HOW TO ORDER

used extensively
for Boat Surveying
and during the
treatment of
OSMOSIS in
timber or GRP hulls

TECHNICAL

design based on the original Sovereign Moisture Master

invaluable tool for Building Surveyors.
mortar renderings can be tested for
contamination.
readings unaffected by salt contamination

this instrument
gives long
and reliable
service

SPECIFICATION

APPLICATIONS

damage free
detection of
dampness and
moisture content

manufactured and marketed
by B K Watson,
selling direct to end users,
since 1991

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POLKARMICC moisture meter

Dampness measurement with the Polkarmicc electronic moisture meter instrument measures dampness for boat, yacht, marine and building surveyors. Manufactured and marketed by Erashape Limited and proven over the past thirty four years with sales direct to end users since 1991 this accurate reliable rugged quick and simple to operated hand held instrument has been used for the damage free detection of the dampness and moisture content within a variety of test materials. INSTRUMENT MEASURES DAMPNESS FOR BOAT YACHT MARINE AND BUILDING SURVEYORS. Boat surveying is a particularly successful application for our easy to use instrument providing instant readings of water penetration by osmosis or seepage avoiding core sample drilling being suitable for either wooden or GRP glass reinforced plastic hulls. Known as the Polkarmicc POLKARMICC MOISTURE METER it is preferred by experts to other instruments supplied by Tramex Skipper Protimeter with the design based on the original Sovereign Moisture Master that was manufactured by Polkinghorne Industried Limited exclusively for Sovereign Chemical Industries Limited. Used by building surveyors this non destrutive compact indispensible instrument quickly assesses the moisture content of materials such as brick BRICK timber TIMBER PLASTER plaster plywood PLYWOOD GRP GRP GLASS REINFORCED PLASTIC glass reinforced plastic fibreglass FIBREGLASS CONCRETE concrete mortar MORTAR STONE stone hardboard HARDBOARD. Materials and substances tested successfully include soil SOIL SAND sand paper PAPER FIBRES fibres tobacco TOBACCO MINERALS minerals chemicals CHEMICALS CLAY clay seed SEED FOOD food grain GRAIN RENDER render plastic PLASTIC TEXTILES textiles silicones SILICONES since this instrument gives long and reliable service there are many other applications for our flexible instrument with users found in industries as vaied as chemical CHEMICAL FIBREBOARD fibreboard boat building BOAT BUILDING PLASTICS plastics textile TEXTILE TOBACCO tobacco paper PAPER ENGINEERING engineering foundry FOUNDRY AIRCRAFT aircraft FOODSTUFF foodstuff agricultural AGRICULTURAL AND SHIPBUILDING shipbuilding. Delamination pad glass hulls Plastic Damproofing Mouldings Reinforced Moisture Osmosis Water Dampproofing delamination PAD GLASS HULLS MOULDINGS Selection Traditional Modern Favourite Unusual Extraordinary Baby's Needs. Guarantee, in the unlikely event of you being dissatisfied with this product a full refund will be given if the instrument is returned in new condition within thirty days. TWELVE MONTHS WARRANTY AGAINST DEFECTS IN PARTS AND WORKMANSHIP. Intent on making improvements to the quality reliability and performance of the instrument we reserve the right to change specifications for instruments herein described. Spare replacement scanning heads can be purchased separately and are always available. Measuring moisture levels in grp, march 1991 issue of practical boat owner, reproduced next. JUST HOW GOOD ARE MOISTURE METERS, examines the evidence from a surveyor at work, he checks an exposed laminate on a boat that has had its gelcoat peeled and is awaiting treatment for osmosis. The use of moisture meters on grp, glass reinforced plastic, boats is hadly new. I’ve been using them for thirty years and was probably the first person to do so. My early ones had to be home made. My present Sovereign meter is the sixth I have used. Are moisture meters any use. Like every other tool or instrument the answer is yes if properly used and the person knows what he is doing. It’s the latter factor where the weakness lies. It’s very important to know the detailed nature of the fibreglass moulding. Not just the general principles of glass fibres embedded in resin, which everyone knows, but the micro structure, the perfectly normal and extremely variable small flaws and defects moulded in when new, the changes that occur with age and use. Voids, wicking, cavities, delamination, resin / glass bond, water absorption. That’s where blisters have their seat. Since most blistered boats are getting old, it’s also vital to know a lot about the history of GRP, glass reinforced plastic, boats and the materials and conditions under which early models were moulded. In reality, a moisture meter is an instrument for the specialist, not the curious casual owner. Without the knowledge to interpret the readings correctly it will give more wrong answers than right ones. I’m sure that this will be hotly denied, but in my experience many of the so called specialists who use them so confidently, and with an air of authority, fail to properly understand either the microstructure or the basic principles of operation and do not themselves know when they are getting wrong answers. Most of my comments are based on the Sovereign Moisture Master, the one commonly used and the type I now use myself. They are not criticisms of a good instrument but apply to moisture meters in general, which are not designed and calibrated for