When using a hygrometer to track humidity in various materials, it certainly helps to have some specialized hygrometer electrodes on hand. How can hygrometer electrodes make your life easier? The answer depends on how you use meter electrodes and your particular industry.
Here are some different examples where using specialized hygrometer electrodes can make your working life easier:
Moisture testing in otherwise hard-to-reach locations
Humidity testing can be enhanced by using meter electrodes designed to reach spaces where standard pins do not allow the use of a hygrometer as a moisture Detector in spaces and materials that would normally not be used, such as:
Hay Bales. The needle on a normal hygrometer is not far from the time it reaches the core from the outside. However, specialized electrodes such as the 1235 and 830 Hay Meter Electrodes allow the user to reach directly into the center of the bale to test for hay moisture, where hay moisture is important.
Fiberglass insulation. One of the first safety warnings people get when they get fiberglass insulation is to keep it as far away from their exposed skin and eyes as possible. Using short pins on top of the hygrometer will keep your hand close to the insulation without penetrating too far. Using an extra-long probe allows you to get deep into the insulation without getting your hands too close.
under the wall. Large, flat-bladed probes, such as those found on the 19-E/STC Moisture Gauge Electrode, help professionals test moisture near substrates under walls and trim.
Long story short: Specialized hygrometer electrodes make it easier to test humidity in hard-to-reach places where regular gauge needles can't.
Enables more accurate moisture testing in some materials
In many cases, two metal needles are simply not a good choice for collecting moisture content data. For example, if grain Moisture Meters are not large enough for two electrodes to pierce (which would only give moisture data for a single grain), then they will not provide a good measurement of the moisture content in fine grains. Therefore, the grain Moisture Meter is changed to use a cup-type measuring electrode, which can test a cup of grain at the same time. If the meter does not have a built-in dump battery (like the D999-FR does), then one will need to be added via the optional electrode.
Another situation where the optional electrode provides better accuracy than the standard dual-needle setup is when testing loose hay in a window. Using the standard two-needle setup, the Hay Moisture Meter will only collect moisture content information where the hay is connected from one needle to the other. However, with a specialized multi-needle probe, such as the 831 short-needle probe, six probes are used to assess the moisture content of the dry grass. This results in better averaging of the moisture content of the hay balls in the ledge, making the readings more accurate and reliable.
Making Hygrometers More Versatile
Optional Moisture Meter electrodes often make Moisture Meters more versatile because they can often reach points that ordinary Moisture Meter needles cannot, and improve the accuracy of testing moisture in certain materials. With the right electrodes, you can expand the range of moisture testing options that are available to you without having to invest in a new Moisture Meter.
Of course, this works better if the electrode and Moisture Meter you are using has a common probe socket design. what does that mean? Universal probe socket design means that all of the manufacturer's hygrometer probe sockets and optional electrodes share a common design, allowing any socketed meter to be used with any probe (at least, any socketed meter and probe made by the manufacturer) . As an example, all needle hygrometers from Delmhorst have a universal probe socket that can be used with any Delmhorst electrode.
It is not practical to test moisture in materials with common pins
Moisture is a constant concern in the paper industry. However, testing wood pulp and pulp with a standard set of hygrometer needles is too slow and inefficient for the speed of papermaking. If manufacturers want to manufacture high-quality paper, they need at most second information about how wet or dry the paper is at different stages of the manufacturing process.
It is specially designed for hygrometer electrodes, such as the 12-E, to become important in the paper production process. The 12-E electrode doesn't use needles to poke the paper rest - instead it uses two rolling needle electrodes that can continuously monitor the moisture of the pulp on the moving web. This provides the paper mill with continuous feed moisture content information for the pulp without slowing down production.
With the right Moisture Meter, such as the P-2000, it is possible to set an audible alarm if the moisture content of the pulp exceeds a certain value. This gives paper mills an opportunity to adjust their papermaking process when needed, avoiding costly production delays and minimizing the risk of bad paper batches.
These are just some of the ways that specialized hygrometer electrodes can make life easier for different types of jobs.
