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Posted by Loren Amelang on March 19, 2008, 9:23 pm
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On Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:45:48 GMT, "JERD"
>Apologies if this is off topic.
>
>Is there any way to easily test timber from cut trees to see if it is dry
>enough to use in a slow combustion heater?
>
>I prefer not to have to purchase a moisture probe if possible.
I've had some success using a good electronics tech digital multimeter
and a pair of tiny wire nails driven into the wood about an inch
apart. This publication gives you some idea of the pitfalls:
<http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr06.pdf>
Basically what you're buying in a commercial moisture meter is much
more accuracy, due to tables of moisture vs. species and reading that
are calibrated to your meter and probes, and internal compensation
for some of the pitfalls. But if you mainly want an indication that
new wood is going to burn as well as wood you've tested in the past,
and if you have a good DMM, give it a try.
If you don't already have a sufficiently sensitive resistance meter,
you can probably get a wood moisture meter for less.
Loren
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