testing grp, GRP GLASS REINFORCED PLASTIC, boats ( added yachts YACHTS SAILBOATS sailboats ) but are general purpose instruments primarily intended for porous materials of very different properties. There’s too much over simplification ( oversimplification ) of a very complex problem. In any case, because of the very variable nature of the microstructure of GRP accurate calibration is impossible. THE NATURE OF GLASSFIBRE. Unlike steel there’s no clearly defined material called grp or glass reinforced plastic. Even with a class of boats made by the same manufacturer ( moulders ) in the same mould with the same basic materials at the same time there will be subtle differences. Between different makes and periods ( of time ) there will be wide differences. The materials and practices have changed over the years. There was little quality control on earlier boats, which are the ones now giving the most trouble. A lot of the improvements have been to speed production, not make better boats. The properties of the mouldings themselves, and in particular the microstructure, alter considerably and unpredictably with age and use. Use in particular is a very variable factor. This applies far more to the basic moulding, the invisible part behind the gelcoat than the gelcoat itself. But this is where the water is and where the troubles lie. Blistered or not, the gel coat is usually the best part. There are well over a hundred causes of blistering that I know of and there are probably many more. Most of them are related, directly or indirectly, to water absorption into the microstructure. Osmosis is not a cause, it’s an effect, and many blisters have nothing to do with osmosis at all. A grp moulding, even the best, will have millions of tiny voids. They are inevitable and perfectly normal (FIG 1). ( Behind a normally solid gel coat will be millions of small voids, unavoidable even on the best moldings. Most of them are champagne bubble size, or microvoids along fibres, with a few larger ones. All these form discrete, non intercommunicating pockets. ). The most numerous are microsize along fibres due to incomplete wetting out of every single tiny fibre. The process entails, in theory, the perfect wetting out of several hundred miles of fibre every minute, by one man, which is a tall order. Next in size are the millions of champagne bubble sized voids of trapped air. With age and water absorption, cavities as big as an old penny form. These are the good mouldings. Moving down the quality scale the number and size of all moulding flaws increase dramatically both initially and with age. Every GRP boat is of marginal quality to some degree because under factory moulding conditions laboratory standard moulding is impossible. Forget the exaggerated claims made for the latest boats by builders, often not noted previously for good moulding. The boats on which a moisture meter will be of interest are those moulded in earlier years. With age and water absorption all these minor and quite normal flaws become enlarged and spread. The most extensive is the breakdown of the resin / glass bond, shown where visible by the prominent white fibre pattern. These form capillary paths for water to penetrate further and increase water absorption. As water collects it enlarges voids by chemical attack and erosion, sometimes raising blisters, ( but contrary to the popular view by no means always ). Deeper flaws cause splitting and delamination. All this is generally a long term effect with little immediate effect on strength, although it’s probably the terminal factor. At the same time it must be realised that older boats were thicker and more strongly built than most recent cruiser / racers, and with a higher factor of safety. In my view, modern boats will not last as long, and even if they don’t blister will fall to pieces sooner. This microstructure means that by far the greater part of moisture trapped within a moulding will be in discrete pockets, mostly small or microscopic, eparated by comparatively dry material between. Polyester resin absorbes moisture but only to a small extent and is a good insulator, the purpose for which it was developed. Nobody thought of such a stupid idea as making boats with it at the time. Consequently the common resistance type moisture meter ( ADDED THE POLKARMICC MOISTURE METER USES CAPACITANCE NOT RESISTANCE FOR MEASUREMENT ), used on wood, which requires a continuous conductive path, fails to work on grp GRP glass reinforced plastic. It has to be an electronic field type which will measure the general level of moisture over an area and to some depth ( FIG 2 ). ( An elect - electromagnetic - field type meter ( such as the Sovereign) does not require contact or a continuous path and measures the average value to a depth below the surface. But note how the field, electromagnetic added, decreases with depth as shown by the spacing of the lines, of flux added, and hence the sensitivity. A small void at “A” will give a high reading. A deeper one at “B” a low reading. At “C” regardless of size, it is out of range and the meter will say it is not there. All voids are assumed to be wet. A resistance type meter measures the resistance between two probes along a surface path as shown dotted. All this will show is the surface dampness of the gel coat. It will not give any indication of the state of the moulding beneath. Unlike a porous material which will be uniformly damp, the moisture level in GRP depends on the number and size of the voids just as much as the dampness. A few voids in a saturated