Protimeter BLD5765 Aquant Non-Invasive Moisture Meter

Great meter.

As the title says, I'm a marine surveyor and I use this to detect possible moisture in the lay-up of fiber-glass hulls.It works well for my purposes - if the boat has water on its surface, it can read right through it (but don't expect the same performance on bottom paint).My one complaint is that it isn't water-proof. Working in the marine environment means, sooner or later, its going to get dunked and at $350, that's a lot of money to flush away.

I really like the simplicity but what was most surprising was the meters ability to ignore surface moisture.

This is a very easy to use unit. Some features that I like is its non-destructive and measures RF through base plate (up to 3/4 inch). Has audible tone when readings exceed reference reading. Compact, larger display. Nice carry case. Durable item because I dropped it once from 3 foot height. Seems to be accurate as well as I measured some know wet and dry items prior to using on boat Hull and got good responses as expected. Also, was not affected by recent morning dew on boat surface. Got dry readings where I knew to be dry in spite of the dew and wet reading where I expected as well.Things that need improvement - Calibration. Its good for 1 year calibration but after than the manufacturer wants it returned to them for recalibration. This shouldn't be necessary as other meters have calibration standards to measure against. Manufactured needs to make reference standards and unit should come with internal reset program based on reference standards (I think its a simple linear graph with a zero and one cal. point to set curve converting RF to digital reading). This is old technology for field instruments that should be easy to incorporate (ie pH meters, CGI meters etc).Readings are not in % moisture but rather in a scaled number I think from 100? to 999. Easy to figure in your mind if you consider 100 =1% and 999 =100% There might be a way to toggle display to address this, not sure.You have to keep the unit flat against measuring surface when collecting readings. Its slanted so this presented a few issues in getting readings in tighter spots on the boat surfaces. This is offset by the fact it has a hold function so you can collect a reading you cannot see and press hold to turn instrument to see reading.I gave it an overall 4 as the ease and accuracy of use and price off set the negative factors noted above.

These are perfect for home inspectors to find water and moisture issues. We have been using the Protimeter for years and they have been good and reliable.

Works good for checking moisture on fiberglass boats

I've used several different moisture meters, not bashing any of them, BUT, the Protimeter is the best one I've ever used!

Super easy and fast readings