Damp Chaser in old upright

[Daniel Lindholm]

Thanks for that post!

I've always been somewhat curious about how it works in a piano. I thought
it might work pretty good in a piano since its inside the cabinet and not in
the open. Still, the outside wouldnt get the same humidity as the inside, I
was thinking that at least the soundboard would be okay. Could you please
tell us something about the soundboard? How did the strings look like?

I've been told NOT to get a dampchaser for my grand piano. Most techs just
say 'that will ruin it', and when you think about it. How good could it be?
The damp will get concentrated around smaller parts of the piano and the
same goes for the heatingdevice. I bought a humidifier for the room and (I
guess many of you will say that I'm all wrong about this dampchaser and that
its really really good, but...) noone could ever say that its better to use
a dampchaser than to control the whole room that the piano is in
(humidifier-dehumidifier and something to circulate the air).

To summorize my post so I dont have to get 100 angry replies saying that I'm
all wrong etc:
I'm a bit skeptic to this dampchasersystem, but I dont say it doesnt work.
I'm pretty sure that it will have some effects (but I'm not quite sure if
they are good or bad). I wouldnt want a heatsource or a humidifier that
close to the wood in my piano. I think its pretty obvious that the
heat/humidity will be concentrated to some areas around the actual device.
That I know for certain is that the best thing is to get a system to control
the entire room.

Its an interesting topic. All salesmen recommends them and are selling them
hard, but I havent heard a tech that recommends them. I hope to see some
more post regarding this topic, with people telling about their experiences
with dampchasersystem (both in uprights and in grands). Taking up an
instrument that has had a system like that installed for 25 years is a
really good example. If anyone else have experience with instruments with
system installed over a longer period, please do reply!

I'm really curious although I have already made the choice for my piano.

----- Original Message -----
From: "jstuart1" <jstuart1@pdq.net>
To: "pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, July 06, 2001 4:34 PM
Subject: Damp Chaser in old upright


> I am currently repairing the action to an old upright built in 1911.
> This piano has had a Damp Chaser or similar product in it for almost 25
> years. This is the first piano I have seen that has such a system.
> Almost all of the sticker felts have come loose, a couple of jacks have
> become unglued and the catcher buckskins were dry rotted so badly that
> just a touch causes them to fall off clean to the wood. I have seen wear
> in these old uprights but while there is definitly wear I have never
> seen so many glue joints just let go like this. I am curious if this is
> a result of the Damp Chaser system having been in the piano for over 25
> years constantly heating the inside.
>
> I am merely a beginner but this is the first time I have seen this. This
> piano has been in a family home since it was originally purchased in
> 1911 and never stored in a garage or other such area. Instead of
> moisture damage which I have seen, this appears to have been plain dried
> out.
>
> JStuart
>