and degraded moulding can seem better than many voids in a dry and much sounder moulding. Therefore a moisture reading should never be used in isolation. The reading must be confirmed by as careful a visual examination as possible ( a magnifier is essential and better still is a pocket microscope or watchmakers eyeglass ) and any other tests plus a knowledge of the boat’s history and class record. In isolation a moisture meter reading does not necessarily indicate that a boat is bad or good. Note particularly I include good. HOW MUCH MOISTURE ? It’s generally assumed that the moisture is evenly distributed all over, a nice cosy assumption. This is just not true, as my research over the last thirty years has shown, and is due to this very variable nature of fibreglass moulding, even over a small area of the same boat. Water will search out lines of weakness. Anyone old enough to remember the days of wooden boats will know very well, especially when it came to deck leaks. The drip down one’s neck did not come through all over. It found a path. Glass reinforced plastic is never a homogenous material like steel. It’s made in the mould by workers who are, and more relevant were, often unskilled, often careless, often not feeling their best, working under production pressures and in some parts of mosts hulls under very uncomfortable conditions. Very few designers have ever been moulders, moreover they are human, not machines. Incidentally machine made boats, such as spray-up, are nearly always worse. Consequently it’s inevitable that some parts will be less well moulded than others, whether it’s a single capillary path, a small area, a whole layer or half the boat. Water will penetrate these parts and eat deeper into the moulding so that after ten years, a typical age for these sort of troubles, there may be localised waterways to a depth of several millimetres while an inch away it has barly got further than the surface. Once it has got deeper it may find a weaker layer, a more carelessly moulded patch, often a change from better quality isophthallic resin to cheaper orthophthallic at what was considered a safe depth, and fan out behind to form quite a large, deep pocket of dame. ( Fig 3 ) At ‘A’ the moulding is fairly sound and water does not penetrate far. A short distance away at ‘B’ there is a small patch with a higher void content. Water erodes it’s way in from void to void until it reaches a less resistant or defective layer, show shaded. A few years later the water will have eroded a canal and fanned out behind through the less resistant layer to make a substantial cavity beyond detection depth. The opening will be small and difficult to detect. Even if there is a blister the canal behind is likely to be overlooked. I saw one case where decay in this way had eaten right through the keel area where it was over an inch thick. Moreover it was a good quality yacht built to Lloyds 100 A1. God knows what is happening to some of the boom days yachts of the sixties and seventies. This article continued lower down this page. Increasingly, customers had experienced difficulty in obtaining 9 volt batteries in the PP6 package therefore the battery compartment was redesigned to accommodate the smaller PP3 battery. Design proven over the past 30 years QUALITY GUARANTEED £ 260 per meter OUTSIDE EUROPE ( delivery included ) measures the moisture content within a wide range of building materials accurately aluminium foil wallpapered over is very often used to cover-up dampness In such cases high readings warn Building Surveyors facilitates the location of conduits and rainwater pipes £ 240 per meter ANYWHERE in EUROPE ( delivery included ) Signals safely penetrate wallpaper, paint and other decorative finishes The moisture content within concrete floor screeds can even be checked through parquet, ceramic or plastic tiles quick and simple to use with single-handed operation scanning head smooth pad more beneficial than PIN - TYPE probe dual-scale readings for dense and less dense materials SPARE SCANNING HEAD £35.70 Europe & £39.70 anywhere outside Europe. Moisture meters wood, moisture meter soil, moisture meter wood, moisture meters for grp boat hulls, concrete moisture Meter, lumber moisture meter, grain moisture meter, hay moisture meter, paper moisture meter,our moisture meter is pin less, moisture content meter, marine moisture meter, soil moisture meters, moisture meters for glass reinforced plastic yacht hulls, moisture meters for grp boat hulls and for both detecting and treating the symptoms identified as OSMOSIS. Our instrument measures dampness for boat yacht marine and building surveyors. accurately , please remember Reinforced, Moisture Traditional Osmosis Unusual GRP Photometers Polkinghorne Armstrong Electronics Treatment Detection Sovereign Water Pad Glass Hulls Plastic Moldings Skipper Protimeter Polkarmicc boat, yacht, marine, surveyors, wood, detection, pad, concrete, pinless, soil, moisture meter wood, grain, paper. Instrument, grain, Damproofing, Delamination. Continuing now with the article from Practical Boat Owner. By it’s nature, wood has a cellular structure which can fill with water. Glass reinforced plastic has only those tiny voids which, even on a poorish moulding will amount to a small percentage of the volume. In short it has nowhere to put the water, and the amount absorbed by polyester resin is also small. Therefore moisture content will be around 2 - 7%, whereas even dry wood has 12% and wet wood can be 50%. Figures quoted for water extracted from a glassfibre