Secrets to Finding the Best Pin Meters on the Market

The Best Pin Moisture Meters are:

• Accurate
• Consistent
• Calibrated
• Easy to correct for species
• Easy to use
• Durable
• Versatile
• Equipped with useful accessories

Why Does Quality Matter?

If you’re getting a pin moisture meter, it needs to be one you can trust.

The entire point of measuring moisture is to check your wood’s moisture levels to make sure it won’t cause moisture damage in your floors or DIY woodworking projects.

Poor-quality meters are a waste of money because you can’t depend on them for moisture testing. Their inaccuracy and confusing controls are only going to slow you down and give you a false sense of security.

If you use a poor-quality meter on your next woodworking project or wood flooring installation, and it tells you your wood is dry enough to use, it might be incorrect. And if you go ahead and use the wood when it’s not ready, you and your project will end up paying the price.

The same is true if you have a poor-quality meter that’s accurate, but too confusing to use.

Complicated interfaces and thick user manuals make it tempting to toss the meter and simply eyeball your wood’s moisture. But because moisture content can’t be seen (as much of wood’s moisture is hidden deep inside the board), you can’t rely on visual assessment.

Unacclimated moisture may cause your project to warp, cup, shrink, split, or buckle. This will cost you money, time, effort, and resources. And if you keep coming out with defective projects, using a poor-quality meter may also cost you your reputation.

But high-quality pin-type meters are of a different caliber. They’re accurate and hassle-free, providing a meter you can trust and use without difficulty.

How can you tell which pin meters are high quality?

There are certain characteristics high-quality meters have that low-quality meters lack.

What Should You Look for When Buying a Pin Meter?

There are certain clues you can look for to tell if you’re dealing with a quality moisture meter.

The best pin-type moisture meters are:

• Accurate
• Calibrated
• Easy to correct
• Easy to use
• Durable
• Versatile
• Equipped with useful accessories

Let’s unpack what makes each of these characteristics so important, starting with accuracy.

Accuracy

We touched on the importance of accuracy earlier, but it really is the most crucial aspect of a quality pin meter.

Unfortunately, it can be difficult to determine which meters are accurate and which ones aren’t. (And it doesn’t help that a lot of the cheap pin meters you find online offer false promises of accuracy.)

But there are some things to keep in mind to help you steer clear of frauds:

• Cheaper meters are more likely to be inaccurate
• Proof of accuracy should be backed up by oven dry test studies: The best way to determine a meter’s accuracy is to compare its results to an oven dry test.

  While a pin meter detects wood moisture by measuring its electrical resistance (as moisture conducts electricity), oven dry tests measure moisture content directly by identifying how much moisture was lost from a piece of wood after it was dried in an oven.

  Because oven dry tests are so accurate if conducted properly, they provide a reliable benchmark for moisture meter readings.

• Pay attention to scholarly studies and professional reviews: See if the meter you are interested in has been tested for accuracy by researchers and moisture experts.

With accurate meters, you can be confident in your work without worrying about moisture damage. However, accuracy isn’t the only characteristic of a quality meter.

Calibration

Manufacturers calibrate pin meters to get consistent and accurate readings.

Though high-quality meters are built to withstand rugged conditions and maintain calibration, dropping your meter or exposing it to intense temperatures can throw it off. Because these kinds of accidents are so subtle, you might miss the fact that your meter’s calibration has been messed up.

With cheap meters, there’s no way of verifying the meter’s calibration. You just have to rely on the assumption that it’s calibrated. But if it’s not, you may be trusting in false readings that could ruin your projects.

However, many high-quality pin meters come with calibration verification reference blocks that help you check their calibration. And, if you find the meter’s calibration is off, you can send the pin meter back to the manufacturer for them to fix it.

Easy Species and Temperature Correction

On top of being calibrated, your pin meter needs to be adjusted for wood species and temperature to get accurate results.

This is because different wood species have different chemical compositions that affect the wood’s moisture resistance, which, in turn, affects your moisture meter’s readings. So, if your pin meter isn’t adjusted to account for a specific wood species, it’s not going to get accurate measurements.

The temperature of the wood can also throw off your meter’s readings.

This is why it’s so important to find a wood moisture meter that allows you to account for both factors.

You’ll thank yourself later if you can find a meter that makes these conversions easy. (This is especially true if you find yourself working with a variety of wood species or in a harsh climate.)

Ease-of-Use

It’s a simple fact: Tools that are easy to use get used more often.

While cheaper pin meters come at a lower price point, many are difficult to use because their manufacturers didn’t put much thought into user experience.

If your pin meter is too much of a hassle to set up, or you feel like you’re going cross-eyed reading its exhaustive user manual (or worse yet, you’re stuck squinting at the manufacturer’s website for hours looking for its missing instructions), a cheap pin meter may be more trouble than it’s worth.

