What is a safe reading from a moisture meter in the transom?? Late 70's to early 80's Cigarette??

The readings on a moisture meter are just relative (at least as I understand it). What they need to do is measure a surface that is likely to be dry, then compare it to another surface. The meter doesn't read moisture directly, it measures density, which is affected by moisture. But other things can affect density, including core material, what type of glass/resin was used, how well the mat was wetted out, etc etc.

A meter is a good tool, but it's not a divining rod that will spot water a mile away.

Good luck on the Cig!

It also depends on which type of meter is used. Different types have different scales(0-100) (0-25) are two that I have seen used.

Very true. Last time I had a boat surveyed, the guy used the meter up on the hullside in the middle of the boat. Then he compared the reading with one from the transom; he said it was very unlikely that water was up in side, so that was a good baseline.

Thanks for the feedback fellas! This particular boat I am looking at had a survey completed in '01 I believe and the company that completed it had readings from I believe the hull, stringers and transom. Their interpretations were that there wasn't a problem, but the reading on the transom was quite a bit higher in my uneducated opinion Unfortunitely I left the survey at the office, so I will check on Monday and reportback the type of meter...readings...etc. I will be having a new survey completed if this is the boat that I decide to persue....just trying to leverage my resources to make a bit of an informed decision :cool

I was told recently that sometimes the amount of metal objects on a transom can affect the readings and show excessive moisture when in fact that's not accurate....

True ? Who knows but sounds possible.