boat, generally by the makers of dehumidifying machines to extol the worth of their products, and too often quoted also by people and publications who should know better, of hundreds of gallons, are ridiculous, often equivalent to filling the boat to the gunwales ! A little arithmetic shows this. Take a moulding weighing one ton, say a thirty foot yacht or the older sort. 5% is about 100 lb or 10 gallons. Then take into account that most will be in the surface layers and you have no more than a bucket full, bucketful, or two. What goes in slowly will come out slowly. It’s reckoned that taking off the gel coat will not greatly speed the process. Forced drying however will accelerate the drying of the surface layers, while leaving wetter layers below. Moisture readings may therefore give a false impression so that a lot of moisture is sealed in to continue its damage at depth, unsuspected, in the heart of the moulding. One of the often quoted causes of blistering is water penetrating through from the bilges. This will occur only on a boat so badly moulded she is not worth the cost of repair. She is bad through and through. But it is sometimes found that quite a high reading is obtained on the inner face of the hull indicating that water has wicked through the whole thickness. This would occur normally only on a boat kept afloat for many years, and the boat would probably never dry out whatever the surface readings indicate, especially if force dried. Detection Depth. Having discussed what one must look for, how easy is it to find ? The makers of the Sovereign meter claim a detection depth of 6 mm. What they do not say is the way the meter reading falls off with depth. It’s very sensitive to surface moisture, even an invisible film of condensation and I’ve found it can be unusable in conditions of high humidity. This does not mean a steamy tropical jungle only. High humidity is very common in the British Isles, notably the misty conditions or heavy dew associated with waterside sites where it is not unusual to find boats. On deeper layers the readings will be so weak as to indicate a ‘safe’ moisture level. Note that this can be below drier surface layers. This is where the fallacy of assuming a uniform moisture level is most misleading and risky. It will not detect deep pockets. Worse it will say they are not there. The first thing to do on obtaining a moisture meter is to calibrate it. This is easily done over a wet rag, progressively spacing the detector head further away. Table 1 shows my calibration for the Sovereign meter. Since a wet rag is far wetter than grp could ever be, it’s on the conservative side. The percentage figures calibrating the dial of the Sovereign meter are for wood and porous materials, and have no relevance to glass reinforced plastic. Despite the quoted detection depth of 6 mm I find this meter of little use for detecting anything beyond 3 mm because the reading is so weak, giving it an effective range on glassfibre, as a detecting instrument of 1.5 to 2 mm, of which 0.5 mm will be gel coat. That is not much on a boat which is likely to be at least 10 mm thick and in the keel perhaps 50 mm. There can be significant pockets and damp patches well beyond this depth. Thoes who dispute this just do not know they exist. In fact, I’ve found plenty by other means, all well below areas the meter declared were ‘safe’. Table 1 results Distance in mm / meter reading % / Colour code / Interpretation respectively. 0 / saturated / Red / Saturated : 1 / 23% / Red / Wet : 2 / 19% / Orange / Marginal : 3 / 15 / Green / Dry : 4 / 5% / Green / Dry : 5 / / o% / Green / Very Dry. Results for the calibration of the Sovereign Moisture Meter using a wet rag as Target. By using high frequency radio waves which penetrate the surface of the material, the Sovereign Portable Electronic Moisture Meter enable you to check the moisture content of a laminate without damaging it. Large areas can be tested by simply passing the meter head over the surface, in which case an audio warning signal can be pre-set to obviate the need for continual visual monitoring of the dial; smaller, more suspect areas can be closely examined to determine the precise spot where water ingress has occured. In practice, the level of moisture diminishes as readings recede from the point of breakdown. Returning to this article later, please see below. Our POLKARMICC Moisture Meter is QUALITY GUARANTEED £ 260 per meter OUTSIDE EUROPE ( delivery included ) and measures the moisture content within a wide range of building materials accurately aluminium foil wall papered over is very often used to cover-up dampness In such cases high readings warn Building Surveyors facilitates the location of conduits and rainwater pipes. £ 240 per meter ANYWHERE in EUROPE ( delivery included ) Signals safely penetrate wallpaper, paint and other decorative finishes The moisture content within concrete floor screeds can even be checked through parquet, ceramic or plastic tiles quick and simple to use with single-handed operation scanning head smooth pad more beneficial than PIN - TYPE probe dual-scale readings for dense and less dense materials SPARE SCANNING HEAD £35.70 Europe & £39.70 anywhere outside Europe Returning again to the article in Practical Boat Owner : The Sovereign has a rather large detection head, a 2 inch diameter circle. It works well if it can average a lot of small water filled voids, or one good sized one or on porous material, but will not detect small, isolated pockets or a capillary path. Even detectable pockets are hit