kevinktwo Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Aldi have got damp test meters going cheap here http://www. aldi. co. uk/uk/html/offers/58_9185. htm. There is an additional charge if you want the Bailey logo inscribed Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WispMan Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 (edited) But Aldi don't offer on-line purchasing - however the meter has a digital read-out whereas the cheap ebay ones only offer LED lights. Down to Aldi it is Edited March 18, 2009 by WispMan Quote Graham Unless otherwise stated all posts are my personal opinion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBS Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 But Aldi don't offer on-line purchasing - however the meter has a digital read-out whereas the cheap ebay ones only offer LED lights. Down to Aldi it is Bought one of these about a year ago and tested it against my friend's Protimeter - not impressed. The prongs are blunt and the reading really doesn't appear to be very accurate. It's still in the shed - should have taken it back but couldn't be bothered. I bought an old Protimeter off e-Bay for less than £40 all in - a proper piece of kit. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grasmere59 Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Bought one of these about a year ago and tested it against my friend's Protimeter - not impressed. The prongs are blunt and the reading really doesn't appear to be very accurate. It's still in the shed - should have taken it back but couldn't be bothered. I bought an old Protimeter off e-Bay for less than £40 all in - a proper piece of kit. Mike Just bought an Aldi damp meter,i thought the digital readout would be a % reading but it has no relavence to anything,it is just a reading,i put the prongs in some water and it read 60,60 what? I think after reading the instructions that you have to make a comparison with something i. e. if you had a readng of 5 on one day and it was 10 two weeks later you could say you had a leak,i suppose if you probed a bit of wood that you knew was damp you could take that reading as a comparison,bit of a disappointment really as it seemed like it might be a good tester as the probe head can swivel through 90 deg for those hard to reach places and it has a hold button and an outside air temp built in. Live and learn i suppose, Brett Quote 2012 Freelander SD4 HSE towing a 2007 Elddis Sunstyle GT 482 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD 42 Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 (edited) Just bought an Aldi damp meter,i thought the digital readout would be a % reading but it has no relavence to anything,it is just a reading,i put the prongs in some water and it read 60,60 what? I think after reading the instructions that you have to make a comparison with something i. e. if you had a readng of 5 on one day and it was 10 two weeks later you could say you had a leak,i suppose if you probed a bit of wood that you knew was damp you could take that reading as a comparison,bit of a disappointment really as it seemed like it might be a good tester as the probe head can swivel through 90 deg for those hard to reach places and it has a hold button and an outside air temp built in. Live and learn i suppose, Brett you have not calibrated it, set the switch on the side to calibrate turn the thumb wheel to show 100 on the read out, switch to test & try it out on your finger tip,it should show about 20 which = 20% although being a cheap instrument it,s accuracy is not gospel My thoughts are if a reading of 20% = the resistance of a dry finger then a reading over that in the van requires further profesional investigation but it will give me an early warning of damp Edited March 19, 2009 by TD 42 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grasmere59 Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 you have not calibrated it, set the switch on the side to calibrate turn the thumb wheel to show 100 on the read out, switch to test & try it out on your finger tip,it should show about 20 which = 20% although being a cheap instrument it,s accuracy is not gospel My thoughts are if a reading of 20% = the resistance of a dry finger then a reading over that in the van requires further profesional investigation but it will give me an early warning of damp I did calibrate it but i would have thought when you put the tips in a glass of water it should have been 100 on the scale not 60,when you read the instructions there is no mention of it being a % readout but just a "figure" from which to work from,my old Rapidtest (with the 3 lights) shows all 3 lights when touched on my finger which would be a very high reading but when using the Aldi one it only shows 20 odd,i'll stick with the Rapid test i think, Brett Quote 2012 Freelander SD4 HSE towing a 2007 Elddis Sunstyle GT 482 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caraman1 Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Just bought an Aldi damp meter,i thought the digital readout would be a % reading but it has no relavence to anything,it is just a reading,i put the prongs in some water and it read 60,60 what? I think after reading the instructions that you have to make a comparison with something i. e. if you had a readng of 5 on one day and it was 10 two weeks later you could say you had a leak,i suppose if you probed a bit of wood that you knew was damp you could take that reading as a comparison,bit of a disappointment really as it seemed like it might be a good tester as the probe head can swivel through 90 deg for those hard to reach places and it has a hold button and an outside air temp built in. Live and learn i suppose, Brett Surely what matters is if you find an area in the van higher than all the others. I was thinking of using it