Wagner Meters ORION 950 User manual

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1 Introduction
4 Orion® 950 Parts
5 Quick Start: Basic Use for
Solid Wood
8 Correct Usage Guidelines for
Your Orion® 950 Moisture Meter
10 Function Buttons: Detailed
–ON/HOLD Button
– UP and DOWN Buttons
– DEPTH Button
– SPECIES/MATERIAL Button
• How to Program a Species Setting
• Relative Scale for Moisture
Measurement of Non-Wood
Building Materials
– DATA Button
– AUDIO Button
TABLE OF CONTENTS
21 Summary of Orion® 950 Features
– Low Battery Alert Indication
–Auto Shut-Down to Preserve
Battery Life
– Calibration of your Orion® 950
–Protective Rubber Boot for Your
Orion® 950
–7-Year Warranty
–Wagner’s IntelliSenseTM Technology
26 Specications
27 Changing the Battery
27 Meter Storage
28 Warranty
30 Glossary of Terms
31 Mobile App
Congratulations!
You have purchased one of the most accurate moisture measurement instruments for wood in the
world. Using IntelliSenseTM technology, hand-held moisture meters from Wagner Meters have
been proven by universities and institutes worldwide to provide superior measurement results.*
With its electromagnetic eld, your Orion® 950 moisture meter covers a relatively large
cross-sectional area each time you take a reading, giving you a far better representation than
other technologies of the true moisture content of your wood.
Wagner moisture meters read IN the wood, not just on the wood.
The 2.0-inch (50mm) wide by 2.5-inch (63mm) long by either .25-inch (6mm) or .75-inch
(19mm) thick sensor eld of your Orion® moisture meter closely approximates the full-
thickness cross-section method used when performing the ASTM D4442-16 oven-dry lab
INTRODUCTION

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method. This ASTM standard (and its international counterparts) is the standard to which all
moisture meters for wood are compared for accuracy.
Your Orion® 950 is best-suited for wood thicknesses from .25 inches (6mm) up to 1.5 inches
(38mm). The meter can be used on non-solid wood products, and the Species Setting Booklet
includes a few settings for some of these common materials.
In the Standard Measurement mode, your Orion® 950 measures moisture content within the
4.0% to 32.0% moisture content range.
NOTE: Measurement range may vary slightly depending on species setting of the meter.
The Orion® 950 has an easy-to-read digital display, scaled in 0.1% increments, when in the
Standard Measurement mode, for your solid wood applications.
Your Orion® 950 has data collection capacity to store readings and get statistical data. When
the data collection mode is activated you will have the ability to store and review up to 100
readings and get the maximum, minimum, and an average of all stored readings.
In addition to dual depth and data collection, your Orion® 950 has the capability to measure
and record relative humidity, temperature, dew point, equilibrium moisture content, grains
per pound, and grains per kilogram.
Your Orion® 950 also connects to a smart device application, utilizing Bluetooth®
technology, so you can receive and record data, set specications for separate jobs, and much
more. Simply scan the QR code on page 49 to arrive at the app location.
Wagner hand-held moisture measurement technology is virtually unaffected by wood
temperature.**
Since 1965, Wagner Meters has been providing quality moisture measurement equipment
and Wagner’s technology has been proven to provide some of the most accurate results in the
industry when compared to the ASTM D4442-16 Standard. Wagner meters have been used
for years by professional lumber-grading associations, and meters from Wagner continue to
provide reliable and consistent moisture measurements, with unsurpassed convenience and
ease of use.
*Information available upon request.**Contact a Wagner Meters expert at 844-689-0660 if your wood
is very hot or frozen.

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LCD
ON/ HOLD
BUTTON
SPECIES/
MATERIAL
BUTTON
DOWN
BUTTON
UP BUTTON
DEPTH
BUTTON
BATTERY
COMPART-
MENT
(Meter Serial
Number is
located in this
compartment)
SENSOR
PLATE
ORION®950 PARTS
AUDIO
BUTTON
DATA
BUTTON
QUICK START: BASIC USE FOR SOLID WOOD
With your Orion® 950 turned OFF, press and release the ON/HOLD button.
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 Orion® 950,
immediately after the revision number is displayed, the meter display should
revert to Standard Measurement mode, with the display showing 0.0% when the
meter is held in the air. If meter display does not show 0.0%, then refer to page 19 regarding the
SPECIES/MATERIAL button.
Next, press the DEPTH button to put the meter in the Depth Setting mode
and press either the UP button, DOWN button or DEPTH button. The Depth
setting will change from 3-4 or ¾” to 1-4 or ¼” or vice versa. Press the ON/
HOLD button to store the setting and return the meter to the Reading Mode.
Press the DATA button and the word DATA will appear briey on the display,
immediately followed by the word OFF. Next, using the UP or DOWN button,
either turn data ON for collecting data manually or to AUTO if you want the
data collected automatically. Once you have made your selection, press the
ON/HOLD button to activate the selected data storage function.
If you chose the ON mode for collecting the data, place the meter on the wood to be measured
and press the ON/HOLD button briey to gather a data point. You will hear a beep as the data
is gathered. The number of the data point will be displayed and then the moisture recorded
will be displayed.