or miss if small, and as the face of the detector head is easily worn and damaged it cannot be slid over the surface while searching so small areas are very easily missed. To investigate deeper means quarrying a small area, which is even more hit or miss unless that patch is already suspicious because of bulging or weeping. Because of the size of the detector head, about 3 x 2.5 inches, this is more destructive than I like and quite unacceptable on an ordinary survey. It’s a pity a smaller probe is not available but apparently it’s impracticable. A likely guide to the depth of penetration is the boat’s history if known. This is an important reason for not being panicked into drastic and expensive treatment, or premature sealing. Independent proper diagnosis is the first and most essential part of any treatment for blistering and a job for a glass reinforced plastics specialist, not a clinic wanting work, or any old surveyor just because he is a surveyor with a lot of impressive, and generally irrelevant qualifications. It it’s known that the boat has been stored ashore every winter it’s unlikely that moisture will have penetrated deeply. On the other hand a boat which has been kept afloat year round, as is common nowadays with expensive marina berths, will have a lot of higher and deeper moisture level. It will also take a lot longer to dry out thoroughly and to any depth. The highest and deepest moisture level will be on a boat which has been in the tropics or Mediterrannean where, because of the higher water temperature, water absorption as well as all chemical reactions are five times or more faster. In these waters also yachts are less often laid up ashore. Boats with the lowest levels are likely to be Scandinavian and North American where they are always stored ashore because of ice in near zero winter humidity. QUALITY OF MOULDING When we get down to the nitty gritty the most important factor, as it always has been when dealing with glassfibre boats, is the quality of moulding. This is not the same as the quality of the yacht and still less the price. There have always been very expensive dustbins stuffed full of lovely toys. Some moulders, fewer than make the claim, have a history of sound moulding and low blistering. Remember it’s the moulding behind the gel coat, not the gel coat, which is crucial. But moulders have their vintages and even the best can turn out the odd rogue boat. Vintages apply to grp boats as a whole too. State of the art has later been shown to have inherent defects and I have no doubt that will apply to the boats built today too. A five year guarantee is of little value to anyone but the first owner. There have been various stages in the history of glass reinforced plastic boats, slow development of improved materials ( many of which have not been as good as claimed ) epidemics of the defective materials, world famines of raw materials leading to substitution ( the user is never told ) - and belated research. But the major factors have been economic with production practice being far more important than the materials. Many of the yachts now giving trouble, the fifteen or twenty years olds, were built in the boom days by unskilled labourers straight off the dole queue working on a speed related bonus scheme. Mouldings just happened. Quality meant the curtains. Personal experience. If I did not think moisture meters were useful I would not have used them myself for thirty years and spent a lot of time and trouble developing my earlier ones. But it’s extremely important to know their limitations and be able to relate the reading to the nature and microstructure of the grp mouldings. They are better for monitoring the drying out of selected and accurately marked patches on a single boat than as a gspel preaching instrument used in isolation. A lot of experience is needed too as much cannot be seen and only anticipated from past experience. Remember Moisture Meter Surveyors, Sailboats, Osmosis, Yacht Surveyor , Surveys on a House, Boating, Real Estate, Treatment, Sailing Boats, moisture meter, surveyors, sailboats, osmosis, yacht surveyor, surveys on a house, boating, real estate and treatment. Blisters, Building, Damp, Blister, Hull, Dampness, Detection, Glass reinforced Plastic, GRP, YACHT, Dampproofing, Damproofing, Tramex, Skipper, Photometer, Pad, Scanning Head, Polkinghorne, Armstrong, Sovereign, Content, Micro Structure, Voids, Wicking, Cavities, Delamination, Resin, Bond, Water, Wood, Structure, voids, wicking, cavities, delamination, r esin, bond, water, marine, Property, survey, Residential, Damage free detection of dampness the instrument gives long and reliable service, reliable and rugged hand held portable instrument measures water content within a variety of materials without causing any damage to materials being tested, concrete, pinless, pin less, soil, grain, paper, accurate, reliable, rugged, tested, gel coat, gelcoat, porous, fibreglass, vessel, regularly, ionic, deck, organic, bulkhead, dryness, laminate, decay, infiltrating, curing, seal, voids, assessment, wicking, diagnosis, cavities, diffusion, presence, resin identify, bond, wooden, catalysis, repairs, warning, absorbed, permeability. Potential customers were at first sent details of our Polkarmicc Moisture Meter via Direct Mail using a specially designed leaflet within which, on the reverse side details were provided of HOW THE INSTRUMENT WORKS. Radio frequency signals are generated and transmitted via the instruments Scanning Head, detector, placed against the surface of the material