for this not to give me an acurate % Am I wrong?? Dave Quote Discovery 4 HSE 2015, Bailey Unicorn S4 Barcelona 2018. http://www. mycaravan. org. uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Surely what matters is if you find an area in the van higher than all the others. I was thinking of using it for this not to give me an accurate % Am I wrong?? Dave Hi Dave, Totally agree, it don't matter about its calibration, if you take readings from a known dry area you have a benchmark reading, if you then move around the caravan you will get various readings, anything significantly above the average reading would warrant further investigation. I have a basic B&Q meter that just gives a tone, by experience I know from the pitch of the tone what constitutes an area of concern. As the caravan is serviced annually I get a damp report, however I do check in the interim. If I did find an area of concern I would rely on the dealer to confirm the % of damp with is £200+ piece of kit. The main point is to identify early and get it sorted. GPS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caraman1 Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Hi Dave, Totally agree, it don't matter about its calibration, if you take readings from a known dry area you have a benchmark reading, if you then move around the caravan you will get various readings, anything significantly above the average reading would warrant further investigation. I have a basic B&Q meter that just gives a tone, by experience I know from the pitch of the tone what constitutes an area of concern. As the caravan is serviced annually I get a damp report, however I do check in the interim. If I did find an area of concern I would rely on the dealer to confirm the % of damp with is £200+ piece of kit. The main point is to identify early and get it sorted. GPS Thanks, that's what I thought. Off to Aldi now! Dave Quote Discovery 4 HSE 2015, Bailey Unicorn S4 Barcelona 2018. http://www. mycaravan. org. uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I did calibrate it but i would have thought when you put the tips in a glass of water it should have been 100 on the scale not 60,when you read the instructions there is no mention of it being a % readout but just a "figure" from which to work from,my old Rapidtest (with the 3 lights) shows all 3 lights when touched on my finger which would be a very high reading but when using the Aldi one it only shows 20 odd,i'll stick with the Rapid test i think, Brett Hi Brett If the rapitest shows all 3 lights on a dry finger how can it show a wetter area? neil Quote Bailey S5 Pageant Auvergne & Vauxhall Signum CDTI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grasmere59 Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Hi Brett If the rapitest shows all 3 lights on a dry finger how can it show a wetter area? neil I can only assume that being as the adult male is made up of 60% water my "dry" finger is not so dry,all i know is that 3 lights come up on my finger but on dry wood no lights show and according to the Rapidtest instructions 3 lights mean problems whereas the Aldi tester shows 20 "sumthings" when pressed on my finger which if a percentage reading should have been a lot more,i bought it primarily because our van has just come back from service and 23% damp was recorded under the awning light measured from inside the locker behind it i thought if i had a % meter as i thought the aldi one was i could see how bad or not it was getting and report to the dealer with a % reading,they said 23% was acceptable but keep an eye on it. Brett Quote 2012 Freelander SD4 HSE towing a 2007 Elddis Sunstyle GT 482 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I can only assume that being as the adult male is made up of 60% water my "dry" finger is not so dry,all i know is that 3 lights come up on my finger but on dry wood no lights show and according to the Rapidtest instructions 3 lights mean problems whereas the Aldi tester shows 20 "sumthings" when pressed on my finger which if a percentage reading should have been a lot more,i bought it primarily because our van has just come back from service and 23% damp was recorded under the awning light measured from inside the locker behind it i thought if i had a % meter as i thought the aldi one was i could see how bad or not it was getting and report to the dealer with a % reading,they said 23% was acceptable but keep an eye on it. Brett Hi Brett But the tester is measuring the surface damp of your fingers not the gooey wet stuff inside. Everyone seems to suggest that skin is about 20% and any higher may be an indication of a problem, but your rapitest can't warn with any more lights than the all 3 at 20% (ish). Can you set the rapitest to be 2 lights on your skin so a third indicates a 50% increase in lights (but probably not in absolute damp!!). I'd keep the Aldi one and if dry fingers are "something" then wetter is just "something bigger". The numbers actually don't matter, if your awning light area is 'whatever' and it then goes up you know that it is wetter than it was. But I'd also check several other areas to have references to see if it is a van wide trend which might just be the weather say, or if it is just the one spot then maybe start to worry. My last service showed reading between 16 and 21 and the service before it was from 14 to 18 and before that 15 to 20 and that looks to be just overall drier or wetter at the time of the test. My own tests with a meter confirm the variations between these areas, and routinely give many different numbers but always in roughly the same relationship, if one area went high relative to the others I'd then maybe investigate a bit more. neil Quote Bailey S5 Pageant Auvergne & Vauxhall Signum CDTI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tephi Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Hi