Advice on drying first load

[Ronnie Hubbell]

Howdy, I just finished building my kiln and got my first load of lumber cooking. Kiln is a 16'X8'X8' retired insulated reefer truck box. Equipment is Woodmizer DH4000 ( Nyle L200 with honeywell controller) and two nyle circulating fans. All equipment and baffling according to Nyle instructions. I have read so much about humidity, temp, Moisture, RH MC, EMC, that I'm pretty much dizzy. Problem is that my first load of wood is all 8/4 mesquite, and I have found nothing written about drying mesquite. I have had this load running for three days now. The MC of the wood has not changed at all as of today. Still at 32%. I set my target temp at 110 degrees and my target humidity at 29%. I made quite a bit of water the first couple days but today have made hardly any water at all. Temps and humidity is holding perfectly on the gauges. Do I need to lower my humidity And/ or raise the temperature ? I just don't have any track record to go by or printed info. to go with. Just don't want to ruin my load of wood. Thanks for any experienced info.
                                                                                                        Ronnie

[brdmkr]

Ronnie,

You are a little ahead of me.  I still have not started cooking my first load of lumber.   Are measuring MC using a meter?  They are not very reliable until your MC drops below about 40%.  So, your wood may have been above 40% inititally.  Also, if you have questions, call Nyle.  I have contacted them once and got a very prompt response with instructions.

I can't see how the MC didn't change if you removed water???

[Ronnie Hubbell]

Hi Brdmkr,  Yes I'm using a Wagner pinless meter.It's pretty high dollar and supposed to be a good one from what I've read. I was pleased with the outcome of the reefer box conversion. It seems very tight and so far the temp and humidity adjustments seem to hold dead on when tweaking the adjustments. I had to barely crack one of the vents to keep the temps from gradually climbing so I'm wondering if maybe that's where the moisture is going instead of through the dehumidifier drain ? I did go out earlier and crank the humidity down a couple more % to 27% and started making water again. I guess I just need to crank it on down some more and keep checking the wood for a change pretty soon. Just don't want to dry it too quickly.
                                                                                                                           Ronnie

                                                                                                                     

[beenthere]

Ronnie
You cannot measure the mc above that 32% reading you are getting. Above that, it is considered dead green, and wet I believe.
Your brave to toss in 8/4 for your first run. 
Hope it works ok for you.

[Ronnie Hubbell]

Thanks beenthere,  I think you must be right, but I'm surprised the wood is that wet. The logs have been cut about 9 months ago and I sawed the lumber about 4 monts ago. It has been stickered and stacked in my shop until now. Today the MC is again still at 32%. ( according to the Wagner )What confuses me is that the Honeywell controller humidity gauge says the kiln atmosphere is at 27% today , yet I'm not making any water. If I crank the humidity gauge down lower than that, the compressor will cycle on and start making water. Maybe the Humidity gauge is reading much lower than it should ?.
                                                     Thanks again, Ronnie

[Ronnie Hubbell]

Well, beenthere was right,  Just did a couple of oven dry tests today on samples of the wood and came up with a MC of 51% !!  I can hardly believe the wood is that wet, but that seems to be the case. Now I lowered my temp to 90 degrees ( controlled by a vent),and raised the humidity setting up higher to 50% so as not to rush the process. Only now, the humidity wants to stay down in the 27% range all by itself without the DH even close to cycling on. Guess I'll see what tomorrow brings.
                                                                                                                            Ronnie

[OneWithWood]

First let me say that I know squat about mesquite.

I am running a DH4000 setup with a custom built chamber ala the Nyle plans in the back of the DH4000 literature. 
You can see the setup here  https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,1400.0.html
Generally you want to start out with a setting of 90°F and 80%RH and adjust slowly from there.
To be accurate you should be using sample boards and a scale to track the MC from initial down to 20%.  Good moisture meters will pick up an be somewhat accurate below 25%.
I use sample boards and a Delmhorst R2000 with insulated pins.  The two measurements rarely agree.  I err towards the weight and mathmatically calculated MC.

You run the risk of case hardening the wood if you push the process too fast with high heat and low RH at the outset.