Wood Moisture Meters Buying Guide: Pinless vs Pin-type

Wood moisture levels matter whether you’re constructing a building, laying down a floor, or crafting furniture. If you want your wood creations to enjoy a long life, you need to treat the wood right.

Neglecting the moisture content of wood means ruined projects:

• Warped cabinets
• Crowning or cupping of hardwood flooring
• Damaged instruments
• Unsightly dining tables

How horrible to have your name attached to a project that went wrong!

That’s where moisture meters come in.

And your work will only be as good as your least accurate meter. So, what’s in your toolbox? A pin-type? A non-damaging pinless?

Maybe it’s time for a new meter—but which one?

Are Moisture Meters Accurate?

Yes, a high-quality wood moisture meter can be accurate within 0.1% of the wood’s moisture content. It also scores high on repeatability, which gives the user confidence that the moisture content readings are spot-on. But it greatly depends on the quality and brand of a wood moisture meter.

The accuracy of the less expensive digital moisture meter can vary from 5 to 20%. These meters are hard to trust.

As a hygroscopic material, the longevity of the wood’s physical integrity and aesthetic quality depends on your understanding of its moisture condition when you want to start working with it.

Lower-grade moisture meters are very inaccurate as numbers are misleading and changing.

The real question is: What qualifies as an “accurate” moisture meter for a wood moisture measurement?

The accuracy of a hand-held meter is determined by comparing the hand-held meter’s moisture reading against the over-dry test results. The closer its reading is to the oven-dry test, the more accurate the hand-held meter is considered.

Before constructing its projects, all woodworking professionals and hobbyists must use an accurate moisture meter to ensure the wood has reached its EMC. Inaccurate readings are not helpful and can even harm your projects.

summary
Yes, wood moisture meters can be accurate within 0.1% of the wood’s moisture content. Most digital moisture meters will only show readings with one decimal place. Lower-grade meters are very inaccurate.

What Does a Wood Moisture Meter Do?

Moisture meters indirectly measure the moisture content in a piece of wood by measuring certain electrical properties within the wood.

Fortunately, there are wood moisture meters that work with great precision. A quality moisture meter provides an accurate reading for you to make smart decisions about when and how to use the wood.

But how does a moisture meter take its measurements? There are two main technologies used: Pinless and Pin-Type.

What is a Pinless Moisture Meter?

Pinless moisture meters work by using a sensor pad that works in contact with the wood surface but does not physically break or damage the surface to take a reading.

Pinless moisture meters typically provide the capability to measure moisture content from the surface down to .25″ or deep depth measurements to .75″.

Shop Orion wood moisture meters.

How Does a Pinless Moisture Meter Work?

Pinless wood moisture meters work with electromagnetic wave technology by using sensor pads that lay flat on the wood.

Pinless moisture meters send out electrical waves at a certain electromagnetic frequency, which creates an electromagnetic field in the area under the sensor pad. The waves sent out by the sensor through the electromagnetic field trigger return waves the sensor detects.

These changes in wave movement data correlate to a moisture content percentage and provide accurate readings. Meters using this type of technology are called “pinless meters” because they don’t insert pins into the wood.

They’re also referred to as “non-damaging meters” because there is no need to penetrate the wood. No damage is necessary for an accurate reading.

While density variations in the wood may impact pinless meters’ ability to read waves, they can test a broader expanse of the wood and provide a complete picture of its moisture condition.

What Is a Pin-Type Moisture Meter?

Pin-type moisture meters usually have two metal pins that must penetrate the wood’s surface for a moisture reading.

How Does a Pin-Type Moisture Meter Work?

Pin-type moisture meters use resistance technologies.

Two probes, or “pins,” are inserted into the wood, and an electric current flows between the two pins. The amount of resistance detected in the current as it moves between the pins is an indicator of the moisture condition of the wood.

Because moisture conducts electricity well, the “wetter” the wood, the less resistance there is to the current flow. The drier the wood, the greater the electrical resistance is.

But pin meters’ accuracy can be affected by variations in the natural chemical composition of different wood species. A wood’s density doesn’t impact the current flow, but it can interfere with properly inserting the pins.

This Wood Moisture Meter Buying Guide will help you decide.

Which is better: Pin or Pinless Moisture Meters?

Pinless Wood Moisture Meters

One of the benefits of a pinless meter is that it’s easier and faster to use than a pin meter. This allows users to have time to take enough readings to get a complete picture of the wood’s moisture level.

A pinless meter measures a wide swath of wood with each test, meaning fewer tests than a pin meter.

The features of pinless meters also allow you to switch measurement depth faster. Higher quality pinless meters come with dual depth measurement options, typically at a quarter and three-quarter-inch depths.

