Damp Meter

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Hi all just to let you all know what happened on my caravan hunt we looked on line looked at Highbringe caravans
one week end then when home and look some more on line. Read some where all about damp so from eBay I got a damp meter for £10.
The next week end we went back up to Highbringe to find the caravan side was not open due to the fire so when on the hunt found some where on the way back in somerset and found two caravan which we liked so we had a good look at them and found some damp so i used the meter and found that one had a reading of 33% so hade a look at the next one and that hade a reading of 99%.
so my story is that I would of got one of the two caravans and made a big mistake and lost a lot of money some £7000 so the £ 10 damp meter was worth its weight in gold.
So if you are going to get a Caravan get a DAMP METER first

 

[Raywood]

Hi all just to let you all know what happened on my caravan hunt we looked on line looked at Highbringe caravans
one week end then when home and look some more on line. Read some where all about damp so from eBay I got a damp meter for £10.
The next week end we went back up to Highbringe to find the caravan side was not open due to the fire so when on the hunt found some where on the way back in somerset and found two caravan which we liked so we had a good look at them and found some damp so i used the meter and found that one had a reading of 33% so hade a look at the next one and that hade a reading of 99%.
so my story is that I would of got one of the two caravans and made a big mistake and lost a lot of money some £7000 so the £ 10 damp meter was worth its weight in gold.
So if you are going to get a Caravan get a DAMP METER first

I could not agree more and have said a damp check is needed to anyone looking at a second hand caravan. It might also be worthwhile with new caravans which is ridiculous.
Not sure I would be totally happy with a £10 meter though unless it was a good one going second hand.

 

[Dustydog]

Error

 

[Hutch]

I Bought a Brennenstuhl, moisture meter aboit a week ago from Amazon . For £15 now £19. See below.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003CSNV2Q/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Just had a mobile engineer change a hex shaft on my motor mover, under warranty. and asked him to do a comparrison between his and mine on different areas of the caravan, and the readings were almost identical. A positive with mine was you could lock the reading for inaccesable areas. Well worth the £15
,

 

[Dustydog]

Fully agree Hutch that's the same one I have.

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

I have the Stanley STHT77030

 

[Hutch]

After The Old King, Sprocket checked my van out at Pickalot, and get highish reading, bought this one and everywhere seems to be below 15%. So happy bunny. Van empty now waiting for Coachman to give m3 th3 nod to take it in.

 

[MichaelE]

The best ones are pin less damp meters, they are really expensive . I know that most checks are done underneath rubbers but i wouldn't like someone putting pin holes in my caravan walls.
Also if you continually check areas for damp it will end up looking like a dartboard and people will wonder why it has been checked so much?

 

[Hutch]

MichaelE, they probably are, but the one I have will give me peice of mind. If I check certain areas say maybe every three month during the winter, in areas that are not visable to the eye, if you find increasing damp, then if your van like mine is still under warranty you can get things sorted out earlier rather than wait a year for your next service. After my Warranty runs out I will do my own maintanence, but will have a service done for the sake of resale value.

 

[ProfJohnL]

The best ones are pin less damp meters, they are really expensive . I know that most checks are done underneath rubbers but i wouldn't like someone putting pin holes in my caravan walls.
Also if you continually check areas for damp it will end up looking like a dartboard and people will wonder why it has been checked so much?

I think the pinless technology meters are designed for use in places like wood yards to check the moisture content of bulk supplies of wood and other single type materials. As such it needs a certain minimum thickness of material to enable it to function. The thin nature of caravan wall boards, and it vinyl covering will corrupt the readings.

 

[MichaelE]

My service guy uses a non evasive Protimeter, no pin holes and detects moisture behind the surface and its certainly not designed for places like wood yards.

 

[Hutch]

Nice peice of kit, but I can't afford £259.20 for my own checks. I stopped buying expensive equipment when I retired.

 

[MichaelE]

Nice peice of kit, but I can't afford £259.20 for my own checks. I stopped buying expensive equipment when I retired.

I'm not retired yet but i cant afford such expensive kit either , that's why i borrow his once a month

 

[ProfJohnL]

My service guy uses a non evasive Protimeter, no pin holes and detects moisture behind the surface and its certainly not designed for places like wood yards.

