Damp Chaser in old upright

[jstuart1]

I believe this piano has just the heating rod. I am in Houston so the humidity
here runs from the 40's to the 100 range. I don't believe the bar is on any sort
of timer or other control and the owner indicated that it stays on all the time.
I am not sure what the rating of the rod is.

JStuart

John Ross wrote:

> Initially, I believe only the heating rods were available, initially. People
> were informed to have them on only during periods, of high humidity.
> They would forget, and some pianos, got too dry. The humidistat was
> then made available, then the humidifier. Now we have full systems
> available, that can be customized for most situations.
> I would definitely recommend the full system, for most areas. As with
> everything, there are exceptions. I.e. areas that are always dry, and ones
> that
> are always humid.
> You never specified if it was a full system, and if it was,all working
> properly?
> If it had been there for 25 years, it is probably just a heater bar.
> I don't think that a 25W, heater would have caused that much damage,
> there has to be other additional heat.
> Regards
> John M. Ross
> Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
> piano.tech@ns.sympatico.ca
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "jstuart1" <jstuart1@pdq.net>
> To: "pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Friday, July 06, 2001 8:34 PM
> Subject: Damp Chaser in old upright
>
> > I am currently repairing the action to an old upright built in 1911.
> > This piano has had a Damp Chaser or similar product in it for almost 25
> > years. This is the first piano I have seen that has such a system.
> > Almost all of the sticker felts have come loose, a couple of jacks have
> > become unglued and the catcher buckskins were dry rotted so badly that
> > just a touch causes them to fall off clean to the wood. I have seen wear
> > in these old uprights but while there is definitly wear I have never
> > seen so many glue joints just let go like this. I am curious if this is
> > a result of the Damp Chaser system having been in the piano for over 25
> > years constantly heating the inside.
> >
> > I am merely a beginner but this is the first time I have seen this. This
> > piano has been in a family home since it was originally purchased in
> > 1911 and never stored in a garage or other such area. Instead of
> > moisture damage which I have seen, this appears to have been plain dried
> > out.
> >
> > JStuart
> >
> >