Fountain moisture readings, again...
 

Looking at a 97 Fever and the survey came back pretty good with no glaring or obvious issues. Passed the hammer tap in all areas but did not do an invasive test in any areas. All of the readings were essentially "0" except for a few in the usual places. Surveyor said not to worry, all within normal range, etc., and to not over think it and buy the boat. However, I thought it would be wise to come on here and ask the experts.

Here are a few pics so you can see the readings. I should have the full survey report within 2 days.


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I am not saying the boat is not good, dont get me wrong
but i have the same tester and he is using the first scale wich is hardwood and not the second wich is grp for glass reinforced plywood
that second grp scale is much more sensitive than hardwood, sometimes giving a false too wet boat
some make an average of both scales reading

Those readings wouldn’t worry me…wet boats pin the guage. If it tapped out solid and the highest reading was 15% I wouldn’t be concerned.

To put it in perspective…I did a read on our transom years ago adjacent to the transom cutout. It read similarly and I know for a fact the wood was dry both because the cutout and a test drill in the area.

i use the bottom numbers...

I am not a wood worker, but doesn't wood have moister content anyway when it is new?

If that transom is dry, First thing you should do is remove the stainless pipe and plastic beauty rings and at the minimum fiberglass the bare wood in the exhaust cut outs. Better yet, put real exhaust tips on it with a stainless flange that can be sealed to the transom.

Guys, we all know Fountains are wet if the transom has not been replaced. The cockpits are small and you can not carry 5-8 of your best friends. The 29 is really a 24.

They are junk, don't buy one, they should give the things away.

Go look at a nice Baja, DONZI or Velocity.

Boat looks bottom painted? Was it wet-slipped or moored?

When running wet exhaust I don't know why there would be a reason to do it any other way.

Having been in and around fountains, and looking at the way they built other area's, for the life of me I can not understand why they used those cheap plastic rings and almost never put ANY sealing caulk in them.

Million dollar question.....how much are they asking? You'll get a better consensus from the group on its value wet or dry.

Let's just say it'll be just slightly under 40K. Even at 50k the market and offerings don't change much. For this price it just might work me me.

kiln dried is 6-9% moisture…even then unless sealed typically picks up moisture from the air as it sits

non kiln dried…hard pressed to get below 12%. Typically 12-20% moisture depending on the wood.

I swear by the hammer test but have a 30 yr boat broker friend who will not take a listing w/o the seller allowing an 1/8” drill hole/core sample of the inside of transom.

I even looked at one boat that he told me the sample was damp.

Tough to debate that.

The end of the handle of a screwdriver works really well too.

I made the mistake of telling a dock neighbor what I thought after tapping out the stringers of his 38’ Chris Craft cruiser!

Never do that again 😉

The surveys Ive had done , noone ever used that moisture meter, it`s always FLIR