Good question indeed Gordon. Especially on a vertical piano with a DC dehumidifier installed on a humidistat. I tuned a fairly new Yamaha studio in a church recently with a DC dehumidifier. The pitch seemed to wander around quite a bit (4 cents or so) during a 5-cent pitch raise and a tuning. As soon as you open the piano up, everything is going to change. So you ask the church keeper to have the A/C set to their service temperature when the piano is played closed, and you need to open it to tune it. What is a tech to do??? Any thoughts or observations on this apparent problem? Terry Farrell ----- Original Message ----- From: "gordon stelter" <lclgcnp@yahoo.com> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Sunday, August 18, 2002 6:47 PM Subject: Re: Damp Chaser Question > There are actualy mini-refrigeration units one can buy > to build their own cooler around. Checkout Real Goods > Co.,( probably realgoods.com ) purveyors of stuff for > "off-grid" living. But that raises the question: How > importanmt is temperature control, as long as humidity > is kept constant? Thoughts? > --- Farrell <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com> wrote: > > Hi Greg. No one seems to be biting on this one, so > > I'll tell you what I think I know. I have been > > extremely happy with the climate control I have in > > my shop. A Sears basement-type dehumidifier and an > > automatic air conditioner. RH stays right at 50%. > > However, I don't have the need for humidification - > > RH never gets below 35%. > > > > My shop is a little bit bigger than your box (not a > > whole lot!). But you might want to consider > > partitioning off a small room for the piano rather > > than just a box. That way it could be serviced and > > tuned in its climate-controlled room. Small room > > humidifiers are also available - look on the web. I > > had my old dehumidifier plugged into my DC > > humidistat because the humidistat on the unit was > > junk. My new dehumidifier has a humidistat that > > works quite well. If you used an unregulated > > humidifier of less than 600W, you could use a DC > > humidistat to regulate its function. > > > > You could do all this in the little box also - but > > if you wanted to regulate the temperature in the > > summer with an AC unit, I think it would be hard to > > find a small enough unit for the box. Electrical > > heater bars than run 24/7 do not sound like a hazard > > to me - IF they are regulated with a humidistat. > > Also, if they are running 24/7, you don't have > > enough wattage in there. If you make your little > > box, maybe a few heater bars and a very small room > > humidifier both plugged into a DC humidistat will do > > the trick for you. > > > > I am planning on a similar climate controlled > > storage area for a theatre I service. It is a small > > room about 15' by 15'. Two grands are stored there. > > As I do not need to worry about low RH, I will > > simply be recommending a small AC unit for the > > window and a dehumidifier similar to the one in my > > shop. Or, if they have $$$ to spend, a fancy system > > designed and installed by folks that provide climate > > control for laboratories, etc. > > > > As to the effects of pulling the piano out of this > > idyllic environment and onto the nasty stage with > > high/low RH and wild swings of temperature??? I > > think you just need to practice the line: "Hey, it > > sounded fine before we moved it out here!" > > > > Recommend full climate control for the entire > > facility!!! Tell 'em it will save on painting costs! > > > > Good luck. > > > > Terry Farrell > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Greg Newell" <gnewell@ameritech.net> > > To: <pianotech@ptg.org>; <MPT@philbondi.com> > > Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2002 9:06 PM > > Subject: Damp Chaser Question > > > > > > > Greetings listees, > > > I have a customer who is going to build a > > piano closet off of > > > their stage. I'd like to ask the opinion of the > > lists as to how to outfit a > > > humidity control system in this closet. My thought > > was to daisy chain some > > > systems together or perhaps two or more entire > > separate systems to keep the > > > piano controlled ( I know, I know, control is an > > illusion) while it is in > > > storage. Since this is a performance instrument I > > recommended controlling > > > the box rather than the piano since some part of > > the Damp-Chaser system > > > will inevitably be visible if mounted on the piano > > itself. My customer writes; > > > > > > The Apartment Complex for our Asian Musical Tenant > > will be: > > > 4'-0'' High > > > 6'-0'' Wide > > > 11'-0'' Long which equals 264 Cubic Feet inside, > > > (less a little bit for corner tangent framing) > > > Hope this helps. It sounds like box, rather than > > piano mounting is > > > better. > > > The big question for me is ventilation. Electrical > > heater bars that run > > > 24/7 inside a wooden box sounds like a hazard > > waiting to occur. > > > > > > Can someone more experienced than I (even Roger if > > you're reading these > > > things) suggest a system of components that will > > adequately cover the need? > > > The piano is in Northern Ohio and is normally > > subject to RH swings of > > > roughly 15% to 85% or more. > > > > > > I'd also like to ask those who have done this what > > one can expect when > > > pulling the piano out of the closet for a > > performance. Does it goes > > > unstable right away or what? > > > > > > Thanks in advance for your input. > > > > > > Greg Newell > > > mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > HotJobs - Search Thousands of New Jobs > http://www.hotjobs.com
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC