Diagnostic Procedure Guidelines - Protimeter MMS2 Instruction Manual

Protimeter MMS2 Instruction Manual

5. Diagnostic Procedure Guidelines

When diagnosing dampness in buildings, three key criteria must be
considered, as outlined in Table 5 below.
Item Criteria
1 Is a wall or other
building element in
a safe air-dry
condition?
2 Is the surface
temperature of a
wall or other
building element
above or below the
dew point?
3 Is a wall surface or
other building
element
contaminated with
hygroscopic salts
or other conductive
material?
20
Table 5: Diagnostic Criteria
Air-dry is the moisture content that is normal
and safe (from moisture-related deterioration or
decay) in buildings. When the Protimeter
MMS2 moisture meter modes are selected,
measured values are identified as
or
WET.
Dew point is the temperature at which a given
quantity of air becomes saturated (100% RH)
and forms dew, or condensation. If a surface is
colder than the dew point, condensation occurs.
When the Protimeter MMS2 Condensator Mode
is selected to measure TDIFF (the proximity of
a surface to the dew point) the instrument
identifies either a
an
AT RISK
occurring condition.
Artificially high moisture meter readings may
be obtained either in material that has been
heavily contaminated by hygroscopic salts or in
materials that are conductive by nature. The
presence or absence of nitrates and chlorides
should be established when investigating
suspected rising dampness situations in
particular.
Notes
NO CONDENSATION
condition, or a
CONDENSATION
DRY, AT RISK
condition,
INS8800 Rev. D