No video

Science Proves Which Wood Moisture Meter is Best

Affiliate links to all the products shown in the video:
Orion 950: amzn.to/3SiYwkE ‪@WagnerMetersMain‬
R/D: amzn.to/3UqHrrw
FLIR: amzn.to/4915eCO
TESMAN: amzn.to/3uk2YaO
Looking for the best moisture meter tester? Look no further! In this video, we'll showcase our top picks for the most accurate and reliable moisture meter tests. Whether you're a professional contractor or a DIY enthusiast, this video will help you find the perfect moisture meter for your needs.
0:00-1:09 Intro
1:09-11:12 Samples and Procedures
11:13-13:58 TESMAN Overview
13:58-18:13 FLIR MR55 Overview
18:13-21:21 R D Overview
21:22-25:39 Orion 950 Overview
25:39-27:37 Cooking Wood
27:38-30:05 Results
30:06-34:21 Conclusions

Пікірлер: 104

  • @laurenkorn3984
    @laurenkorn39844 ай бұрын

    As a scientifically trained person I very much valued this video. Thank you and I'm certainly a new subscriber and fan.

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    4 ай бұрын

    So am I! There's dozens of us! Thanks for watching!

  • @TimeAttack2003
    @TimeAttack20033 ай бұрын

    This is on par with Project Farm testing and greatly appreciated by everyone that watches both channels! Instant subscribe!

  • @electron4784
    @electron47843 ай бұрын

    Well done. Good scientific method. And just the information I needed for a purchase. Thanks

  • @JackStrangelove
    @JackStrangelove3 ай бұрын

    Thank you for the information. I was watching the other reviews, and you definitely hit the nail on the head when it came too comparing the instruments to one another and not the scientific method of which you performed. Thank you for taking the time and spending the money to help make my decision much easier.

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    3 ай бұрын

    My pleasure

  • @fgmaglia
    @fgmaglia2 ай бұрын

    Mate, best tech video I watched the entire year! Subscribed and following, no matter what. Thank you!!

  • @3mOffroadTeam
    @3mOffroadTeam5 ай бұрын

    Thanks for your huge efforts! Great video

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    5 ай бұрын

    Thanks for watching!

  • @nathanrobbs4954
    @nathanrobbs49542 ай бұрын

    Thank you for putting in an extensive amount of effort. And your time and money. I learned a lot! 💪👍

  • @lifepopsicle8966
    @lifepopsicle89665 ай бұрын

    Appreciate all the effort going into this video! Subscribed :)

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    5 ай бұрын

    Thanks for watching!

  • @jameshiggins9864
    @jameshiggins98643 ай бұрын

    Very informative video, thanks for all your work and expense. Answered just about all my questions. Sounds like pinless is definitely the way to go. Now that that was established, it would be interesting to see several pinless models tested, but I suspect that you have other things going on in your life 😄. I'm now subscribed and I look forward to checking out your past and future videos.

  • @michelrea2403
    @michelrea24033 ай бұрын

    Great job dude 👊

  • @lockbreaker7961
    @lockbreaker79615 ай бұрын

    watching this i was really expecting to look down and see a couple tens of thousands of likes and a hundred thousand subscribers, but apparently not. very high quality comparison, i think im going to go with the R/D based on this video.

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    5 ай бұрын

    Nope. It's just me shouting into the KZread algorithm void. So sincerely, thank you very much for watching!

  • @steveward5917

    @steveward5917

    4 ай бұрын

    I learned something, that's what I was looking for. Very good test.

  • @Element9846
    @Element98462 ай бұрын

    Subscribed. Best test/study available on any topic on youtube because it was actually independently verified and followed calibration standards. This video got a like, and its an injustice that its only got 7,000 views. Hopefully that number increases. Thanks for taking the time, spending the money, and making this video happen. Theres no other video anyone needs to watch regarding moisture meters. Period.

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    2 ай бұрын

    Thanks for the kind words and thank you very much for watching!

