# Harbor Freight Digital Mini Moisture Meter



## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

How is the battery life? Does it auto-shut off?


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## NormG (Mar 5, 2010)

Thanks for sharing. I was looking ofr one and did not know HF had one. It will work for what I need it to


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## Dal300 (Aug 4, 2011)

I've had that model since about 2011 and it's still on it's first set of batteries.

Seems plenty accurate to me.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Thanks for the review,interesting find.


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## Sigung (Nov 20, 2013)

RE Rick M.: According to Dallas the batteries have lasted three years for him, and yes, it does auto shut off.


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## MarkDavisson (Apr 26, 2009)

I'm with NormG - didn't know HF carried them!


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

Thnx for your review Jerry. HF has some diamonds in the ruff.


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## rance (Sep 30, 2009)

And don't forget the two rules of buying at HF:

1) Always use your 20% off coupon. 
2) Always get a free flashlight(or multimeter, or whatever)

Nice review. I'll probably pick one up tomorrow.


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## Stephenw (Nov 14, 2011)

I've got one I purchased about a year ago. I haven't used it much. I just took it out and found the batteries were still good.

It is pretty dry in Utah.

I'm getting 0% on dry wood stored inside.

I'm getting 7% on wood that spent the winter outside.

It would be nice to compare this tool against an expensive model.


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## Sigung (Nov 20, 2013)

Stephenw, that is a great idea! If any lumberjocks out there have both, it would be an interesting test. I'm going to take this to the local wood shop and see if I can run a comparison against their store model when I'm there the next time I go.


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## Big_Bob (Mar 30, 2008)

I have used the same tool for about 4 years and I just had to replace the batteries. Radio Shack wanted $16 for the batteries. So I went back to Harbor Freight and for $4 got new batteries. It should be good for another 4 years. And yes it has an auto shutoff. It works well I keep it hanging on my lathe.


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## Randy_ATX (Sep 18, 2011)

The above comment at 0% MC makes me wonder about it's accuracy.


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## Big_Bob (Mar 30, 2008)

Randy:

I use mine for woodturning. I am told you are safe finish turning at 10% I have never had a problem turning wood that read 10% or less using this meter. The meter only reads down to 8% lower than that it is below its range. But who cares below 8% is dryer than anyone would ever need for woodworking.


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## Delain (Feb 18, 2013)

I recently bought this meter and have been testing with a few wood types in my shop. Most of the wood I stick it with shows some sort of % reading. However, when I test some cherry rough boards I've had 'stickered' for about two months, it reads 0%. Seems hard to imagine it wouldn't show something above 0%. Is it feasible to expect a zero content in wood that's just been laying in your garage/shop versus systematically dried? Or is it characteristic of cherry?

Tested it also by spritzing some water on the cherry and then it will read from about 11% to 17%. On the same piece a few inches down from the damp spot it will again show 0%. This seems to say the meter works okay; just not sure how well.

Another thought, I haven't tested any pieces where the meter showed a range of say 2% to 5%; always seems to read either 0% or from 6% to 17%. Not sure what to make of this, but I don't have another means of comparing.

Based upon comments here and within the other two reviews I've seen so far, I think this is an excellent buy for the price and seems to be dependable enough.
Thoughts?

Delain


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## Sigung (Nov 20, 2013)

As big bob mentioned anything lower than 8 percent is out of range


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## Stephenw (Nov 14, 2011)

The manual says the range for wood is 6-42%. I would guess that moisture content below 6% would display 0%.


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