be as high as 11% or as low as 5%. There are meters out there with 1% accuracy that are close to this price range. I would opt for one that has closer tolerence.

Here's a link with this one at the same price but +/-1% accuracy...I've seen it on Amazon for $40.

http://www.opticsplanet.net/sonin-di...ter-50218.html

My 2 cents.

Peace,
Mark