  • @Bernieclark45
    @Bernieclark454 ай бұрын

    Thanks for a very helpful video.

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    3 ай бұрын

    Glad it was helpful!

  • @youcanthide004
    @youcanthide0042 ай бұрын

    Fantastic Video / Super comprehensive, I just ordered the R&D for a project. I am using HD 3/4 PT plywood for an open - trailer project and need to to know when I can stain it. Many Thanks Partner, you just gained a subscriber.

  • @nickbombardier6169
    @nickbombardier61694 ай бұрын

    Thank you for testing these, I build custom furniture and have just started my journey into youtube and and social media to get my work out there. Ive been use the cheap amazon pinless version and have wondered how accurate it actually is. I have contemplated buying the orion but being a fairly new small business 600 is alot to throw down on a tool that only does the one thing. But after watching this video you have answered every question I had, and I will be setting aside some some funds for the orion. Thank you for such a detailed video and if you decide to part with your Orion maybe we can work a deal. But keep up the good.

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    4 ай бұрын

    It's gone already. FB marketplace scooped it right up. And thanks for watching!

  • @CharlesHooper2001
    @CharlesHooper20013 ай бұрын

    At the end of November 2023 I purchased a Klein Tools ET140 meter for about $42 and a Wagner Meters Orion 950 which was selling for about $600. The goal was to check red oak and black walnut boards that had been air drying for 15 years, but had to be coated with BoraCare to kill boring bugs. I was not sure of the accuracy of either meeter - in late February I tested the two meters side by side once the temperature reached 60 degrees. In short, the Klein Tools ET140 meter consistently measured the moisture content of red oak and black walnut boards at 7% to 8% lower than the measurement shown by a significantly more expensive Wagner Meters Orion 950. I left a review on Amazon for the Klein Tools ET140 showing the side by side comparison. Thanks for posting your video, I now have greater confidence in the readings displayed by the Orion 950.

  • @geoffrgadsden3612
    @geoffrgadsden36122 ай бұрын

    Great Job= well done!

  • @tomdowser
    @tomdowser5 ай бұрын

    Full dorkness mode .......w00t! Enjoyed this a lot. Thank You!

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    5 ай бұрын

    Glad you enjoyed it!

  • @JamesWilliams-en3os
    @JamesWilliams-en3osАй бұрын

    Outstanding video. Like others commenting here, I am scientifically trained (biochemistry) and I have been leery of the wood meter recommendations out there. I build furniture as a semi-serious hobby and side business, so the moisture content of my lumber is really important to me… now I know which moisture meters to throw away and which one to keep. Thank you!

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    Ай бұрын

    Thanks for watching!

  • @robertp8839
    @robertp88395 ай бұрын

    Commenting to get that algorithm going. Like your videos and your humor. Even if you're not John from Farmcraft haha

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    5 ай бұрын

    Thank you very much! Thanks for watching!

  • @donaldbowman4221
    @donaldbowman42215 ай бұрын

    And, thank you for the effort and expense you invested making the video. Very nicely done.

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    5 ай бұрын

    Thanks for watching!

  • @alexschenck25
    @alexschenck252 ай бұрын

    Thank you!!!

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    2 ай бұрын

    No sweat

  • @leifnilsen6107
    @leifnilsen61073 ай бұрын

    🙏👏👏👏👏great video

  • @skipmsg
    @skipmsg2 ай бұрын

    Great vid John, Super comprehensive for the woodworking folks. I don't think there is any doubt they should buy a pinless meter, & the Orion model at that, if they can afford it. Unfortunately I think the jury is still out for the plain old firewood burning people. I'm still unclear if any of these are any good for checking firewood prior to burning. Do you still own the test oven? Could you perform another test on split wood, not dressed timber? I understand it would be outside the official testing standards & procedures but would be a better real world test for the average firewood consumer. Anyway hope you have one last firewood test left in you. Hope you post a 'firewood meter only' buyers guides soon. Great video regardless.

