General Tools MMD950 Moisture Meter, Pin Type or Pinless, Deep Sensing with Sensor and Remote Probe

I apologize to readers in advance for the lengthy post but I feel like providing the background on which I formed my opinion will be more helpful to you than just my opinion alone. I have used the MMD950 before, many times, while doing home inspections with another inspector. It was his device and I always found myself needing to grab it out of his bag in order to verify the findings of my own moisture meter. I finally decided it was time to get my own BUT then I saw that Flir manufactures a similar model for roughly the same price (the MR59 Ball Probe Moisture Meter $199.00). I ordered the Flir thinking it HAD to be superior... I mean it's made by Flir right?!?! Wrong... and I could not have been more disappointed. Both meters have a great quality and durable feel but in the field, the Flir MR59 produced inconsistent and unreliable results that I just couldn't make sense of. Here's the difference: The General Tools MMD950 takes two types of readings with the ball probe sensor, WME% (wood moisture equivalent) and REL% (Relative Moisture, which is based on the calibrated baseline established when the device is turned on). The ability to take these two types of measurements on the same surface (as well as the pin probes if you're really not sure) allows me to make a thorough and confident assessment for my clients during their inspection. I always knew this was a good meter but it wasn't until I put it side by side with the Flir, that I realized how good it actually is. The Flir comes with some cool features but like I said, I found the readings to be arbitrary and unreliable, for example: Putting the ball probe up to a plaster wall that I was 100% certain was dry, might produce a reading of 37, ok fine. Not 37% moisture, just 37. Now my understanding is that this is what Flir calls a "relative" reading. First of all relative to what? And when I put the probe up to a plaster wall that I am 100% certain has moisture behind it, I might get a reading 63. Ok great, now I know one wall is more wet than the other (which I already knew before I spent $200) but how am I supposed to come to any sort of diagnostic conclusion based on the information the device provides?? If 37 represents a material that is dry, then how wet is a reading of 63??? Other dry surfaces may produce a reading of 0, which is fine considering some building materials naturally have lower/higher moisture content than others. But since Flir doesn't provide any sort of info or chart to indicate high/low readings from one material to the next, the thing really just leaves you guessing. Anyway... I'm obviously frustrated/ disappointed with Flir but felt I should air all that out to really highlight why one should choose the General Tools MMD950. Thank you for your patience if you've made it this far lol. All that to say, I love the MMD950 and would recommend it over any other multi-material moisture meter in this price range. Don't be sketched out by the ball probe if you've never seen/ used one before, it works beautifully and you can opt (like I did) to purchase the more traditional, pin probe extension which plugs into the ball probe unit. Hope this was helpful!

great

I bought this to evaluate our fiberglass boat for leaks and water damage around the mast and chain plates. But our boat is under 12 inches of snow right now. So I tried it out in our bathroom where I have a known water problem. I used the ball to map the extent of a place where we get occasional leaking from ice daming. Yes, the water damage is still there, no surprise. I also was able to detect about twice as much moisture under the floor tiles directly in front of the shower when compared to the doorway to the bathroom. I have not used the pins yet. If you use the pins you will be able to get an absolute percentage value of water. If you use the ball you can only compare one area to another. It seems like a great tool for the price. It comes in a nice case, and is preloaded with a 9 volt battery. There are two extra sets of pins with slightly different shapes. The pins have a cover to keep them from getting lost or damaged. Since I originally posted this, the snow melted and I was able to check the boat. The meter seems to be working. When I drilled out the holes for the genoa track bolts, the wetness and deterioration of the core corresponded well with where the meter said it would be. At least in the relative wetness mode the meter seems to be very reliable.

It is great, have only used it once, but it seems to work fine.

Arrived almost a week early! This seems to be a well built unit although like any other instrument I would advise against treating it roughly. The manual is understandable and it seems well thought out and works well but I haven't had the opportunity to check it against my other penetrating moisture meter on the same object, will update this review and possibly # of stars when I've had the chance to use it in a real world application (I do a lot of flat roof inspections where moisture content is a critical consideration). So far I'm extremely satisfied.