Dampp Chaser or not, that is that question!

[Farrell]

Hi Don. Thanks for your thoughts. I have always wondered how much gain in
performance could be realized with a cover. I will likely try such a system
in the future and monitor its performance. However, right now my problem is
largely that the humidistats (three of them) I have used on my pianos
(calibrated for the "normal range") turn the dehumidifying bars off around
48% and do not turn them back on until the relative humidity @ the
soundboard (and at the humidistat) is up around 68% RH. I think that until I
can get a humidistat that works as advertised (and presumably designed), a
cover will not help much.

Terry Farrell
Piano Tuning & Service
Tampa, Florida
mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don" <drose@dlcwest.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2000 10:15 AM
Subject: Re: Dampp Chaser or not, that is that question!


> Hi Terry,
>
> Is it a grand or an upright--if an upright the addition of a back cover
can
> improve results dramatically. If a grand a *bottom* cover of plastic will
> help as well. It is just very difficult to make a bottom cover *look*
good.
>
>
> At 09:35 AM 02/02/2000 -0500, you wrote:
> >Ed:
> >
> >I agree about pitch. And yes, the piano's pitch has been observed to
slide
> >up and down as much as 10 cents. The RH in my house varies from about 75%
to
> >80% during rainy periods and goes as low as 35% during dry winter
periods.
> >So, I think a DC system that works would be desirable. I am going to try
my
> >third humidistat on my piano and see if it works any better than the two
I
> >have tried in the past. Thanks for your thoughts.
> >
> >Terry Farrell
> >Piano Tuning & Service
> >Tampa, Florida
> >mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: <A440A@AOL.COM>
> >To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> >Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2000 8:43 AM
> >Subject: Re: Dampp Chaser or not, that is that question!
> >
> >
> >>
> >> In a message dated 2/2/0 1:22:46 PM, mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com writes:
> >>
> >> >he darn thing right on top of and next to (actually
> >> > touching) the humidistat. I have placed up to three different
> >hygrometers
> >> > under the piano at the same time (the three were compared at stable
> >> > conditions and are known to produce similar RH readings) and get the
> >results
> >> > I have described.
> >>
> >> >Because of the known relationship between spruce and atmospheric RH,
RH
> >> >in the soundboard environment will provide an accurate (although
> >indirect)
> >> > indicator of soundboard moisture content.
> >>
> >> Greetings,
> >>     I must add to the above, "so is pitch!".  After a solid tuning, in
> >which
> >> the atmosphere is noted,  a careful listen will reveal much information
> >about
> >> what the soundboard is doing.  I am not sure if I have seen the piano's
> >> tuning mentioned.  Is there a problem with this piano's pitch
stability?
> >> Regards,
> >> Ed Foote
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> Regards,
> Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.M.T., R.P.T.
>
> Tuner for the Saskatchewan Centre of the Arts
>
> drose@dlcwest.com
> http://donrose.htmlplanet.com/
>
> 3004 Grant Rd.
> REGINA, SK
> S4S 5G7
> 306-352-3620 or 1-888-29t-uner
>