Quality digital moisture meters, on the other hand, are created with users in mind. They are easy to read and operate, with features like:

• A clear digital display: A complicated display or dim screen makes it hard to find your moisture reading. Opt for a simple and bright screen that makes it easy to find the information you’re looking for.
• A “hold” function: The meter will keep your reading on the screen so you have time to write it down for your records.
• User-friendly controls: Simple controls can save you a lot of time and frustration. Usually, the fewer buttons a moisture meter has, the better.
• An organized and concise user manual: The easier it is to read, the less time you’ll spend trying to understand how your meter works.
• A lightweight design: A light meter is easy to hold and carry.

On top of being easy to carry, quality meters will be durable enough not to break during transport.

Durability

Whenever you spend your hard-earned money on something, you expect it to last.

That’s why it’s so frustrating to buy something only for it to last a couple weeks.

While cheap meters might seem like a steal, they tend to be cheap for a reason. They might be built out of flimsy plastic, and they might not last you very long.

That’s why high-quality meters are a better option. They’re made with durable materials. They will also probably have design features that offer additional protection (like shock-absorbing guards, etc.).

Some meters even come with a protective carrying case.

Durable pin meters will also have durable pins. This will save you the money and trouble of constantly buying replacement pins.

A warranty is another sign of a durable moisture meter, as manufacturers will offer a warranty promise on products they believe are built to last.

Versatility

Quality pin meters also tend to offer more versatility.

For example, some meters come with different-length pins you can switch out to measure your wood at different depths. This can come in handy if you work a lot with wood of varying thicknesses.

Though cheap meters may promise to do many things, the best wood moisture meters will actually do those things well, helping you save money by giving you a device that can do what you need it to do.

Quality meters may also come with accessories to streamline your moisture measurement process.

Useful Accessories

Many pin meters come with accessories, but the accessories of quality meters are designed to improve user experience.

That’s to say, a meter could have lots of accessories and still be poorly designed. In fact, some cheap meters throw in useless “bonuses” to make their product seem more legitimate.

In this way, it’s important not to look at the number of accessories a pin meter has, but look at how useful those accessories will actually be.

Genuinely helpful accessories may include:

• A carrying case: This will protect your meter should you drop it while carrying it from job to job.
• Extra pins: It’s always good to have backups in case your pins break.
• A probe attachment: This can help you take measurements in hard-to-reach places.

Some accessories may be more helpful to you than others, depending on what job you’re using your meter for.

Get the Right Meter for the Job

When you’re looking for a pin meter, you’ll want to consider which pin meter will best suit your needs.

Different jobs may call for different features or levels of quality.

For example, if you’re just getting a pin meter to check firewood, you’ll probably just want to focus on getting an accurate meter, not necessarily one that’s jam-packed with special features.

If you’re working with outdoor projects, the moisture measurement range (how low and high a moisture meter can read your wood) may not be important as long as it can measure when the wood is less than 19%. But, if you’re working on indoor furniture pieces or flooring, the wood moisture content will need to be much lower, so your meter should at least measure down to 6-8%.¹

The kind of meter you choose may also depend on the wood you work with.

If you work with a lot of hardwoods, you’ll need a meter with durable pins so they don’t break when you push them into the wood.

If you work with thicker wood, you’ll want to make sure the meter’s pins are long enough to reach deep into the wood. Usually, for thicker wood, you’ll want a hammer probe with long pins. For thinner wood, you’ll be able to use shorter pins. And if you work with both, well, you can look for a meter that allows you to switch out electrodes of different lengths.

It’s important to keep in mind, though, that the more features a meter has, the more expensive it will be.

Are Quality Pin Meters Expensive?

More expensive meters don’t always mean a better product—but more often than not, cost does reflect product quality.

Cheap meters tend to cut corners, so here’s a word of warning not to fall for the cheap meters, no matter where you find them. Though you might be saving money up front with a less expensive meter, it’s likely to cost you more in the long run when it:

• Fails your project with its false readings
• Eats up your time with its complicated controls
• Requires excessive repairs and replacements

Meters with a higher price point generally have more thought put into their materials and overall quality. However, you’ll want to keep an eye on whether the price is reflecting the quality of the meter, or if it’s reflecting unnecessary frills and accessories they’ve added onto it.

This is why it’s so important to check out customer reviews to see how the meter is actually working for people.

Where Can You Find a Quality Meter?

You can find a quality meter by looking for meters that are accurate, efficient, and suit the needs of your line of work.

You can start your search for the best pin moisture meter with our accurate and user-friendly PT-83 pin moisture meter.

The PT-83 has:

• A large LCD display
• Intuitive two-button operation
• A hold function
• Built-in species correction
• A moisture measurement range of 6.0%-25%
• A compact, lightweight body
• A brief user manual
• Durable 5/16” pins (and replacement pins)
• A safety cap to protect the pins
• Positive customer reviews
• Optional calibration references
• An optional slide hammer probe
• A one-year warranty