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If you choose the Automatic mode, place the meter on the wood to be measured. Wait briey
until you hear a beep. The meter will display the reading number and then the reading taken.
Move the meter to the next sample for more readings.
When done sampling wood, turn the Automatic Data Recording mode OFF by hitting the data
button again. This will stop the recording of data.
After the data has been collected, press the DATA button twice and the maximum reading will
be shown (MAX). Subsequent presses of the DATA button will show the minimum (MIN)
average of all stored readings (AVG). Press the DATA button once more and all individual
recorded readings can be viewed (REC). Use the UP or DOWN button to scroll through
the individual readings. To clear individual readings, press the UP and DOWN buttons
simultaneously. CLRD will show on the display followed by NO. Press the UP or DOWN
button to select YES, then press the DATA button to clear the reading. Press the DATA button
once more and CL ALL will ash, followed by NO. To clear all data, use the UP or DOWN
button to select YES and then press the DATA button to activate the clear function. (Note:
There is no prompt after pressing the DATA button. All stored data will be erased.)
Next, press the SPECIES/MATERIAL button once, and the current species
setting (calibrated to specic gravity) will appear. The factory default
displayed will be 0.50 for a new meter. Use the UP or DOWN arrow buttons
to set the correct species setting for the wood species you wish to measure
(refer to your Species Settings Booklet to nd the correct setting). Finally,
press the ON/HOLD button to place the meter back in the Standard Measurement mode.
NOTE: If you cannot nd the correct setting for the wood species or material you wish to
measure, go to www.wagnerspecies.com where you can access Wagner’s extensive Species
Database. If you still cannot nd the correct setting, contact a Wagner Meters expert at
844-689-0660.
A small DP will appear in the lower left corner of the screen to visually indicate that you are
in 3-4 (¾”) Depth Setting mode (Deep mode).
Grasping the meter on the sides, begin taking measurements on the face of the wood pieces
by pressing down rmly, making sure the rectangular sensor plate area on the back of the
meter is pressing rmly on the wood surface and completely covered by the wood. Minimum
wood dimension needs to be 2.0 inches (50mm) wide by 2.5 inches (63mm) long by .75
inches (19mm) in thickness. When taking measurements, make sure there is a 1-inch (25mm)
minimum air gap underneath the wood you are measuring (refer to Correct Usage Guidelines
section of this manual).
Press the SPECIES/MATERIAL 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 (shown on page 21) will display, then toggle to the
ambient temperature (e.g., 75.1F). Note: The temperature display can be
changed to Celsius (e.g., 24.0C) by pressing either the up or down arrow key.
On the fth press of the SPECIES/MATERIAL button, EMC will be displayed, then the
display will show the equilibrium moisture content based on the ambient relative humidity
and temperature (e.g., 7.5%).
After the sixth press of the SPECIES/MATERIAL button, the display will show DP for 3.5
seconds, then will display the dew point temperature (e.g., 39.1F). Note: The temperature