under test. Invisible electromagnetic waves radiate and penetrate beneath the test material surface and moisture is detected from the return RF, RADIO FREQUENCY, signals due to the change in Capacitance, caused by the presence of water. This invaluable tool can be preset to produce an AUDIO signal which obviates the need to continually monitor the meter visual indicator panel, gauge, when large surfaces are being examined, lighting is poor or working space confined. Check PLASTER BRICKWORK AND TEST FELT ROOFING OR FOR RISING DAMP. Signals safely penetrate wallpaper, paint and other decorative finishes. The moisture content within Concrete floor screeds can even be checked through Parquet, Ceramic, Cork or Plastic tiles. Mortar renderings can be tested for contamination since readings are unaffected by salt contamination. Useful Tips, Aluminium foil is very often used to cover up dampness and then wallpapered over, the maximum readings are then displayed in these instances thereby warning building surveyors of a potential problem. When ther scanning head detector is passed over metals, higher readings are given by the polkarmicc moisture meter, so tracing a conduit or rain water pipes becomes very easy. The main feature of the POLKARMICC MOISTURE METER are Non destructive detection, Strongly made, instant readings, dual scale readings for dense and less dense materials, portable single handed operation battery operated quality guaranteed ( all meter are rigorously tested before shipment to ensure they provide long life under demanding conditions ), Highly sensitive, reliable, fitted with both buzzer and visual indicators. Physical Specification of our moisture meter, weight 29.5 oz, or 836 gm, length 6.625 inches or 168 mm, width 5.125 inches or 130 mm, depth 3.25 inches or 83 mm. Battery, PP3 9 Volt, not supplied. The use of a non destructive scanning head detector, rather than PIN TYPE PROBES, is more beneficial when examining materials such as timber, having a cellulose structure which varies greatly between adjacent points. Readings taken over large areas, rather than between two points, as with PIN TYPE PROBES, greatly reduces the possibility of errors being introduced. Moisture Meters with a scanning head detector, smooth pad, provides testing without scratching, defacing or leaving holes in otherwise sound plaster or paint work surfaces. There are occasions when pin type probes are needed, but completely unsuitable for either the detection or during the treatment of osmosis, so we investigated the design of a dual probe instrument with interchangeable PIN and PAD probes. The cost of such an instrument would far exceed the selling prices of two separate instruments and therefore we abandoned the exercise. Both repairs and meter rebuilds are undertaken for the following named instruments, Moisture Meter 001 supplied by Moisture Meters Limited, the original Sovereign Moisture Master as invented by John Billingsby, 9 Original patent number 1233.402 ) Digitap Moisture Meter and the Polkarmicc Moisture Meter. Increasingly our customers had experienced some difficulty in obtaining the 9 volt battery in the PP6 package and hence the battery compartment was redesigned and improved to accommodate the smaller PP3 package which is universally available. B K Watson 8 COOKSON CLOSE FRECKLETON PRESTON LANCASHIRE PR4 1SYF UNITED KINGDOM. Page one of our moisture meter web site is entitled, Damage free detection of dampness the instrument gives long and reliable service. The Polkarmicc moisture meter is supplied by Erashape Limited incorporating Polkarmicc Publishing. Used extensively for boat surveying and during the treatment of OSMOSIS in timber or GRP, glass reinforced plastic, grp hulls. The design is based on the original Sovereign Moisture Master as invented by John Billingsby for damage-free detection of dampness and moisture content being much more sensitive that moisture meters that use changes of resistance between two pin probes. The instrument gives long and reliable service and is manufactured and marketed by Erashape Limited who have been selling direct to end users since 1991. Invaluable tool for Building Surveyors. Mortar renderings can be tested for salt contamination since readings are completely unaffected by salt contaminated water. Key words used for this page are Moisture, Meter, Surveyors, Sailboats, Osmosis, Yacht, Surveyor, Sailing, Boat, Survey, Blisters, Building, Damp, Blister, Home, Hull, Boats, Marine, Property, Yachts. Page two of this website has the title Portable, Hand-Held Instrument for Boat and Building Surveyors and contains a direct link to our Book WEBSITE at the domain name. Detailing how the instrument works, we also offer a meter re build and repair service with the facility for quotations to be provided prior to the commencement of work on your instrument so that you will know in advance the cost of the work to be undertaken. Working on the principle “ if it aint broke don’t FIX IT ” the instrument, of rugged construction, is Highly Sensitive Reliable and is fitted with both audio, BUZZER, and visual indicators, is portable and battery operated providing instant readings. With a twelve months warranty against defects in parts or workmanship all meters are rigorously tested before shipment and when received by customers they can be assure that their instrument will provide long left under the demanding conditions under which the Polkarmicc moisture meter will have to operate. Meta Tag key words for this page are