General Tools MMD4E Moisture Meter for Wood, Walls & Water Leak Detection

We were getting hardwood floors installed - or so we thought - when the installers notified us that they could not do the installation because the wood in our house had acclimated to 6.4% moisture and our subfloors were at 12.8% moisture. The installer found a leak in our water softener line which we got fixed the next day. Unfortunately, we had no way of knowing (ourselves) when to call the installer back. Hence, we purchased this meter. As far as we know, it works great. We aren't too concerned with the overall accuracy of the instrument, +/- 3% is just fine for us as we're looking to compare the difference between two materials in our home (assuming the error is consistent between those readings). The resolution of the meter is 0.1%. Other things you might want to know: - It comes with it's own 9v battery. - It measures wood between 5 - 50% and 1.5 - 33% for other building materials. - It has a hold feature which allows you to save the current reading so you don't have to keep the meter jammed in the material you are measuring. - It beeps to let you know when it is done measuring. (Although, you can turn this off. We did accidentally and then figured out how to put it back on. We don't know why, but it has 8 different tones from which you can select.) - It has a toggle button between measuring wood and concrete (or other building materials). - The instruction manual is easy to read and follow. They come in English, French, and Spanish. - It uses a two pin system to measure the electrical resistance of the material between the two pins. This is then calibrated against moisture content to give you the reading as a percentage. This means that it will make two small pin holes in the wood you are trying to measure. Therefore, if you are concerned about the holes, consider a "pinless" moisture meter, which are much more expensive. The instruction manual lists other uses such as testing the moisture content of powders (for any scientists out there who need to measure such things for making standard solutions from scratch) and to test the dryness of a wall or furniture before painting or finishing. It also shows instructions for how to track down a leak using the meter. There's a funny picture in the instructions with the caption "be careful not to hurt your hands on the pins." Although, I did "test" the moisture content of my husband's leg. Don't worry, I didn't draw blood. Overall, for the price, the features, and the product functionality (so far), I would say this is a great buy. Also, we got it shipped quickly via Amazon.com. It arrived two days after we purchased it. Yay! UPDATE (7/31/2010): The pins broke when we were testing some brazilian walnut - one of the hardest woods out there. But I read in the instruction manual that pins were replaceable. I emailed General Tools through their website and got a quick email back. Less than a week later, I had two new prongs FOR FREE in my mailbox. Customer Service was AMAZING! The replacement prongs are much better than the ones that came with the meter. The new ones are shaped like little cones and have worked great on the harder woods.

Very handy; somewhat easy to use. Gave me a lot of information that I was looking for...I am not happy finding high moisture levels on some wood and some sheetrock; now I need to determine where the moisture is coming from.

This moisture meter was really easy to use. It includes a cover, and extra set of needles. I did notice that sometimes the meter resets or cant read if its pointing straight up like at the ceiling. Super lightweight and easy to use.

Same General quality. There are some less expensive models, many much more expensive. The meter works and seems to be accurate. One small gripe is the user instructions are no longer included with the meter. Yes, it can be downloaded from the manufacturer web site, but the native size is 4" x 6". Printing on 8 1/2" x 11" is a little awkward, but doable in Multiple mode.

works great very accurate

I think it works pretty good I use it for RV checking and it seems to be pretty reliable I don't know the actual accuracy because I can't check it against something else yet but it works and it'll give you peace of mind

I recently noticed a small crack in my ceiling that has a large brown outline around it. The brown outline is clearly water damage, but while the crack is definitely new, I cannot tell if the water damage has always been there or not. I bought this device to help me to determine if I need to call in a professional. The product arrived today, as expected. It was in its retail packaging, which is a clamshell. You'll need scissors to open it up. A 9v battery was also inside the clamshell. I'm not sure why the change, but I'm really happy that companies are now including batteries with their toys. So I took the meter out of the packaging and put in the battery. No screws to take out or anything. The battery cover just clips back on. The device couldn't be much easier to use. There are only 3 buttons.. 1. Power. Hold this to turn the moisture meter on and off 2. Mode. Press this to switch between wood and "construction material" mode. 3. Lock/Sound. Press this toggle "lock" of the display in case you want the percent to stay on the screen. Hold this to toggle whether or not the device beeps (you probably don't want it to beep). I'd be testing my drywall ceiling, so I put the moisture meter into "construction material" mode. I was hoping I wouldn't need to jam it into my ceiling to see the results, so I first tested a part of the ceiling I knew did not have a leak. The meter read about 3%. I moved over to the brown spot and pressed the needles against the ceiling (I didn't push in) and, depending on where I was along the brown spot, the reading ranged from about 2%-6%. According to the guide on the back of the device (which is great), this means my ceiling is not very moist. Obviously that was good news. Then I started to worry that the device would not function right if it wasn't fully pushed into the ceiling. I really did not want to put holes in the ceiling, but I figured that in the best case, I'd need to paint over the brown spot anyway, so two little holes couldn't hurt. So I jammed the needles into the ceiling in a few places and getting a consistent reading was not easy. In a few of the spots, the percentage changed from between 1%-2%, then from 7%-10% and back again. I wasn't moving the meter -- it just could not decide the moisture level. Now, I understand the science behind the device (at least I think I do), so I get that I could have been moving it a little or maybe I was there was some movement within the ceiling so the circuit was not continuously completed.. I'm really not sure. I tried a few different places in the ceiling, and in the end, I have slightly more confidence that there is not a leak on the ceiling, but I am not sure about it. Hopefully if there was a leak, the device would be more decisive in telling me about the moisture. Overall, I think I'm happy about the purchase, but only because I got a little extra confidence for $30, which is probably less than I would have paid an "expert" to come and check it out. If you're a home inspector or contractor who will be charging people for your use of a moisture meter, I would look into the more expensive options, but for a homeowner who does not want to pay $100+ for a device you'll probably use 2-3 times in your lifetime, this one will give you a little more information than you currently have. In summary, very easy to use, but I'm not completely confident in its ability to give reliable results.

Love this product checks all our wood we buy for our fireplace , before we were getting wet wood now we have this it saves me so much money

It's the best from all th meters available in market

Easy to use with timber

Very useful and we found something not new damage in the wall we can’t see it but with this we discover it .

Excelente artículo y servicio. Muy fácil de usar.

Die Funktion ist einfach und gut ablesbar, doch eine Beschreibung ohne deutsch ist schlecht zu gebrauchen. Das gesamte Ergebnis ist aber gut.