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display can be changed to Celsius (e.g., 3.9C) by pressing either the UP or DOWN arrow key.
On the seventh press of the SPECIES/MATERIAL button, the display will show GPP for 3.5
seconds, then the display will show the grains per pound (e.g., 37.1). Note: The display can
be changed to grains per kilogram (e.g., 5.2) 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 Orion® 950 meter,
Wagner Meters recommends that you pay close attention to the following guidelines:
1. If the thickness of the piece of wood or other building material is greater than .75 inch
(19mm), and you wish to get more of a full thickness rather than a shallow measurement,
it is a good idea to take measurements in 3/4” mode on both sides and average the
readings.
2. To prevent high or inaccurate readings, always have a minimum 1-inch (25mm) air gap
CORRECT USAGE GUIDELINES FOR YOUR
ORION®950 MOISTURE METER
underneath the piece of wood you are measuring. During this process, make sure your
hand is not directly underneath the meter.
3. Your Orion® 950 meter was designed for wood thicknesses from .25 (6mm) to .50
(13mm) in ¼” mode and .75 inches (19mm) up to 1.5 inches (38mm) in ¾” mode. If you
wish to measure wood pieces with thicknesses less than .75 inches (19mm) in ¾” mode,
the meter will underestimate the actual moisture content. Thicknesses that are slightly
thinner (example: .625 inches (15.9mm)) will not be underestimated substantially, but
the thinner the piece becomes, the more the measurement will be underestimated. For
pieces thinner than .50 inches (12.7mm), you should use the ¼” mode.
4. The actual sensing area is a 2.0-inch (50mm) wide by 2.5-inch (63.5mm) long
rectangle on the back of the meter (opposite side of the display). In order to take a valid
measurement, this sensing area must be completely covered with the wood or other
material you are measuring. If the sensing area is not completely covered, your moisture
reading will be inaccurate.
5. If there is visible moisture or water on the surface of the wood or material to be tested,
wipe off any excess, and let the surface dry out for a couple of minutes before taking
measurements. If possible, turn the board over and measure the other side.
6. Be sure to press down rmly to ensure good sensor plate contact with the surface of the wood
or building material. This is especially important when measuring rough-sawn lumber.
7. Do not take readings where there is a noticeable defect or knot in the lumber.
8. To ensure optimum accuracy, orient your meter to the direction of the grain.

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Our Technical Staff Wants to Help You:
Please contact us at 844-689-0660 for specic guidelines on how to properly measure wood
with unusual characteristics. Additional measurement corrections may be necessary if you
are measuring lumber that is frozen, salt water-permeated, or is treated with CCA, ACQ, or
any other treatment with metallic or other components that might bias the moisture readings.
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 will show
in the upper right-hand corner. This HOLD feature is valuable when taking measurements in
FUNCTION BUTTONS: DETAILED
USAGE INSTRUCTION
hard-to-reach places where you cannot see the display.
If the AUDIO function of the meter is turned on (refer to the “Audio Button” section on page
32), 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 and HOLD will disappear
from view.
NOTE: Meter 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 (SPECIES/MATERIAL or AUDIO)
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.
DEPTH Button
Your Orion® 950 meter features dual depth capability that allows you to
measure from the surface down to ¼ and ¾ inch depths depending on the
setting you have chosen. If the meter is in the Depth Setting mode and either
the UP button, DOWN button or DEPTH button is pressed, the Depth setting will change

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(e.g., from 3-4 to 1-4) or vice versa. Press the ON/HOLD button to store the setting. If the
meter is in the Depth Setting mode and the ON/HOLD button is pressed, the meter will return
to the Standard Measurement mode.
If the meter is in Depth Setting mode and on the ¼” (6mm) depth setting, in addition to
displaying ‘1-4,’ the meter will repeatedly ash 2 dashes in a vertical sequence on the digital
display screen.
If the meter is in Depth Setting mode and on the ¾” (19mm) depth setting, in addition to
displaying ‘3-4’, the meter will repeatedly ash 3 dashes in a vertical sequence on the digital
display screen.
NOTE: A small DP will appear in the lower left corner of the screen to visually indicate that
you are in 3-4 (¾”) Depth Setting mode (Deep mode).
SPECIES/MATERIAL Button
The SPECIES/MATERIAL button on your Orion® 950 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. Species Settings mode. This mode is for programming the meter to the correct
setting for the wood species you wish to measure. When in this mode, the meter
display will indicate settings values from 0.20 up to 1.00. Factory default is 0.50.
2. Relative Measurement mode. Used for obtaining relative, rather than absolute,
measurements, typically for non-solid wood applications (example: relative
measurements on drywall). When you toggle to this mode, the display will
show REL in the lower-left corner of the display when you are in the Standard
Measurement mode. More information concerning Relative Scale can be found on
page 32.
3. Meter Calibration mode. Follow the instructions on page 37 to perform your own
eld calibration using the included Orion® On-Demand Calibrator from Wagner.
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 SPECIES/MATERIAL button
until the display shows RH. The display will toggle every 3.5 seconds to display
the following:
• 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

