Pulled some Ash off the pile of most recently split wood. Most of the stuff has been 19% from this pile. I thought a couple pieces sounded not-so-dry while loading. Split one and it was 24% measured cross grain. I let it warm up for 2 hours and checked again. This time the mm actually counted down from 22 to 20 cross grain, and was 19% along the grain. It is burning fine either way.
MMs are good for reference How long stacked in open air & seasoning conditions are better info for judging the whole stacks dryness But yea, temperature effects (resistance meter) MM readings.
One thing that helped me was putting name brand batteries in when we used one. The MM was way more even on the readings afterwords.
I like to think of it like the gas "gauge" in a car. It's not totally accurate, and can vary a little as you go around corners, but useful for letting you know how far you can go or when you're getting close to empty. If you fill up your tank you know exactly where you're at without looking at your gas gauge, same as if you let your wood season for 3 years you probably have little need to stick a MM in it, but if you're not sure whats in the tank? or how dry your wood is? those gauges can come in handy. I generally like to see all the MM readings between 10% and 20%.
Unless you resplit it for the second reading could the surface have dried dried done a little in a couple of hours? Gary
There is no doubt about it , in a warm house a couple of hours it will dry and you will not get the same reading you would if you re split it
Indeed you will get different readings. This is why the reading has to take place as soon as the wood is split.