  • @brianpacker4824
    @brianpacker48242 ай бұрын

    Thank you so much for making this video. You added to society. As wood gasification becomes way cheaper than gasoline (currently even), this video will explode.

  • @fredygump5578
    @fredygump557825 күн бұрын

    An interesting "point" is that the pinned meters can be tricked by conductivity of salts. For example, I've watched videos from the UK about testing moisture in walls of stone houses. Salts on the surface deposited by evaporation can give a false positive reading for moisture.

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    24 күн бұрын

    Interesting. Not something I have to deal with but may be important to others.

  • @donaldbowman4221
    @donaldbowman42215 ай бұрын

    While I love your sarcasm and truths, know that so many people use or have the General brand moisture tester, I would say it would have been nice to see how it compares too.

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    5 ай бұрын

    I really thought about it. I really did. But those pins made me so mad, I didn't want to give that company more money.

  • @boblee435
    @boblee4354 ай бұрын

    Based on this study, I just ordered an R and D pinless brand ($30 on Amazon) for both furniture and firewood. I’ll check in later if it flails.

  • @Mxslots

    @Mxslots

    Ай бұрын

    Did it fail ?

  • @Yanksy

    @Yanksy

    Ай бұрын

    Did it flail?

  • @b.davidsantiagojr5161
    @b.davidsantiagojr51614 ай бұрын

    I really enjoyed watching this. My take away is you feel the R&D is best value and accurate. How close was it to the Orion as far as accuracy?

  • @JohnSheerin

    @JohnSheerin

    2 ай бұрын

    He said the Orion was off by 3.66%, R&D was off by 16.18%. I interpret that to mean that the R&D could say a 10% moisture content wood was anywhere between 8.4-11.6% while the Orion would show it was somewhere in the 9.6-10.4% range.

  • @markbooth3066
    @markbooth30663 ай бұрын

    Great investigation. I very much doubt it would have made any difference to the results, but to avoid the potential for criticism, I would have worn nitrile gloves while handling the samples.

  • @johnyan8417
    @johnyan84174 ай бұрын

    Would you please share the data collected? Thanks.

  • @ZX9RDan
    @ZX9RDan29 күн бұрын

    Well done. Have you thought of checking out inductive meters? The ones with a wand and ball... no not that wand and ball(s)

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    24 күн бұрын

    I have not. Haven't really crossed paths with them.

  • @julianmora5624
    @julianmora56243 ай бұрын

    hi i have the rd, one thing i would like to understand is why the measurements change so dramatically, when you measure the same wood from soft wood to hardwood ,i know whar they are, BUT why the device measure so different values? try it on cedar for example, measure the both modes, and you see..thanks

  • @davidfenton3910
    @davidfenton391018 күн бұрын

    Hi and thanks for sharing, appreciated. Didn't know pinned wood moisture meters should measure along the grain, thanks. I've seen others split the wood and pin on the center to get an indication of how fully seasoned firewood is in the middle. I wonder how pinning on the outside rather than the inside would effect measures and cause the testing to lack fidelity with the design purpose and instructions for use of pinned meters when checking seasoned state of firewood. i.e. it seems the testing methods were not in line with checking if firewood is seasoned with pin moisture measures - a common use for them. I found the moving forward and back, left and right while talking made watching take more effort, it was a bit too much for me so I scrolled down to lessen the sensory load. Thanks again for sharing, I learned some stuff I didn't know, though I think the method had inbuilt bias because splitting the wood for the pinned meters would have enabled them to avoid the error of measuring too dry on the outside. i.e. the test didn't fairly look at using pinned meters for checking if firewood is seasoned while doing the opposite of what a method to test that would. Cheers sincerely d

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    18 күн бұрын

    So, to be clear, you didn't watch the whole video, because I didn't stand still like a robot. Then, complained that I didn't do something that I explained, but you didn't see because you clicked through it? Classic. Never change internet.

