damp chaser

[Farrell]

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Terry Farrell
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----- Original Message -----=20
From: "D.L. Bullock" <dlbullock@att.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, July 29, 2002 11:35 AM
Subject: RE: damp chaser


> I seldom if ever suggest a damp chaser.  As you know I restore older =
pianos.
> When I get a piano that has a damp chaser installed and it has been =
there
> all the life of the piano, I also find many problems directly caused =
by the
> heat.  Though it was worse in Texas where there was low humidity, I =
also
> find it here in St. Louis as well.  The damp chaser is for pianos that =
are
> in damp basements and the dehumidifier does not work well enough.

Yes, a proper installation should provide good benefit in such an =
environment, but they are also for any room where the relative humidity =
level is not ideal. I have a system on my grand in my living room and it =
performs very well indeed.

> Granted, the ones I have removed from pianos being restored were the
> unswitched model,

End of story right there. This is like buying a car, jamming the =
accelerator to the floor and complaining  that the car is bad because =
every time you try and use a car all it ever does is go 120 mph down the =
road and crash into a telephone pole. The secret (I never thought this =
was a secret) is regulating the system. In a car we have an accelerator =
that can be engaged or disengaged. The car also has a brake. The DC rod =
should ALWAYS be installed with a humidistat. If you use a humidistat, =
you will NOT have a damaged piano.

> but I have found the following problems directly caused by
> a damp chaser:
> All action parts screws loose--flanges shrank.

Did you measure the flanges? How do you know they shrank? What was the =
original size? What was the shrunk size? I have seen many new and old =
pianos with action parts screws loose - with no DC installed. The first =
piano repair I ever did was to my own new 1098 - tightening all the =
action screws because hammers were drifting out of alignment. Every =
screw was loose - no DC.

> This caused hammers to hit the wrong strings and the wippens to wear =
in
> weird ways when they shifted.

OK.

> Many more cracks in the soundboard than expected.

How many cracks were expected?

> No crown left in the soundboard.

Well, that would certainly be a first. Has anyone else ever seen this =
condition?

> All the timber's glue joints loose around the firewall of the grand. =
(under
> the dampers.

Hmmmmm.................piano?

> Wide cracks in the keybed which I had never seen.

Did you look?

> I have had spinets with long time damp chasers that I suggested piano
> replacement because they were no longer usable pianos and they were =
not
> worth the money to restore.

And your point is? I have had spinets without long time damp chasers =
that I suggested piano replacement because they were no longer usable =
pianos and they were not worth the money to restore.
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> Perhaps you could find the same problems in Arizona but they should =
not
> arise in more humid climes.

????????????????????
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> D.L. Bullock
> www.thepianoworld.com
> St. Louis
>=20
>=20
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