Pin vs Pinless Moisture Meters: Which Do You Need?

Looking to add a moisture meter to your tool bag? Here’s what you need to know to find the right tool for you.

Moisture meters come in two varieties: pin and pinless, but what is the difference? A pin moisture meter is both destructive and quantifiable, where as a pinless moisture meter is faster, but provides a relative reading.

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Pin Moisture Meters

Pin moisture measurement (i.e., resistive moisture measurement) requires the physical insertion of the two pin probes into the wall or material in question. This method provides you with a quantifiable reading by measuring the resistance between the two probes. The disadvantage is this method requires some damage to the material being measured.

MR55

This pin-based meter offers wireless connectivity for convenient readings from a mobile device via the FLIR Tools® Mobile app. Thanks to a built-in library of 11 material groups, users can tune the meter to the appropriate test material to improve measurement accuracy.

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Pinless Moisture Meters

With pinless moisture measurement (i.e., capacitive moisture measurement), you don’t need to destroy your wall, but there is a catch. While the flat sensor integrated on the back of the meter is a non-invasive method, it only provides a relative moisture reading. To fully understand the measurement, it needs to be compared to a known dry sample of the same material.

MR277

The MR277 includes IGM technology and a laser pointer to isolate the area where you can use the integrated pinless moisture sensor for non-invasive readings or external pin probe for invasive measurements.

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Learn more and discover our variety of moisture detection solutions. 

Moisture Meter ACCESSORIEs

Get the most out of your moisture measurement tools by adding in the right accessories. FLIR accessory products such as the FLIR MR08 hammer and wall cavity probe combo or the FLIR MR05 impact pin moisture probe help expand the already-wide range of functions for the FLIR MR277, MR265, and MR176 thermal imaging moisture meters.

Moisture Meter Accessories

From replacement temperature sensors to wall cavity probes, FLIR offers an entire range of accessories for moisture remediation and restoration tasks.

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