Damp Chaser in old upright

[jstuart1]

The soundboard and bridges were solid. The strings did not appear to have any
rust on them though one string had been replaced in the trebble. The springs and
wires were in good condition with no evidence of rust. The problem areas seem to
bee the leather on the bridle straps has become brittle. The straps had been
replaced in the 80's. A couple of the jacks and one of the whippens had come
unglued, but the worst effects seem to be the buckskins, sticker felts and the
backcheck felts. The damper felts were all replaced within the last 10 years or
so. I have also noticed several of the hinge pins seem to be very loose in the
joints and had worked thier way out until they were touching the joint next to
them. I do not know the condition of the tunning pins from a tightness
standpoint. One of the hammer shafts had broken off at the hammer butt and with
the jacks laying on the keys, we decided to repair it before attempting to tune.
The Damp Chaser is mounted in the middle of the knee board. I am amazed at how
much dust those rods attract.

While I am definitly a fairly new technician, this experience has led me to
believe there should be a delicate ballance between dryness for the sake of the
sound board, strings and bridges and a certain amount of humidity for the
remaining parts. I am concerned that if the Damp Chaser ever goes out and the
piano is exposed to humidity levels it is no longer accustomed to, that problems
will develop in the sound board and pinblock and other areas as they begin to
expand from the moisture. Again I am quite new at this and am seeking the
experience of others to confirm or deny my thoughts on the matter.

I agree that controlling the climate of the room as a whole would probably be a
better option.

JStuart

Daniel Lindholm wrote:

> 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
> >