damp chaser

[Clyde Hollinger]

Jeff,

That's about twelve days.  Here in PA it will sometimes take that long for the
light to blink if it's just been filled.  When the light blinks, the tank still
has some water in it which will last a while longer.  I am not aware of any
instances when a piano would call for water daily if the directions are followed.

I would make sure that the water tanks are full right before leaving for
Christmas vacation.  Since the light won't likely be blinking, you'll have to
find a way to know how much water you can put in the system without making
trouble.  Check them first thing when you get back.  My guess is that even if the
light is blinking you will find most or all of the pads wet if you reach up and
feel them.

Even if they are dry, I wouldn't retune the pianos right away; wait at least a
week if you can.  Surprisingly, as the system corrects the humidity of the
soundboard, the tuning will get better also, sometimes almost returning to where
it was before it ran out of water.  It still would be best if someone could check
the pianos once or twice during the break.

Regards,
Clyde Hollinger, RPT

Jeff Tanner wrote:

> 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.
>
> 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.