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DATA Button
When the DATA button is pressed, the meter will briey display DATA and
then display either OFF (to indicate the meter is not set to record data) or ON
(if the meter is set to record data) or AUTO (to indicate the meter is set to
automatically take readings).
To change the Data Recording mode, press either the UP button or the DOWN button, the
display will change from OFF to ON or AUTO and then press the ON/HOLD button, the
corresponding Data Recording mode will change.
When the Data Recording mode is ON or AUTO, moisture readings can be stored in the
moisture meter. Moisture readings are stored sequentially in the meter up to a limit of 100
readings.
Note: When the meter’s Data Recording mode is set for either ON or AUTO, the meter’s
HOLD function is disabled.
If the meter is in the Standard Measurement mode, the Data Recording mode is set to ON,
and the ON/HOLD button is pressed, the meter will record the current reading to the lowest
available reading location, display REC at the top and the stored location (e.g., REC 1) for 0.5
seconds and then return to the Standard Measurement mode. If the maximum of 100 readings
has already been reached, the meter will start overwriting the oldest readings and the display
will continue to read REC 100.
If the Data Recording mode is set to ON and the meter is turned off, when the meter is turned
on again the Data Recording mode will have defaulted to OFF.
• (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.
5. Equilibrium Moisture Content (EMC) mode. Based on the ambient RH and
temperature, the equilibrium moisture content (EMC) will be shown in this mode
(ranging from 0-40.7%). Press and release the SPECIES/MATERIAL button until
the meter displays EMC followed by the equilibrium moisture content (e.g., 7.5%).
6. Dew Point mode. This mode will provide you with dew point temperature ranging
from -85°F to 110°F, -65°C to 43°C. Press and release the SPECIES/MATERIAL
button until the meter displays DP followed by the actual dew point temperature in
Fahrenheit (e.g., 39.1°F). The display can be changed to Celsius (e.g., 24.0°C) by
pressing either the UP or DOWN arrow key.
7. Grains per Pound / Kilogram mode. This mode displays grains per pound (GPP)
from 0-431.1 lb and grains per kilogram (GPK) from 0-61.6 kg. Press and release the
SPECIES/MATERIAL button until your meter displays GPP followed by the actual
grains per pound (e.g., 46.5). The display can be changed to kilograms by pressing
either the UP or DOWN arrow key while ‘GPP’ is displayed. The display will then
show ‘GPK’ and then will display the correct reading in kilograms (e.g., 6.4).

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1. Data Viewing. When the meter is in Data Recording mode (above) and the DATA button
is pressed again, the meter will display MAX and display the highest reading stored. As
with the other modes, if there are no readings stored, the meter will display MAX and
‘- - - -’.
In MAX reading view mode, if the DATA button is pressed again, the meter will display
MIN followed by the lowest reading stored. If there are no readings stored, the meter
will display MIN and ‘- - - -’.
If the meter is in MIN reading view mode, and the DATA button is pressed again, the
meter will display AVG and immediately display the average of all the readings stored.
If there are no readings stored, the meter will display AVG and ‘- - - -’.
When the meter is in AVG reading view mode, and the DATA button is pressed again, the
meter will display REC, briey display the most recent reading’s location number (e.g.,
4), and then will display the actual moisture reading stored in that location (e.g., 18.2).
If the reading is at the meter’s maximum of 32.0, the display will show RECMAX along
with the actual 32.0 reading. If there are no readings stored in the meter, the display will
show REC and ‘- - - -’.
2. View Readings mode. While in REC (View Readings) mode, if the UP button or the
DOWN button is pressed, the next or previous reading location will be displayed (e.g.,
2) for 0.5 seconds, and then the meter will display the reading stored at that location
(e.g., 18.2).
If the UP button or DOWN button is held down for 0.7 seconds, the current reading
location will increase or decrease to the next multiple of 10 (e.g., if the reading location
is currently 6, pressing the UP button will change the reading location to 10). Every
0.7 seconds thereafter that the button is held down, the reading location will continue to
change by 10 (e.g., from 10 to 10).
When the UP button or DOWN button is released, the reading location that was
stopped on will be displayed (e.g., 90) for 0.5 seconds, and then the meter will
display the reading stored at that location (e.g., 18.2). All throughout View Readings
mode, REC will be displayed to indicate that the user is currently accessing the
recorded readings
If the meter is in the View Readings mode and the DATA button is pressed again, the
meter will display CL for 0.7 seconds, ALL for 0.7 seconds, and then display NO. This
is called the Clear Reading mode.
3. Clear Reading mode. If the meter is in the Clear Reading mode and either the UP button
or the DOWN button is pressed, the display will change from NO to YES.
If the DATA button is pressed when YES is displayed, all readings will be cleared from
the meter memory. If the UP button or DOWN button is pressed instead of the DATA
button when YES is displayed, the display will change from YES to NO and the meter
memory will not be cleared. If the DATA button is pressed while NO is displayed, the
meter will return to the Reading mode.
To clear an individual reading, press the UP and DOWN buttons simultaneously. CLRD
will show on the display followed by NO. Press the UP or DOWN button to select YES
then press the DATA button to clear the reading.