The other main advantage pinless meters have over pin meters is that they don’t cause damage to the wood. Every measurement taken with a pin meter drives two holes into the wood. A pinless wood meter never breaches the surface.

Pin Moisture Meters

One of the benefits of using a pin meter is that you can test at a wide variety of depths within the wood. Pins come in different lengths, so you can always swap out pins to measure at different depths.

Measuring moisture at multiple depths creates a broader picture of the overall MC of the wood.

The challenge with pin meters is that accurate measurement depends on properly driven pins into the wood.
It can take a fair amount of pressure to get the pins inserted properly, especially the longer the probe. The denser the wood species, the more pressure is required to properly insert the pins.

The wood’s temperature can also impact the accuracy of the pin meter.

If pin meters are substantially hotter or colder than approximately 70 degrees F, their readings must be compensated up or down depending on the exact temperature.

Another drawback: Pin meters only measure the moisture content of the small area between the two probes, which means multiple tests must be conducted at different spots. And even more, tests if you want to switch out pins to measure at multiple depths.

What is the Best Moisture Meter?

Our choice for the best moisture meter is the Wagner Meters Orion 950 pinless wood moisture meter.

But truly, it all depends on what you’re looking for as far as meters go. There are many different articles out there with their lists of the best moisture meters, but how can you tell if it’s the right one for you?

Here is your guide to wood moisture meters so you can use them wisely and confidently on all your woodworking projects.

What Are Acceptable Moisture Readings

The typical EMC to which wood will be exposed ranges from 7% to 19%. However, that’s too large a range to accept for a specific project.

Most wood flooring manufacturers dry the wood they use to between 6% to 9%.

The EMC applicable to a specific location depends on temperature and RH variations throughout the year in that region and how controlled the environment will be in the immediate usage area (i.e., is this wood for indoor or outdoor installation).

The wood used for construction has a higher EMC range of 9% to 14%.

Again, this will vary by location and species and is just the typical range.

If you’re building in a dry city like Las Vegas, the local EMC can drop as low as 4%. But wood objects that will spend their lives indoors—anything from violins to tables—will have a more predictable target EMC range of 6% to 8%.

Can a Moisture Meter Reading Be Wrong?

Yes, absolutely. A moisture meter reading could be wrong for various reasons including, but not limited to…

• It’s out of calibration.
• The wood’s surface is wet.
• You’ve entered the wrong wood species.
• The meter has been damaged.
• The pinless meter’s scanning plate has been damaged in some way, affecting its ability to make proper contact with the wood.
• The pins on your pin-type meter are bent, broken, or rusted.
• There are flaws in the wood, such as knots in the area of reading, that are affecting the wood’s specific gravity (density).
• The meter’s batteries are low.

Are Moisture Meters Worth It?

A wood moisture meter is worth the investment for many reasons. A quality moisture meter can provide accurate readings of the moisture content in wood. This way, you can know when the wood is ready for use or needs more time to acclimate.

How to Select the Best Wood Moisture Meter

Many prefer a pinless moisture meter because they don’t want the probes to ruin the wood. The more tests run with a pin meter, the more damage it does to the wood.

Yet without running enough tests, you won’t understand the wood’s moisture condition accurately.

Quite a conundrum, isn’t it?

There also is no model of the pin meter that can be recalibrated onsite.

Another area for comparison when selecting a moisture meter is the scope of “field features” you find valuable. Since the moisture measurement technology hasn’t fundamentally changed, adding high-value field features is how you can distinguish an advanced moisture reader from a simpler one.

Such extra features can include:

• having an extended range of species settings
• calculating EMC for you
• storing large amounts of measurement data
• on-site calibration

The bottom line: the process of using a pin meter can be time-consuming, tedious, and exert stress on the physical meter, which tends to result in taking short-cuts when measuring moisture.

Overall, pinless meters are the way to go. But ultimately, it is up to you to determine the scope of your need for a comprehensive moisture meter for wood enhancements.

Read our article to learn the differences between a pin and pinless moisture meter.

In truth, the technology used by pin and pinless meters hasn’t changed significantly over the last two decades.

That’s why the objective tests of Wagner Meter moisture meters, linked below, from years ago remain valid today.

Moisture Meter Studies

Accuracy of a Capacitance-type and Three Resistance-type Pin Meters

Assessment of the Accuracy of the Electronic Resistance and the Wagner Hand Held Meter

Comparative testing of Wagner L612

Study by the University of Florence and CNR/IRL

All four of these independent studies, commissioned by Wagner Meters, found that Wagner Meter pinless wood moisture meters were consistently and reliably more accurate in assessing wood moisture content than any of the meters they were tested against.

Now that you’ve read the buying guide, and reviewed our moisture meter tests, take advantage of an Orion moisture meter and start using an accurate one.
Buy a Meter Today

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Last updated on November 7th, 2022