Grainspear Moisture Meters The moisture in the samples off the drier will not be distributed evenly and also the temperature will not be stable. Allowing the commodity to settle for a few days will even these differences out and thus provide a more consistant reading.
To obtain a more accurate reading directly off the drier, spread the sample on a tin tray and allow it to cool to ambient temperature. Although our meters do have in-built temperature compensation if there is a big differential in temperature the compensation system is not as effective, i.e. hot grain out of the drier and a sample cell at ambient temperature.
If I Have A Grainspear, Why Do I Need A Conventional Meter As Well?
GrainSpears are very good at obtaining rapid measurements of commodity moisture and temperature of on-floor drying and in-bin storage, which will provide indication of drying progression and/or storage problems. A conventional meter will provide a more accurate measure of commodity moisture content for the purposes of buying & selling and is the one that will be used by your grain merchant. The AP 6060 will also give you a very good guide as to Kg/hl (bushel weight) as well.
How Do I Check The Calibration Of My Grainspear?
The best way is to send it back to the Sinar Technology Service Centre where we have all the correct equipment and calibration standards to check and adjust the instrument across it’s entire range of functionality.
How Do I Monitor On-floor Drying, Or In-bin Storage, With A Meter?
It’s very important to monitor on-floor drying, or in-bin storage, regularly. If you’re using a meter, rather than a Grainspear, samples must be collected and tested using a sampling probe. This will ensure that samples are taken from the commodity at various, pre-determined levels and not just randomly up and down the heap.
The horizontal position of each sample should be noted along with the results to ensure that drying is progressing both vertically and horizontally. This process means taking a lot of samples and testing, but it’s essential to ensure correct drying and to detect problems, like blocked ducts or fungus growth, at an early stage. Talk to our sales department for your sampling probe requirements.
I Have More Than One Moisture Meter Of The Same Model And They Give Different Results – Why?
There are two possibilities.
- All the instruments require recalibration.
- All instruments have a +/- range of error tolerance, typically between 0.3% – 0.5% depending on model, and the differences you are noticing are could be due to this.
All our instruments have the ability to have MINOR adjustments made to them by the user to remove these differences. Any major adjustments really do require a visit to our workshop to ensure that there isn’t something more fundamentaly wrong with the instrument. A minor adjustment would be up to the range of error tolerance for the individual instrument.
Purchase a known calibration standard from us (part No 1900-6352) and check your meter against them to determine which, if any, require recalibration, or in the case of GrainSpears, one of our Field Test Devices (part No 1900-6280).
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For inquiries on deliveries contact us
Office +256 (0) 705 577 823, +256 (0) 775 259 917
Address: Wandegeya KCCA Market South Wing, 2nd Floor Room SSF 036
Email: weighingscales@countrywinggroup.com
