Pinless damp meter

[borderbilly]

Anyone use a pinless damp meter? Looking on the big river £20--£30 but are they any good?

 

[Danddandy]

Anyone use a pinless damp meter? Looking on the big river £20--£30 but are they any good?

Yes

 

[IanB1485]

I use both pinned and pinless , all are relative , the main thing is to get to know it and the readings it gives .
One area which can be confusing is the vinyl floorings , they can trap moisture between the underside and the actual floor or it can be real damp ingress.

 

[borderbilly]

I use both pinned and pinless , all are relative , the main thing is to get to know it and the readings it gives .
One area which can be confusing is the vinyl floorings , they can trap moisture between the underside and the actual floor or it can be real damp ingress.

Thanks for that Ian 👍

 

[borderbilly]

Yes

Thanks for taking the trouble to give me such a helpful reply 🙂

 

[Sam Vimes]

I've got one of each.

The one with the prongs has two modes - Wood or Masonary. I found it to be good and reliable , mostly for checking our wood but also in the caravan. The prongs don't really make much of an impact.

The pinless one has more modes - Soft Wood, Hard Wood, Masonary and Wall (?) It gives similar results to the pinned on wood but is useless on the caravan walls. I think the vinyl wall covering screws it up.

Not sure what the professionals use but presumably it can work on caravan walls.

 

[borderbilly]

I have a pinned one and have read reports on the pinless ones. Think the trade use a expensive one and get good readings, just wondering if its worth getting a cheap pinless one 🤔

 

[Hutch]

I had that make of pinned type and found that I got very similar reading as the Mobile tech that services my van, Ironically damp got into it, so I need to get a new one.

 

[Sam Vimes]

I had that make of pinned type and found that I got very similar reading as the Mobile tech that services my van, Ironically damp got into it, so I need to get a new one.

Into the meter, caravan or technician
🙂

 

[GUMPY]

I've got one of each.

The one with the prongs has two modes - Wood or Masonary. I found it to be good and reliable , mostly for checking our wood but also in the caravan. The prongs don't really make much of an impact.

The pinless one has more modes - Soft Wood, Hard Wood, Masonary and Wall (?) It gives similar results to the pinned on wood but is useless on the caravan walls. I think the vinyl wall covering screws it up.

Not sure what the professionals use but presumably it can work on caravan walls.View attachment 10261

Being a sucker for gadgets I was about to buy a pinless one. I already have the same pinned one as you and it's a couple of percent different from my service tech. Your comment has persuaded me to save my money.

 

[Martin_E]

The industry standard is a Protimeter Surveymaster like

Protimeter SurveyMaster Moisture Meter BLD5375

Protimeter SurveyMaster Moisture Meter BLD5375 The Protimeter SurveyMaster Moisture Meter BLD5375 helps professionals to find building moisture levels during buildings or refurbishments in flood damaged restorations, building surveys and and flooring inspections. Using the BLD5375, professionals...

www.test-meter.co.uk

I think it might be out of reach for DIY use though.

 

[SeaDog]

I bought one from Lidl, just had the caravan serviced and it gave the same readings as the engineers meter. Happy Days no damp.

 

[Oscarmax]

Salop leisure only carryout a visual check on our HT shell Swift Conqueror 480, no damp test report.

 

[Beachball]

I have the pinned one like Sam but when we brought it last year it was damp free exactly the same results as the caravan dealer .

 

[Sam Vimes]

When I traded in my old caravan back in about 2006, the dealer just ran his hand around the walls and roof and pronounced it damp free.

 

[otherclive]

I have the pinned one like Sam but when we brought it last year it was damp free exactly the same results as the caravan dealer .

Better luck for you as Hutch got damp in his ( meter).

 

[Beachball]

Better luck for you as Hutch got damp in his ( meter).

Well when check next month if we find any it still under warranty with the caravan dealer

 

[Dustydog]

Salop leisure only carryout a visual check on our HT shell Swift Conqueror 480, no damp test report.

So as no timber it can never leak hence no damp readings??

 

[otherclive]

Well when check next month if we find any it still under warranty with the caravan dealer

I’m talking about Hutch’s damp meter not the caravan 🙈

 

[Oscarmax]

So as no timber it can never leak hence no damp readings??

Totally agree I was surprised they did not carryout a non invasive damp test, considering they did not reduce the service price accordingly, however the caravan has always been bone dry.

 

[Beachball]

I’m talking about Hutch’s damp meter not the caravan 🙈

Hi Clive apologies got wrong of the stick , I hope Hutch gets a better damp meter👍

 

[Martin_E]

So as no timber it can never leak hence no damp readings??

Marker lights is a common place for leaks in Swift vans.
In theory no damp test required but it’s good practice to run the damp meter round the floor just in case, as generally you can’t see the damp in HT vans, other than perhaps a black streak under a marker for example. It’s the same in a Bailey a black mark/streak can be a sign of a leak, obviously they are damp tested on the floor.

 

[Oscarmax]

Marker lights is a common place for leaks in Swift vans.
In theory no damp test required but it’s good practice to run the damp meter round the floor just in case, as generally you can’t see the damp in HT vans, other than perhaps a black streak under a marker for example. It’s the same in a Bailey a black mark/streak can be a sign of a leak, obviously they are damp tested on the floor.

I doubt they checked the floor its supposed to be timber free, we assumed if we used the Swift main dealer service centre rather than an approved mobile workshop, when we came to sell it would fetch a better price, how wrong we were not a blind bit of difference.

 

[Dustydog]

I doubt they checked the floor its supposed to be timber free, we assumed if we used the Swift main dealer service centre rather than an approved mobile workshop, when we came to sell it would fetch a better price, how wrong we were not a blind bit of difference.

This raises an interesting debate.
Do we use an AWS or Dealer? Subject to not breaching any Warranty conditions.
There are Dealers and Dealers.

My years using Chipping Sodbury Caravans were well served.

Last 14 years my local one man band AWS, fully approved by Bailey and Swift has proven invaluable on many occasions.He lives and dies by the sword. Cannot afford any errors or upsetting customers as we are all within Gloucestershire or Wiltshire. He comes to my home or storage . Has on a number of times come out at very short notice to fix things I can’t.
I get a one to one explanation and often chat as he does things so I watch and learn.

So for me the AWS every time. A real personal customer service at reasonable rates too.

 

[otherclive]

This raises an interesting debate.
Do we use an AWS or Dealer? Subject to not breaching any Warranty conditions.
There are Dealers and Dealers.

My years using Chipping Sodbury Caravans were well served.

Last 14 years my local one man band AWS, fully approved by Bailey and Swift has proven invaluable on many occasions.He lives and dies by the sword. Cannot afford any errors or upsetting customers as we are all within Gloucestershire or Wiltshire. He comes to my home or storage . Has on a number of times come out at very short notice to fix things I can’t.
I get a one to one explanation and often chat as he does things so I watch and learn.

So for me the AWS every time. A real personal customer service at reasonable rates too.

I used Chipping Sodbury but from year 5 I used an independent AWS engineer who was maker approved for the caravan and Alko parts. I did similarly with Sprite. I too found Chipping Sodbury Caravans excellent for the Bailey and Tilshead for the Swift whilst those caravans were still under water ingress warranty.