Dave, Totally agree, it don't matter about its calibration, if you take readings from a known dry area you have a benchmark reading, if you then move around the caravan you will get various readings, anything significantly above the average reading would warrant further investigation. I have a basic B&Q meter that just gives a tone, by experience I know from the pitch of the tone what constitutes an area of concern. As the caravan is serviced annually I get a damp report, however I do check in the interim. If I did find an area of concern I would rely on the dealer to confirm the % of damp with is £200+ piece of kit. The main point is to identify early and get it sorted. GPS I agree also - What do people expect for £9-99? I bought one yesterday, not to give me an accurate reading to the nearest 1%, but as an early warning guide between services. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBS Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 See above - told you so! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julianjay Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I think you will find that these meters are in fact testing the conductivity of your fingers not the dampness. The meters with needles pass a current through the points and measue the conductivity. Having used Protimeters since 1965 when the first one I had was at 35 volts I can confirm that there is electricity involved as they did bite!! The present Protimeters have both needles to test at the surface and also a conductive patch that can test below the surface. By this means you can compare the surface reading and the reading inside the material to determine if it is condensation or actually moisture in the material itself. However the most important bit of kit in the whole process is the bit between your ears. All the damp meter can do is alert you to a material that conducts electricity - it is up to you to decide what is making it do that. As a surveyor I have often found 'maximum' readings in a wall to find it is contaminated plaster or even foil backed paper. In a caravan a meter would be useful to compare relative readings throughout the space and clearly a high relative reading would be cause for concern. Condensation often occurs at corners where air flows more slowly and becomes colder. It also occurs behind wardrobes for the same reason- the air is stationary and becomes colder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R U Sure Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 A grape was 61 if anyone's interested Quote Audi Q5 TDI Quattro - Swift Conqueror 570 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MalH Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 (edited) Have a lookout for the prongs where the dealer has tested for damp and use them to get more penetration. Alternatively, use a gimlet to make a series of small holes in out-of-sight areas so that the prongs on your meter can get into the sandwich. Edited March 21, 2009 by Grandpa Steve Edited to remove inappropriate text - GPS Quote Nissan X-Trail Tekna + Coachman Festival 450 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M600GRD Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Point to bear in mind is that generally these meters are calibrated to give a actual % moisture reading on wood only. Therefore readings taken in a caravan have to be taken as relative readings only. They are a useful tool only in the hands of a person who can interperate the readings correctly. Cheers G Quote 2009 Jaguar X Type (Re-mapped) 2. 0D pulling a 2013 Bailey Pegasus GT65 Verona 2013 Triumph Street Triple R & 2004 Triumph RS Sprint 955i Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachman Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 The last reply is how i understand it, more so when only last week under servicing he found two places high up in either side cupboard a reading of 70/90% for about 10 cm long but only 1 cm wide. There appears to be no spongy feel to the wall and i think the meter is picking up some metalic thing. Neverthe less he thought i should have the rear awning rails resealed at a cost og £375. I looked up top but no gaps were evident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harry.m1byt Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 (edited) You could do much the same test with a simple multimeter on the high resistance range - that really is all a damp meter is anyway. The important thing is comparison of different areas within the van. One thing to note is that the probes need to be a fixed distance apart, whether you use the Aldi unit or a multimeter, because the closer they are the lower the resistance reading obtained - so the reading is meaningless if the spacing is not repeatable. I got one of the Aldi units last time they were on offer. The only problem I found with it was the diameter of the probes, they are just far too wide for caravan use. I ground the tips flat and then drilled a tiny hole in the tip of each so I could insert a sewing needle. Another way would be to set a couple of needles in an insulating block handle, then wire this to the Aldi units probe tips. The comments about testing the damp across your fingers is meaningless. Skin when perfectly dry is a fairly good insulator. It's resistance only goes down when you have just washed or due to persperation. Between the two states it can vary quite wildly and even varies quite a lot between one person and the next. Even a glass of water is not 100% conductive, 100% conductive is the situation where the probes are shorted out by a metallic object. Edited April 16, 2009 by harry.m1byt Quote Bailey Pageant Monarch Series 5 2004 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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