Dampp-chaser observations

[Greg Newell]

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Greetings listers,
         I have recently installed a standard Dampp-Chaser ,ok,ok, Piano=20
Life Saver system on a small 5 foot something Petrof grand. The reason for=
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installation was to try and diminish or eliminate some compression ridges=20
in it's soundboard. After installation I asked the customer to wait a month=
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or so and call me for a tuning once it has had a chance to settle down as=20
per my normal procedure. The month came and I went out to tune and found no=
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appreciable difference in the compression ridges. The customer and I are=20
concerned that the system is less effective than we would like it to be.=20
After a couple conversations with Becky first and then Roger at the Piano=20
Life Saver Systems offices I hadn't really reached any iron clad=20
conclusions but I did have more information.
         One of the observations that my customer had was that the rearward=
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mounted heating rod was getting much hotter than the long one mounted near=
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the keybed. Since I have the distinct advantage of living rather close to=20
this customer I went right over. We plugged both rods directly into an=20
extension cord and then directly into the wall outlet to eliminate anything=
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weird in the control unit or the 1-3 plug adapter. The results were the=20
same. The long rod was much cooler than the short rod. I looked for the=20
markings on the rods and they both are 25 watt. Now that makes a little bit=
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of sense. The 25 watts will have much more of an affect on a piece of metal=
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half the size of the other one. My question to all of you who have ever=20
installed or thought about installing one of these systems is; "Does this=20
not create an imbalance where the sole purpose of installing a system such=
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as this is to gain balance?". Simple logic would seem to dictate that the=20
short rod being hotter than the long one would make the tail of the piano=20
warmer and therefore dryer than the front under the belly rail.
         If my logic holds up I think that there are a few consequences=20
here. First and foremost these standard systems should be discontinued or=20
changed in some way to achieve the balance that we are purchasing the=20
system for in the first place. Secondly, there are quite a few systems out=
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there that probably should have a second look and a swap of heater rods.=20
I'm rather concerned that a first time installer expecting the stability=20
touted by not only the company but my many of us who have installed systems=
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in the past simply will not have that experience with the current standard=
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system. It may have some effect but certainly not what it could by my=20
thinking.
         I must confess to never having given much though to the various=20
configurations possible with these systems. I was operating under the=20
assumptions that someone else has figured out all this already and all I=20
need to do is follow the directions and I will be able to have the same=20
success that others claim. Once the systems I've put on in the past were=20
installed I didn't go looking for trouble. If no one complained I figured=20
all was going as planned. I will have to rethink that strategy obviously.
         I would encourage all of you who have any interest at all to share=
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your observations not only with this list but also with the fine folks at=20
Piano Life Saver Systems and also all of the suppliers and resellers for=20
these systems. I say this because I wish I had been warned and purchased a=
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system with one 2 ft. 25 watt rod and one 4 ft 50 watt rod to achieve the=20
balance I'm looking for. I personally would like to see the standard 2 ft=20
25 watt and 4 ft 25 watt configuration discontinued. I'd love to know what=
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YOU think.

Greg Newell
Greg's piano Fort=E9
mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net

P.S. you should know that Becky and Roger at Piano Life Saver Systems were=
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extremely helpful and congenial as always. =20

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