[CAUT] temperature and pitch

[Jeff Tanner]

Whether or not the dehumidifier rods were activated depends on how often the 
humidifier is cycling off the hydrostat.  The system does not work as an 
on/off switch at 42%. It cycles up to 46% and down to 38%.  It is indeed 
likely that it could cycle several times overnight. The 8 watt rod on the 
humidifier is probably working a larger percentage of the time, but it is 
still producing heat. Think about how small the heating element is that 
heats your home in relation to the size of the space it affects.

It really doesn't matter whether this is a grand or vertical. With both, the 
heat rises and if you have the lid closed, you close in the warmer air and 
create a small environment that is different from the air outside.  Though I 
haven't recorded the numbers, I have in the past measured the difference in 
the temperature of a grand with a DC system inside the closed cover on the 
plate and outside on a nearby table. There can be a couple degrees 
difference. So, anytime I measure temp/hum in a room for a piano with D/C, I 
always measure it outside the piano, because the air inside the piano is 
different.

As to whether or not the heat is going through the soundboard and heat the 
plate and strings, yes, I think it can. According to Dampp-Chaser, the 
"soundboard is like swiss cheese", which is why the backside vertical system 
is actually more effective than the standard vertical system. With the 
backside system, the hydrostat is installed inside the piano, with the 
heater rods and small tanks outside, on the back, on the other side of the 
soundboard.

Yes, your D/C system was operating all along, which is why wonder if the 
inside of the piano was affected as much by a 10 degree change outside.

Jeff

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Fred Sturm" <fssturm at unm.edu>
> I don't think the little rod on the tank produced enough heat to  change 
> the temperature of the strings or plate. Do you? (It is quite  unlikely 
> that the higher wattage rods were activated to lower the RH  during this 
> period. Though I'd find it very hard to believe that they  would have an 
> effect either). This is a grand, not a vertical. Is that  little bit of 
> heat going to make its way through the soundboard and  heat the plate and 
> strings? Really? Let's not be silly. In any case,  it was operating all 
> along, before and throughout the "experiment".
> I make no pretense that this was actually a controlled experiment,  but it 
> seemed close enough to bother reporting what I observed. Better  data than 
> most of the stories I read, which tend to be exaggerated  quite a bit.
> Regards,
> Fred Sturm
> University of New Mexico
> fssturm at unm.edu
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