Humidistat location in spinet

Clyde Hollinger cedel@supernet.com
Thu, 16 Aug 2001 07:41:14 -0400


Friends,

I believe it was Terry Farrell who mentioned that the humidistsat is NOT
to hang from the heat rod in a vertical piano, if the humidifier is not
part of the installation.  This quote is from the instructions that come
from Dampp-Chaser with the humidistat:

"3.  If a Humidifier is not included in the installation, attach the
Humidistat to the side of the piano, as high as possible but still under
the key bed with the screws provided.  It may be installed in a vertical
position.  Steps 2, 4, and 6 are not necessary.  Installed in this
location ensures that it receives feedback from the Dehumidifier and can
react accordingly."

Terry mentioned that he had never seen such an installation done by any
other technician, so when I had one to install two days ago I determined
to do it "correctly."  However, this piano was a spinet, with an action
support beam well below the keybed and wooden support blocks on each
side below the beam.  To mount the humidistat below all that would put
it about half way between the keybed and the floor, which in my opinion
was too low.

I briefly considered hanging it from the heat bar as I had always done,
but finally decided to screw it underneath the action support beam,
facing down.  That puts it about three inches directly above where I
located the dehumidifer.

Questions:  Does anyone see a problem with what I did here?  The
humidistat will certainly get feedback from the dehumidifier in that
location.  I will be going back to tune the piano in four weeks and can
make changes at that time if necessary.  Main question:  How much
difference does the location of the humidistat make anyway, when
installed in a small upright?  I tend to think that, while there may be
some locations that would be totally inappropriate (the piano floor, for
instance), there is a lot of latitude in where the thing can go and
still have good results (assuming no water tank now).  Right or wrong?

Regards,
Clyde Hollinger, RPT
Lititz, PA, USA



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