damp chaser

[Jeff Tanner]

>>         Dampp Chasers are a must for any hope of stable tunings  in
>>these situations. The problem is getting someone responsible for caring
>>for  it (even after the custodians unplug it to vacuum and forget to plug
>>it in  again). I measured relative humidity in a situation like that and
>>during  the course of 2 days it fluctuated from 25-72% and the temp from
>>64-78 deg.  Rusty strings are another problem. Someone else may some
>>input here.       Dennis
>
>   
>>>Do any  of you have experience with Damp Chasers in choral rehearsal rooms
>>>that  are terribly small, without particularly good ventilation?   I  was
>>>visiting a small local college to attend a Chorale rehearsal, and  noted
>>>the Steinway D was in horrible shape, with strings very rusted,  and
>>>tuning a mess.
>>>
>>>My guess is that radical shifts in  humidity on a daily basis may account
>>>for a fair amount of  this.   I'd like to hear if experienced folks think
>>>that Damp  Chaser might be the solution to the trouble, and if, perhaps,
>>>more than  the average number of heating rods might be necessary because
>>>of the very  quickly changing conditions.
>>>
>>>Thanks for any thoughts
>>>les  bartlett
>>>houston
>


This summer I installed 10 systems in Steinway B's in Piano Faculty
studios.  Wonderful new facility is 5 years old, as are 77 of the
instruments (including these), but the 1st thing cut out of the budget was
humidity control-- and the temperature control leaves more than a lot to be
desired.  Had been experiencing extremes from 22% to 77% humidity during
the year with shifts as large as 20-30 points overnight sometimes.  This,
even after humidification for winter (supposedly) was added last fall
(though nobody around here knows exactly what we actually got for the money
we paid).

We are just now going through the 1st fall weather/humidity change, and
humidity levels are FINALLY dropping from the 60-70% range they've been at
since May.  But I'm just now retuning these Dampp-Chaser equipped pianos
which were tuned at the start of the semester (mid August), and finding
that pitch raising isn't nearly the issue it was last year.  At least so
far.  But nobody has fussed about tuning until the weather took a big
change last weekend.  I think they're working.

Concerning rusty strings, I don't know of a grand piano in a college
setting in our humid area of the world, which is more than 10 years old and
DOESN'T have rusty/corroded strings.  If your D is in a choral rehearsal
room, it's probably been retired from a concert setting where it had
already been worn to a frazzle -- or bought used real cheap.  I've got 2 of
its cousins downstairs.

I do have one question about how to handle these systems during Christmas
break.  Everyone is gone around here from 2 days before Christmas until Jan
3.  Last January we came back to one of those overnight humidity changes,
and found the building at 22% -- a huge change from the mid 40's before we
left, but by the end of the week it was back into the 40's again.  Needless
to say, my week's work was wasted.

Question is:  Turn'em off?  Nobody'll be here to water them, and they could
potentially need it daily.

Thanks,










Jeff Tanner, Piano Technician
School of Music
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
(803)-777-4392 (phone)
(803)-777-6508 (fax)