  • @davidfenton3910

    @davidfenton3910

    17 күн бұрын

    Hi@@JohnWCH Thanks for your reply, I'm happy to have a chat. SO, TO BE CLEAR, YOU DIDN'T WATCH THE WHOLE VIDEO, No. Once I’d seen you read one set of instructions seeing it again was a waste of my time, I knew you were following manufacturer instructions so I didn’t need to watch your repetitions so I skipped ahead etc. _Basically, I found your presentation inefficiently repetitive in some parts._ Do you really think people want to watch you basically repeat yourself? I suggest you show it clearly and succinctly once then make it clear you did it for them all. That would get your good following of instructions across without dragging out the skinning of each cat, even though there are lots of ways to skin a cat, I didn’t need to see them all. BECAUSE I DIDN'T STAND STILL LIKE A ROBOT. That’s right. That was my point, you moved to much as I explained. Good to see you got my point. THEN, COMPLAINED THAT I DIDN'T DO SOMETHING THAT I EXPLAINED, That you didn’t do it made the testing biased. Explaining it at the end didn’t change that fact. It’s like you said at the start about how there are so many YT vids claiming to be doing science but they don’t know what they are doing and so they don’t do as well as they wanted to. So you’ve already pointed out your own error to be like that of so many others, so I know you understand. Quality feedback pointing out basic errors in method is valuable and I’m happy to share it freely as you shared freely, thank you again. BUT YOU DIDN'T SEE BECAUSE YOU CLICKED THROUGH IT? I saw it after commenting and before you replied. I judged the explanation didn’t change the unfair method and results. However it clearly admits that the method was not as good as it could have been. i.e. you actually know the testing was biased. You aimed and claimed to be doing a better comparison than others, I don’t think you hit your goal this time. CLASSIC. NEVER CHANGE INTERNET. We’re part of a society that *believes* in science but a lot of the population doesn’t know how to *do or judge* it well. As a former science teacher I think your testing design had significant bias. What you do with my feedback is up to you. Cheers sincerely d

  • @squicc
    @squicc3 ай бұрын

    this was great. would like more result data detail, as well as more models tested. you spent $2k on the oven, which is awesome. now you can make cupcakes, but what about Klein? Dr. Meter? General? etc...let's get a bake off goin here ;-)

  • @squicc

    @squicc

    3 ай бұрын

    also, "that's not an oven!" 🤣

  • @codycarse
    @codycarse2 ай бұрын

    Should have included a pin and pinless model from ligno. They're the industry standard. So many pros use them.

  • @romansj42
    @romansj423 ай бұрын

    What's model of scale

  • @tonystites2134
    @tonystites21343 ай бұрын

    i would have liked to know how far off each meter was to your scientific method

  • @GryptpypeThynne
    @GryptpypeThynne2 ай бұрын

    Great video. I have to admit the thing that made me subscribe was the split second Tom Segura though

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    2 ай бұрын

    Awesome

  • @user-ol2cs9wt4w
    @user-ol2cs9wt4w4 ай бұрын

    What was the range of accuracy? Was best to worst only 10% different in the moisture content they reported?

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    4 ай бұрын

    Im not sure what youre asking exactly. But from what I measured, the worst performing unit to the best performing unit, was a roughly 2000% difference. (absolute error .6 vs. 6.35) in regards to accuracy.

  • @Bomba388
    @Bomba3885 ай бұрын

    With the repeatability on the tessman, just account for the error. Write on it or something to remember the number.

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    5 ай бұрын

    The machine was 30% +/-. It's a pretty big swing. You could sooner guess the moisture content at that point.

  • @Bomba388

    @Bomba388

    5 ай бұрын

    @@JohnWCH I guess I must have missed something. My understanding was that it would be the same percentage off every time.

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    5 ай бұрын

    Nope it was not accurate in either direction.

  • @amsluis
    @amsluis5 ай бұрын

    Repeatability can be enough. I test rough turned bowls, and just note the number. If it's stable over a few weeks, it's done. The particular number is irrelevant. Any air drying to equilibrium can be done this way, and I would argue this is the most useful thing to know in the first place. I would be interested to see how the pin meters preform with the pins all the way inserted. I don't know what the user manuals for those products say, but in my experience you only get some accuracy when you hammer them in a good 1/4". Physical robustness is one of the most important things for pin meters.

