Wagner Meters C555 User manual

INSTRUCTION MANUAL

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Introduction
3 C555 Parts
4 Quick Start: Basic Use for
Concrete
6 Correct Usage Guidelines for
Your C555 Moisture Meter
8 Function Buttons: Detailed
–ON/HOLD Button
– UP and DOWN Buttons
– MODE Button
• Relative Scale for Moisture
Measurement of Non-Concrete
Building Materials
– AUDIO button
17 Low Battery Alert Indication
17 Auto Shut-Down to Preserve
Battery Life
18 Calibration of Your C555
20 Protective Rubber Boot for
Your C555
22 Summary of C555 Features
23 Specications
24 Changing the Battery
24 Meter Storage
25 Warranty
28 Glossary of Terms

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About Your Meter
Your Wagner Meters C555 hand-held
concrete moisture meter was designed to
make a fast assessment of concrete slab
drying patterns easy and inexpensive.
Large areas can be surveyed quickly and
easily. Wagner meters are nondestructive.
They do not require drilling or driving
pins into the concrete. Your model C555
has the built-in capability to capture and
record relative humidity and temperature
readings to determine ambient or service
conditions.
The C555 is designed to give an average
moisture indication of the area it is
scanning. However, using readings
from surface concrete moisture meters
should NEVER be the sole factor when
determining if a concrete slab is dry
enough to install a oor covering.
INTRODUCTION The C555 sensor pad measures 2.0-inch
(50mm) wide by 2.5-inch (63mm) long.
Where appropriate, or when specied, use
further testing as outlined in ASTM F2170.
In the Standard Measurement mode, your
C555 measures moisture within the 1% to
6.9% moisture reading range.
The C555 has an easy-to-read digital
display scaled in 0.1 increments when in
Standard Measurement mode.

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LCD
ON/ HOLD
BUTTON
MODE
BUTTON
DOWN
BUTTON
UP BUTTON
C555 PARTS
BATTERY
COMPART-
MENT
(Meter Serial
Number is
located in this
compartment)
SENSOR
PLATE WITH
ABRASION
RESISTANT
COVERING
ADDED FOR
PROTECTION
AUDIO
BUTTON
With your C555 turned
OFF, press and release
the ON/HOLD button.
The meter will turn on and
briey display the model
number, followed by the rmware revision
number. If this is the rst time you are
using your new C555, the meter display
should revert to Standard Measurement
mode for concrete immediately after the
revision number is displayed, with the
display showing C 0.0 when the meter is
held in the air.
Press the MODE button until the display
shows CON, then press the ON/HOLD
button to enter the Concrete Reading
mode. A large C will be displayed while in
Concrete Reading mode.
The next press of the MODE button will
display REL. Press ON/HOLD to select.
This mode will show the relative reading.
QUICK START
BASIC USE FOR CONCRETE
AMBIENT
RH/TEMP
SENSOR

5 6
The third press of the MODE button shows
CAL and is used for the calibration of the
meter. This mode is used in conjunction
with the included On-Demand Calibrator.
You will place the meter in this mode to
perform your own eld calibration. See
instructions on page 20.
Press the MODE button
four times and the Relative
Humidity mode will display
RH for 3.5 seconds, then
it will display the ambient
relative humidity (e.g., 34.5%). After 3.5
seconds, the mode will change to temperature
and DEG will display, then toggle to the
ambient temperature (e.g., 75.1F). The
temperature display can be changed to
Celsius (e.g., 24.0C) by pressing either the
UP or DOWN arrow key.
When you are nished taking measurements
and wish to turn the meter off, press the ON/
HOLD button for approximately 2 seconds.
Alternatively, the meter will automatically
shut off after approximately 60 seconds of
no activity.
To make sure that you are getting the
most accurate readings from your C555
meter, Wagner Meters recommends that
you pay close attention to the following
guidelines:
1. To prevent high or inaccurate
readings, always ensure there are no
metal objects near or directly under
the moisture meter.
2. The sensor plate is a 2.0-inch
(50mm) wide by 2.5-inch (63.5mm)
long rectangle on the back of the
CORRECT USAGE
GUIDELINES FOR YOUR C555
MOISTURE METER

7 8
meter (opposite side of the display).
To take a valid measurement, the
sensor plate must be completely
covered with the material you are
measuring. If the sensor plate is not
completely covered, your moisture
reading will be inaccurate.
3. If there is visible moisture or water
on the surface of the concrete to be
tested, wipe off any excess and let
the surface dry out for a few minutes
before taking measurements.
4. Be sure to press down with slight but
rm pressure to ensure good sensor
plate contact with the surface of the
concrete.
ON/HOLD Button
When the meter is OFF,
pressing and releasing the
ON/HOLD button will
turn the meter ON, with the meter briey
displaying the model number, followed by
the rmware revision number. Immediately
after briey displaying the revision
number, the meter will be in the Standard
Measurement mode. At this point, the meter
is ready to take moisture measurements.
Be assured that any settings that you have
previously programmed/selected will be
active. In other words, turning off the meter
will not cause the meter to revert to factory
default settings, but will retain whatever
settings you programmed it with.
When in the Standard Measurement mode,
pressing and releasing the ON/HOLD button
will freeze whatever reading is showing on
the display. Additionally, the word HOLD
FUNCTION BUTTONS:
DETAILED USAGE INSTRUCTIONS

