damp chaser

[D.L. Bullock]

I seldom if ever suggest a damp chaser.  As you know I restore older pianos.
When I get a piano that has a damp chaser installed and it has been there
all the life of the piano, I also find many problems directly caused by the
heat.  Though it was worse in Texas where there was low humidity, I also
find it here in St. Louis as well.  The damp chaser is for pianos that are
in damp basements and the dehumidifier does not work well enough.

Granted, the ones I have removed from pianos being restored were the
unswitched model, but I have found the following problems directly caused by
a damp chaser:
All action parts screws loose--flanges shrank.
This caused hammers to hit the wrong strings and the wippens to wear in
weird ways when they shifted.
Many more cracks in the soundboard than expected.
No crown left in the soundboard.
All the timber's glue joints loose around the firewall of the grand. (under
the dampers.
Wide cracks in the keybed which I had never seen.

I have had spinets with long time damp chasers that I suggested piano
replacement because they were no longer usable pianos and they were not
worth the money to restore.

Perhaps you could find the same problems in Arizona but they should not
arise in more humid climes.

D.L. Bullock
www.thepianoworld.com
St. Louis