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    5 ай бұрын

    Sure that would work and believe me when I tell you, I was giving those pins the business, when I was pushing them in.

  • @ludwigwagner7897
    @ludwigwagner78974 ай бұрын

    I like your scientific approach to assess the accuracy and would have appreciated a higher focus on presenting result details. A table showing measured percentages against determined percentages from the oven drying procedure. For a fair comparison of the pin meter you could have put 6 metal pins in each wood sample to ensure that both instruments “see” the same moisture and having 3 sample locations tells you how homogeneous the moisture is distributed within the wood. A measurement difference between the instruments is then only due to difference in resistance measurement or applied internal calibration. All the pin meter does is measuring the resistance, which can be done with any simple multimeter, and converts it into percent moisture based on an internal calibration for different materials. Again, a detailed result table would allow conclusions on how good the internal calibrations were for different types of wood and if a recalibration by the user would make sense

  • @AndersHejdenberg
    @AndersHejdenberg3 ай бұрын

    Just so I fully understand... when you say the Orion has a 3.66 percent error margin, does that mean that it could report between 9.64% - 10.36% moisture content when the actual moisture content was 10%? Or could the Orion report 6,34% - 13.66% moisture content when actual content was 10%? Or does it mean that the full range of potential error was 3.66% of the actual moisture content number?

  • @elbuggo

    @elbuggo

    3 ай бұрын

    10.36% of what? The dried piece? That means the peace was 110.36% before drying? These calculations are confusing. I guess I have to read ASTM D4442 myself!

  • @AndersHejdenberg

    @AndersHejdenberg

    3 ай бұрын

    @@elbuggo It's absolute moisture content, contrary to air moisture content which is relative to the air temperature (since different air temperatures can hold different amounts of water). So 100% air moisture is not that you are under water, but rather that the air cannot hold more water at this temperature. But with wood moisture content you weigh a piece of wood and then you put it in an oven. You take it out every four hours and weigh it again. Then you repeat that procedure until it hasn't lost any weight since the previous measurement - and at that point it is considered to have a 0% moisture content. So if the piece of wood weighed 100 grams before the oven procedure, and it weighs 90 grams after the procedure - then that means that the wood must have had a 10% moisture content before the oven procedure.

  • @elbuggo

    @elbuggo

    3 ай бұрын

    @@AndersHejdenberg RE: if the piece of wood weighed 100 grams before the oven procedure, and it weighs 90 grams after the procedure - then that means that the wood must have had a 10% moisture content before the oven procedure. I don't agree. Your sample had 11.11% moisture content. The dry sample is 100%. I found the calculations in ASTM D4442.

  • @AndersHejdenberg

    @AndersHejdenberg

    3 ай бұрын

    @@elbuggo Ah, gotcha - I though it was the other way around (which I suppose makes more sense now that I think of it). So 90 grams is 100%, which means that 10 grams would be 11.11%.

  • @elbuggo

    @elbuggo

    3 ай бұрын

    @@AndersHejdenberg That's exactly right! 100g =111.11%!

  • @sweedenburg
    @sweedenburg3 ай бұрын

    Oh my, of all places to find a Mommy. I hope you didn't use a washcloth to clean out the oven! (It goes without saying, but the video is amazing.)

  • @WolfeLienhardt
    @WolfeLienhardt25 күн бұрын

    Honestly dude? Sometimes I see my oven go all the way up to 420 degrees and then back all the way down to 69 degrees! Dang!

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    24 күн бұрын

    Nice.

  • @Coyotehello
    @Coyotehello4 ай бұрын

    Protimeter Survey master, period, in my book at least. Note that moisture meter do not actually measure moisture, that is an important thing to keep in mind.

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    4 ай бұрын

    Thanks for watching

  • @AA-gw6wd
    @AA-gw6wd3 ай бұрын

    10 min in the video I am thinking this methodology is wonderful, but why not test a wider variety of meters? You already spent a ton of money on lab quality equipment? I’d love to see some of the more popular meters going head to head.

  • @RILRIL1
    @RILRIL13 ай бұрын

    For a woodworker, I'd argue that accuracy is much less important that repeability. Keep scraps of well dried wood in your shop, then compare the wood in question to those samples.

  • @rolandstockham1905
    @rolandstockham19054 ай бұрын

    One thing he did not test which seems to be a shame is calibration. The main distinction between cheap and expensive meters seems to me to be whether you can adjust for the woods density. The absolute moisture content is generally not the main issue in woodworking (more important in firewood). What wood workers need to know is is the wood going to be stable in the environment it will be in. So if you are building furniture that will live in a heated living space what is the humidity in that space and how does that compare to my stock? You can set that by simply measuring a piece of furniture that is in a similar environment. So I measure an oak table and the meter says it has 20% moisture. It doesn't matter if it is really 15 or 25% as long as the reading on my stock is the same the new wood should not move. That would be fine if I am building the new stuff out of oak but what if I am using oak for framing but maple for draws. This is where the species calibration is essential. To get an accurate comparison between different species you have to be able to adjust for their different densities. This is far more important than absolute accuracy.

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    4 ай бұрын

    In the "review" portion of each one of the units, I talked about literally what you're talking about and their ability to do what you're asking.

  • @terrencepayne1371
    @terrencepayne13713 ай бұрын

    Am I the first to comment about how put the wood on a couch like like surrounded by the meters? 😂

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    3 ай бұрын

    Yes! Finally!

  • @AdamT69
    @AdamT6914 күн бұрын

    Definitive but you don't explain how any of them work? 😂

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    6 күн бұрын

    Black magic

  • @tedgunderson67
    @tedgunderson672 ай бұрын

    Don’t talk about my wife like that

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    2 ай бұрын

    Sorry?

  • @tedgunderson67

    @tedgunderson67

    2 ай бұрын

    @@JohnWCH “wood moisture meter”

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    2 ай бұрын

    My man!

  • @johngoodwin2384
    @johngoodwin238419 күн бұрын

    Our elders had no use for this. Learn how to manage your garden with as few gadgets as possible.

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    19 күн бұрын

    What?

  • @keithgreene8136
    @keithgreene81363 ай бұрын

    He talks too much. Bye

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    2 ай бұрын

    Go back to tik Tok.

  • @beauhawkes3221
    @beauhawkes32213 ай бұрын

    Waving your hands around, moving around while you talk, and taking longer than necessary to convey the information are forms of echopraxia which is ignorance.

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    3 ай бұрын

    Echopraxis is mirroring. Hence the "echo". Go back to Reddit and try using big words to impress over there.

  • @beauhawkes3221

    @beauhawkes3221

    3 ай бұрын

    @@JohnWCH I came to this video in search of science based information, as it was asserted as being. What followed was an atrocity void of reason. By the speakers own words he attempted to "punch it up" in an effort to gain more appeal from his viewers, and at the expense of anyone actually needing the information he claimed to be sharing. He did this after taking advice from, presumably, his partner who advised him that it was boring and/or put the viewer to sleep. I came looking for information and was told that this video contained the best information on this topic on the internet. The speaker lied when he made that claim. Instead what he showed was that he is an androphobic epicene omega male who takes orders from an emotional feminine mind rooted in ignorance. This is something common to see on content creators' channels. They indeed mirror one another engaging mindless echopraxia and echolalia in an effort to satisfy their own emotional desires and feelings. Anyone taking advice from a mind rooted in ignorance will suffer the consequences of doing so. Did I learn anything from watching the video? No, I already knew everything that I just stated prior to watching the video.

  • @ButtBandit9000
    @ButtBandit90005 ай бұрын

  • @JohnWCH

    @JohnWCH

    5 ай бұрын

    Correct.