9 10
will show in the upper right-hand corner.
This HOLD feature is valuable when there is
a need to document readings.
If the audio function of the meter is turned
on (refer to the AUDIO BUTTON section
on page 15), the meter will emit a short beep
every 4 seconds that the current reading
remains on HOLD.
The current reading will remain on the
screen until the ON/HOLD button is briey
pressed again, returning the meter back to
Standard Measurement mode. HOLD will
then disappear from view.
NOTE: The C555 will shut down automatically
after 60 seconds if the meter is left on HOLD
with no measurement activity. Pressing the
ON/HOLD button for 2 seconds will turn the
meter off.
UP and DOWN Buttons
The particular settings
mode that you are in at a
given time will determine
how these buttons will
function. Settings values will
be increased or decreased
or different functions
activated according to
the specic instructions outlined for each
settings button.
MODE Button
The MODE button on your
C555 is used to place your
meter into one of three
different modes by pressing the button
until you are in the desired mode. The
available modes are:
1. Concrete Reading Mode. Press the
MODE button until the display shows
CON, then press the ON/HOLD
button to enter the Concrete Reading
mode. C 0.0 will be displayed,
indicating the meter is ready to take
readings. Make sure the surface of the
concrete has been brushed clean of
loose debris and dust. Place the sensor
of the meter on the area of the concrete

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to be tested and press down slightly
but rmly, making sure the sensor
rests at against the concrete. Take
several readings close to each other.
If the readings vary, use the highest
reading. The moisture readings will
show between 0.0% to a maximum
of 6.9%.
Note: Moisture readings in concrete may
be affected by the following factors:
• The type of aggregate used in the mix
may contain iron or other metals that
could cause the reading to be high or
read the same value no matter where
you place the meter.
• Any rebar or metal screen too close to
the surface will cause a high reading.
Move the meter to several areas for
more comparisons.
2. Relative Measurement Mode. Press
the MODE button until the display
shows REL, then press the ON/
HOLD button. With nothing under
the sensor plate, 0 will be displayed.
While in this mode, REL will show in
the lower-left corner of the display.
Note: This mode is normally used for obtaining
relative measurements, typically for non-concrete
applications (example: relative measurements on
gypsum or drywall).
3. Meter Calibration Mode. Press the
MODE button three times, CAL will
be displayed. Follow the instructions
printed on page 20 or on the back of
the included On-Demand Calibrator.
4. Relative Humidity and Temperature
Mode. Once in this mode, your meter
will be in a Relative Humidity (RH)
Measurement mode (showing 0-100%)
and Temperature Measurement mode
(showing 32°F to 110°F or 0°C to
43.3°C) for measuring ambient RH
and temperature. Press and release the
MODE button until the display shows
RH. The display will toggle every 3.5
seconds to display the following:

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• RH with a small RH in the
middle left corner followed by
the ambient RH (e.g., 35.4%).
• DEG with a small TEMP in
the upper left corner followed
by the ambient temperature in
Fahrenheit (e.g., 75.1F). While
the temperature display is active,
the display can be changed to
Celsius (e.g., 24.0C) by pressing
either the UP or DOWN
arrow key.
the MODE button until you are in this
mode (display will show REL in lower
left corner). Once in this mode, your
meter will be in a relative measurement
scale (0-100) for measuring non-wood
based materials. Press the ON/HOLD
button to begin measuring in Relative
Measurement mode. To get back to
Standard Measurement mode, press
the MODE button until CON appears
on the display and then press the
ON/HOLD button.
AUDIO Button
Your C555 AUDIO
button allows you to set
a high moisture content
alarm threshold (setting from 0.0 to 6.9)
for material measurement applications,
and also set the volume for the audible
alarm. This feature is useful, for example,
when quickly scanning a section of
concrete or other material, and trying to
locate any higher moisture content areas,
without having to continually look at the
digital display.
Relative Scale for Moisture Measurement
of Non-Concrete Building Materials
As mentioned earlier, this mode can
be entered by pressing and releasing

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Press the AUDIO button and the display
will show the current moisture content
high threshold (e.g., 6.4). The factory default
is 2.0. Each press and release of the UP or
DOWN buttons will adjust the threshold
setting by 0.1.
To get to your desired setting faster, hold
down the UP button for 0.7 seconds; the
alarm threshold setting will increase to
the next setting number (e.g., if the alarm
threshold setting is currently 2.4, the
setting will advance to 3.0). If the DOWN
button is pressed and held for 0.7 seconds,
the setting will decrease to the next number
down (e.g., if the alarm threshold setting
is currently 6.4, the setting will change to
5). Every 0.7 seconds thereafter that the
button is pressed and held, the setting will
change by another number unit (e.g., from
5 to 4). Once the setting has been increased
to the maximum programmable Moisture
Content Percentage (MC%) threshold
(6.9), the setting will wrap around to the
minimum (1) and continue to increase
from there. Similarly, if the setting has
been decreased to the MC% minimum
(1) the setting will wrap around to the
maximum (6.9) and continue to decrease
from there.
Next, press the AUDIO
button again, and you
will be taken to a display
that will show the current
volume setting for audible
sound. Simply use the UP or DOWN
arrow buttons to set the desired audible
level. The volume setting has a range of
OFF to 9, with 9 being the loudest and 1
being the quietest and OFF indicating that
the audible alarm is disabled.
When nished, you can place your meter
back to Standard Measurement mode by
pressing the ON/HOLD button.