I bought a Tramex Moisture Encounter earlier this year and have realized that metal corner beads and metal lath/screen repairs in sheetrock read as having high moisture. This is having the meter set to Drywall - Roofing. I have been double checking areas with my pin type meter. Has anyone found a good solution to this issue? Any information would help. I assume all pinless meters would have the same issue, unless they dont read deep enough.
This will always happen with a moisture meter because it sends a subsurface electrical wave. Pin meters sends the wave between the pins.
It is reflectivity from the metal beads.
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While non-penetrating moisture meters take moisture measurements in a different way for a different purpose, metal also interferes with their ability to locate moisture’s presence, also giving false-positive readings.
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Yes, don’t use conductive moisture meters on metal.
Use a pin type in these areas if you need to confirm something, but the pins will do the same thing if you touch the tips to metal, so …
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my protimeter aquant alwas did the same thing, just knowing it was a false reading was enough…just move away from the corner bead…
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It is called false positives. Metal will do that. Read the Tramex users guide.
Yep, that’s what to do.
Ok, not any new information, but thank you all for your time
Hmm…I see more than one post that answered this question. Would you care to rephrase your question?
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Hey Brian,
The question:
“Has anyone found a good solution to this issue?”
More specifically, what process do you use to determine a leak or just a patch?
Im currently double checking a $500 meter with a pin meter that was less than $100 and then going in the attic, if applicable. It just doesnt seem like a very efficient way of doing things. Common sense goes a long way. Im thinking of just using a better quality pin type meter, but of course could have the same outcome.
I realize that I’m describing a false positive, metal is not sheetrock, have read about how moisture meters work…
Keith what you’re describing is a physical limitation of these moisture meters. There is no solution besides using a pin type (with its own limitations as pointed out), and using the Tramex better (moving away from the corner bead). It’s all a matter of judgment and part of why we all get paid and harry homeowner with his $30 clipstrip home depot meter doesn’t.
Variations in the tested material are just going to give different readings. And there are plenty of surfaces where pinless meters are essentially useless, like a greasy kitchen ceiling.
I’ll try this again.
Resistance Meters (Pin Type Moisture Meters)
Commonly known as a pin moisture meter, this type used to be the most widely used meter throughout the world. Two or more pins are pushed directly into the wood in two different spots, and a direct current travels from one pin to the other. This process measures the resistance to the current between pins and correlates that resistance to wood moisture content.Electromagnetic Field Technology, EMF (Pinless Moisture Meters)
Often called a pinless moisture meter, this type measures the moisture content of wood without piercing the wood with pins. An electrical wave is emitted through a sensor pressed against the wood. This creates an electromagnetic field (EMF) the size of the sensor to a depth of .75” to 1.0”, depending on which model is specified. The field behaves differently depending on the amount of moisture present in the wood.
Neither test measures moisture.
It detects apparent moisture due to increase of electrical conductivity and/or density as a result of moisture or any other material that has higher conductivity or density. Nails and corner beads have both.
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