even more Dampp-Chaser thoughts

[Alan]

I think there are so many factors. One of the biggest is diligence of the
owner in monitoring the system and adding water. Remember that if the tank
runs dry, the humidifier rod is still heating so the system is working
backwards, i.e., it's drying out the piano when you want it to be adding
moisture.

The other day I tuned a 10-year-old Wurlitzer grand that I had installed a
DC in without an undercover (before they made them). The piano sits in a BIG
living room with very high, A-frame type ceilings (considerable air movement
through several doors and hallways). There is a big stone fireplace,
occasionally used. The front door opens directly off this room. Anyway, I
hadn't seen the piano for about 8 months and was astonished at how close to
tune it was. I honestly (or dishonestly, as the case may be) could have just
cleaned up the unisons and walked out the door! The owner is very good at
monitoring her system.

Could tell almost the identical story on an old Quarter-grand Chick that
went from lousy to amazing at holding its tune--have to credit the DC.

On the other hand ... I installed a bunch of DCs in pianos owned by the
Army. I find most of them dry or screaming for water and/or unplugged on
every tuning call. These pianos are always pretty far out of tune by 6
months.

Alan R. Barnard
Salem, MO


-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Bec and John
Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 9:36 PM
To: Pianotech
Subject: even more Dampp-Chaser thoughts


Hi,

It's been about 3 months since my first dampp-chaser installation. I 
did a tuning about 4-5 weeks after the installation. In addition, I did 
a big touch up of unisons and octaves mid-December.

Just recently I checked this piano (a Boston GP-193) and was surprised 
just how out the unisons were - I was expecting some noticeable 
improvement in the stability of the piano's tuning. Unfortunately I 
don't keep any kind of detailed notes about the state of the piano's 
tuning when I tune it, but from my memory (I've been tuning it for 
around 2 years, very regularly) it doesn't seem any more stable.

Any thoughts from those with much experience with dampp-chasers?

Thanks.

-- John

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