moisture, Meters, building, Gel, osmosis, Coat, marine, sailing, boat, survey, blisters, Gelcoat, damp, blister, Porous, hull, boats, Fibreglass, Vessel, yachts. Surveyors can check BRICKWORK and PLASTER AND TEST felf roofing and for RISING DAMP. The RF, radio frequency, signals that are generated by the electronic circuitry within the Polkarmicc moisture meter are transmitted via the instrument scanning head, detector, which has to be placed against the surface of the material being tested, the electromagnetic waves then radiate and penetrate beneath the test material surface and then moisture is detected from the return Radio Frequency signals caused by the changes in capacitance due to the presence of water. Then page three of our WEB SITE has the title, ENABLES TESTING WITHOUT SCRATCHING, DEFACING OR LEAVING HOLES IN OTHERWISE SOUND PLASTER OR PAINTWORK SURFACES, Headed Specification and stating that quality is guaranteed the instrument measure the moisture content within a wide range of building materials accurately needing a 9 volt battery for operation for which the battery compartment was redesigned and improved to accommodate the smaller PP3 9 volt battery due to the fact that customers had increasingly experienced difficulty in buying and indeed finding the larger 9 volt battery in the PP6 package. With a design time proven over the past thirty years the physical specification details shown comprise the weight, at 29.5 oz or 836 grams, length at 6.625 inches or 168 mm, the width at 5.125 inches or 130 mm, the depth at 3.25 inches or 83 mm and although not supplied with a new instrument, batteries not being really suitable for sending via the Royal Mail or other carriers, needed to power the portable instrument are 9 volts in the PP3 manufacturers package. Priced at £260 per meter, for customers located Outside Europe, delivery is included in this price. The domain name polkarmicc.com for our names book for children entitled Just Names that we give and choose, and be reached via the direct link at the top of this page. Meta tag search key words for the page are MOISTURE, METERS, Regularly, Wicking, OSMOSIS, Ionic, MARINE, Diagnosis, BOAT, SURVEY, BLISTERS, GELCOAT, DAMP, Presence, porous, Cavities, BOATS, fibreglass, Deck, Diffusion. Page four has the Key words Moisture, Meters, Resin, Organic, Osmosis, Decay, Marine, diagnosis, Bulkhead, Keel, Glassfibre, Bond, Dryness, presence, Laminate, cavities, GRP, Glass, Water, grp and the tiltle none-destructive moisture detection with a smooth pad and the page heading APPLICATIONS AND USEFUL TIPS. Explaining the the instrument is quick and simple to use with single handed operation and costing £240 ( delivery included ) per meter anywhere in Europe the instrument has dual scale readings for both dense and less dense materials. There is a photograph of the top and bottom of a typical scanning head, detector, smooth pad which has been found to be more beneficial than a meter with a two pin probe, especially for the detection and treatment of osmosis for which a pin type probe is completely unsuitable. Clearly the scanning heads are subject to wear with use and hence need to be replace periodically and are always available at the price of £35.70 and £39.70 including delivery for despatch to customer Anywhere in Europe or Outside Europe respectively. Signals from the Polkarmicc moisture meter can safely penetrate not only wallpaper but paint and many other decorative finishes. Sometimes aluminium foil is used in an attempt to hide dampness and in such cases the higher instrument readings warn and alert both building surveyors and potential purchasers of a home, house or property. There is a direct link again on this page to our web site featuring our book JUST NAMES located at the domain name erashape.com. Moisture content can even be measured and checked through floor covering such as parquet, carpet, ceramic and plastic tiles and helps locate both conduits and rain water pipes or any other metal object. Unless ordering by POST, please order via email using the link to our email address, is the Title of the fifth page of this Web Site that provides details of How to order our POLKARMICC moisture meter and for full details of payment methods customers are invited to press the RED button marked PAYMENT. There is also an order form that you, our valued customer, can print from this page to produce an Order Form if purchasing by POST. Your order should be sent via either Post or Email to B K Watson 8 Cookson Close Freckleton PRESTON LANCASHIRE PR4 1SY UK and although orders are sent, dispatched, first class recorded delivery on the day the order is received customers are asked to allow up to fourteen, 14, days as a maximum for delivery. Certainly for United Kingdom deliveries the goods are normally received by our customers on the day following our dispatch, however for certain European destinations and other worldwide destination delivery can take several days. Again the page features a direct link to our Book, JUST NAMES, website located at the domain name entitled and the key words, meta tags used for this page are : Moisture, meter, Identify, Wooden, Brick, Infiltrating, Curing, Seal, Voids, Tested, Electronic, bond, Assessment, Absorption, Catalysis, cavities, Boatbuilders, Fibreglass, Repairs, diffusion. The sixth, and final, page of our Polkarmicc Moisture Meter web site has the title, Payment can be made by Cheque, or by either Paypal, Fastpay, Nochex or through your Bank. Customers can use Debit Cards, Credit Cards or a Bank Account to fund payment of £240 for a moisture