Vermeer 605 sm moisture monitor accuracy

I recently purchased a Vermeer 605 Super M with a  moisture monitor to replace my JD 535.  I am questioning the accuracy of the moisture monitor.

 

With my JD, I used a windrow moisture tester to determine when the hay was ready by spot checking various spots in the field.  The windrow tester range was 13% to 70%.  Anything below 13 woud read LO.  I do not know how accurate it was, but I learned through painful trial and error that I needed to have the moisture below 17 to ensure no heating or mold. Above 17, I may start to see heating.  The more above 17, the worse the damage.

 

Even with my 605sm, I still use the windrow tester to figure out when I can start baling.  However, I have noticed the Vermeer moisture indicator is considerable higher than the windrow tester.  I have compared results 3 times this year.

 

1) Windrow measured 13.5 (average of a number of testes).  The 605 monitor read about 18. +/- 2-3%

2) Windrow measured around 20 %.  I baled one bale to compare.  The Vermeer measured WET.  Above 29% reads wet so I do not know what the actual measurements was at but it was above 29%

3) Window measured low 13's and sometimes LO (below 13).  Vermeer read 15-17 %

 

I notice when I first start the bale, the moisture monitor is inline with the windrow tester, but as the bale goes above 3ft in diameter, it starts to creep up and seems to settle 5-10% above the windrow tested. 

 

I also noticed when the the chamber is empty, the monitor will routinely read 8-9%.  It seems like it should read DRY when with nothing in the chamber but that is just a guess on my part.  I can not say if that is true or not.  I am hoping someone here can say how theirs works

 

I let the bale sit that I baled around 20 by the window tester and above 29 by the monitor.  After 3 days, it is a little warm but clearly not above 30%.  I will be putting it in the TMR shortly so I will have a better feel for the condition once we open it up.

 

The bales that read around 18% show absolutely no signs of heat.  If anything, they seemed too dry.  I just baled the ones that read 15-17% by the monitor so I can not say fo sure what they will look like once we use them but I am sure they are good.  The bales were not heavy so I am sure they are dry.

 

Has anyone had issues like this.  Do I need to replace the sensing plates or some other piece?  The baler has around 9k bales so I am wondering the sensing plates wear out.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Dave

 

 

 

 

Vermeer 605 sm moisture monitor accuracy