I quote from the data sheet for the non invasive model

"Search Mode (non-invasive)
The Protimeter Aquant is very simple to use by helding the instrument against the surface of the material under investigation. The relative moisture level is measured by radio frequency to a nominal depth of 10-20mm. There are no needles to mark the surface and the Protimeter Aquant is not adversely affected by moisture."

The system expects the material to be at least 10mm thick which is why it is tuned to search at a depth of 10 to 20mm! As caravan wall boards are only 3 to 5mm thick, the device will be looking beyond the thickness of the caravan wall board and will be attempting to measure the void or material behind the wall board. As such it cannot be relied on when used in caravans.

 

[MichaelE]

Its also says depth of measurement up to 19mm and will detect moisture behind a wall even vinyl. I have never seen vinyl 10mm thick.
It works for him and others in the trade and worked for me detecting the damp in my van and no unsightly holes as the area concerned in my van was clearly visible to all.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Michael,

Its horses for courses,

I'm not saying it wont produce a reading, it will !, but you cannot predict how accurate they will be on such thin material. Its the wrong tool for this particular job, and any results it produces would need to be verified by an alternative method before the nature of any work is defined. The problem is it may not show when there is a problem, or it may be suggesting there is a problem when in reality there is not.

The issue is not the thickness of vinyl, but the fact that vinyl will act a barrier to moisture, and or provide a thermally conductive surface that will condense more moisture than would other wise be the case in the underlying wood.

As such the device is a rather expensive indicator, rather than a measuring device in this context. Used in its proper environment I sure its a fine device, and its non invasive system will prevent damage to stock, or customer property.

 

[Martin24]

Baileys' need to have a non invasive damp check because of the nature of their interior lining.

 

[Lozza57]

I bought one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01CU24PGK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 non invasive meters from amazon a few months ago and compared it directly with a £400 protimeter while my van was being serviced. the readings were almost identical and I would advise anyone to buy one and use it when viewing any used caravan. You could avoid a very expensive mistake.

 

[Hutch]

When PX a previous caravan, the dealer suddenly said on inspection that we had excessive damp around the shower roof light, and tried to cut me back by £500 to repair before reselling. . Decided to face off and came down to £200. Had I had a damp meter I could have maybe got it down more. I am sure the dealer did not repair this area and passed on a lovely van to new owners.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I bought one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01CU24PGK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 non invasive meters from amazon a few months ago and compared it directly with a £400 protimeter while my van was being serviced. the readings were almost identical and I would advise anyone to buy one and use it when viewing any used caravan. You could avoid a very expensive mistake.

I advise you read the instructions very carefully, especially about the thickness of material (if it even mentions it)

 

[Hutch]

Prof, What makes you think, Lozza, didn't read the instructions, ? Especialy as it was being comparied to a service engineers, whilst the van was being serviced. I think Lozza shows proper concern.

 

[ProfJohnL]

You may assume he did read all teh small print, I assume he may not have done.

 

[Raywood]

When PX a previous caravan, the dealer suddenly said on inspection that we had excessive damp around the shower roof light, and tried to cut me back by £500 to repair before reselling. . Decided to face off and came down to £200. Had I had a damp meter I could have maybe got it down more. I am sure the dealer did not repair this area and passed on a lovely van to new owners.

Glad to hear you took a stand as I think there are a few dealer who might be finding damp as a way of reducing trade in prices. It is always best if you can get them to examine the caravan before hand but not always possible. I did have ours checked and had the report with me when I traded ours in but did not need as it turned out. On the previous caravan I checked it myself and found readings round the windows but on peeling the rubber back it was condensation and easily dried before taking it in. Not sure if the dealer might have tried it on if I had not done that.

 

[ProfJohnL]

...
Glad to hear you took a stand as I think there are a few dealer who might be finding damp as a way of reducing trade in prices. It is always best if you can get them to examine the caravan before hand but not always possible. I did have ours checked and had the report with me when I traded ours in but did not need as it turned out. On the previous caravan I checked it myself and found readings round the windows but on peeling the rubber back it was condensation and easily dried before taking it in. Not sure if the dealer might have tried it on if I had not done that.

That is a good example of how the readings can be misleading, and why it's important that the correct equipment and method is used to obtain readings.