meter and £35.70 for a spare scanning head, delivery included, anywhere in Europe and £260 for a moisture meter and or £39.70 for a scanning head, delivery included, for customers located anywhere outside Europe. For European sales payment can also be made by sending a cheque, payable to B K WATSON please and for overseas customers the facility exists for Bank to Bank payments to be made via Swift Code but please also send an email for more details. When using the services provided by either Nochex, services available to none members, or PAYPAL, please select one of the two secure payment links and then click to establish contact with either paypal or nochex. Meta Tag Key words used for the final page, 6, are moisture, Instrument, Delamination, Warning, Reverse, infiltration, Curing, seals, Void, tested, Blistering, Bonded, assessment, ABSORPTION, catalysis, absorbed, REPAIRS, permeability, Bulging, Weeping. Over the years our moisture meter has been advertised within the pages of many periodical magazines such as Yachts and Yachting, Ship and Boat International, Practical Boat Owner, Motor Boat and Yachting, and our customers include the marine surveyor Eddie Freeman, Foxton Boat Services Limited, Baltic Wharf Boatyard Limited, Mr N K Edden the marine surveyor and consultant, the building surveyors J L Pinder and sons, MMS of Shepperton Marlow, Adrian Stone of Cowes, Mr J Storer of Llandudno, Marine Auto Services of Cookham Rise Berkshire, the Yacht surveyor Howard Webb, Pumpkin Marine and Leisure, Chartered Surveyors Clive Prichard and Company, Viking Standby Limited, Yarmouth Marine Service, G P Courage Yacht Construction of Poole Dorset, Britannia Preservation, The Hayling Yacht Company Limited, Hayling Glass Fibre Repairs, Thames Surveys, M B Marine Services of Fisguard, Trevor Harvey of Hamble Southampton, Pedro’s Yacht Re Finishing, Prospect Surveyors of Reading, Lionstar Engineering of Sunderland, W A MacGregor and Company, Sparks and Company Limited, Martin Evans, Nauticalia Boats, Osmotech, Paul Dinsdale Associates Limited, Pesco ( Kent ) Limited, Peter G Desty, Peter Welsh, Richard Ayres, R Larkman Limited, Robert Brownridge and Assopciates, Robertsons of Woodbridge, Robert Stokes naval architect, Robin Feloy, Safeguard Chemicals Limited, Seaworthy Marine ( Scotland ) Limited, Sovereign Boat Services, Stratton Creber Limited, Survey One, Wicormarine Limited, Andrew Scott Frost, Bowhite ( Contracts ) Limited, Bray Singleton Partnership, Cambrian Marine Services Limited, Cambridge Regional College, Chris Winslow, Cork Toft Partnership, Cowburn Bers Partnership, Harper Marine Services, Freckleton Boatyard, F L Garner, Harpur Marine Services, H L Marine Consultant, J & T ( UK ) LIMITED, J Brace, Jeffrey Wood Marine Limited, John Macilwaine and Son, Marine Aid and many many others. Incorporated in March 1998, ERASHAPE LIMITED, combining moisture meter manufacture and marketing with Book publishing ( selling the products direct to users via direct mail ) the business started in March 1990, trading under the name Polkarmicc, after opting for redundancy from my position as Sales and Marketing Manager for a Workington based company, finally named for the third time ICC Limited, that ceased trading three months later. The Sovereign Moisture Master had then, for over twenty years, been manufactured exclusively for Sovereign Chemical Industries by : POLKinghorne Industries Limited, which became ARMstrong Electronics Limited which then became ICC Limited, all within seven months. Hence the name of our own moisture meter, the POLKARMICC. Initially the manufacture of the instrument was undertaken by Stewart Mc Kegg, the former General Manager at Armstrong Electronics Limited, the patent having expired in 1989 utilising the services of former employees of the failed company ICC Limited. Sales of the renamed Polkarmicc Moisture meter were undertaken by myself, B K WATSON, and then in August 1998 all stock was purchased and from that date I also undertook the manufacturing activity. Sales of moisture meters continue to increase. Our aim is to offer products that satisfy customers needs, profitably. Always attempting to do what we say will be done, when we say that it will be done. Sounds very simple, but few manage to achieve this. Moisture Meters Detecting Osmosis, Property Dampness Measurement, Damp Meter,Yacht Hull Survey, Building Surveyors, Marine Boat Sailboat Surveyor, Fibreglass Blisters. Gelcoat Treatment, GRP Water Presence Diagnosis, Vessel Bulkhead Keel Deck Dryness, Porous boat hull survey, Glassfibre Laminate Delamination, fibreglass Cavities. Water Absorption presence Assessment, Glass Fibre Resin Bond, Pad Type Electronic moisture meters, Wicking, osmosis diagnosis, Ionic, building damp Assessment. Gel Coat Permeability, Weeping, glassfibre laminate Blistering, Organic Decay, Bulging, grp keel bulkhead deck dryness testing, Catalysis, yacht surveyors, Curing. Bonded glass fibre Void, Sailing Boats Yachts Blister, dampness Infiltration Warning, Seals, Reliable Instrument, Diffusion, Home Dry-Rot Regularly Tested, cavities. Damp-proofing treatment, property maintenance, Damp-meters Test Brickwork Plaster Stone Mortar Render Concrete, Reverse, marine surveyor, boats yachts absorbed, Regularly. During 2007 B K Watson, aged 67, decided to de-register Erashape Limited and continue trading in his own name manufacturing and marketing the Polkarmicc Moisture Meter and Publishing Books. Two Web Sites at the following domain names are currently active : namesbook.co.uk and erashape.co.uk.