Puzzler: instant rust

[David Vanderhoofven]

Hi Dave

Part of the problem is the piano is sitting directly on a painted cement slab
floor.  Cement lets moisture through easily.  If there is any moisture under
the cement, it will seep through.

I have a customer that found out later that their house was built over an
underground spring.  Even in the middle of freezing weather, the humidity in
the house never goes below about 70% RH.  That is very high, considering that
most houses in SW Missouri are at about 25% RH to 30% RH right now.

Dave, I would encourage you to purchase a digital hygrometer today and take it
with you to every tuning appointment.  The digital hygrometer is a very handy
diagnostic tool, to point out to customers problems that may damage the piano.

"Mrs. Jones, your house is currently 70% Relative Humidity today, and that
means that your piano will rust out very quickly if you don't do something to
lower the humidity.  If there is a lot of moisture in the air, it will soak
into the wooden parts of the piano.  But the moisture will just sit on the
surface of the metal parts, including the tuning pins and strings and cause
rust.  I don't know when the rust will start, but I need to let you know that
there is a very high potential of serious damage being done to your piano. 
Considering you just paid $27,000.00 for your piano, I would like to encourage
you to take whatever steps are necessary to prevent the need for expensive
work, such as restringing your piano, replacing the pinblock or
repairing/replacing the soundboard.

Mrs. Jones, the high humidity levels I am reading today may just be an
anomaly,
but I would encourage you to do something very soon to protect your investment
in the piano.  Your piano is designed to give you a lifetime of service, but
extremes in humidity will shorten the life of your piano dramatically.  My job
is to tune your piano, but also to warn you of problems that may seriously
damage your piano.  I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't let you know what
will probably happen as a result of the high humidity."

At this point in my conversation with Mrs. Jones I would discuss the pros/cons
of  
a.  climate control of the whole house
b.  room humidifiers/dehumidifiers
c.  having pointed out the shortcomings of the two above options, I would try
to sell her a Dampp-Chaser "Piano Life-Saver" Humidity Control System,
consisting of an H-4 humidistat, humidifier, Smart Heater Bar, a 24" 25 watt
dehumidifier, a 48" 50 watt dehumidifier, low water warning light panel and
water fill kit, along with a cloth undercover.

Dave, it is very likely that the rust is caused by the cement slab floor
and/or
poor drainage under the foundation of the house.  You also don't mention where
you live, because that makes a big difference.  If you live in Florida, high
humidity is par for the course, and the piano will probably rust out shortly. 
If you live in Colorado, I would be doubly concerned, because the average
humidity is very low in Colorado and rust is not very common.

Dave, does your customer leave their windows open during rainstorms, or use a
swamp cooler?  How well is the house insulated?  Do they live near a swamp,
lake, river or ocean?

They need to get the piano off of the cement floor as soon as possible.  Your
customer is depending on you to be the expert here.  You need to help them
protect their investment in the piano.

Sincerely,

David Vanderhoofven
Joplin, MO


At 04:42 AM 2/13/2004 -0700, you wrote: 
>
> Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2004 00:57:39 EST
> From: Piannaman@aol.com
> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject: Puzzler: instant rust
>
> Listers, 
>
> I had a tuning today on a brand new Kawai RX-3 6 foot 2 grand.  The piano
has
> been in the house for maybe 3 months.  It was closed up tight, but when I
> opened it, I saw that rust was already starting to form on the strings
and on
> some of the pins.  I was shocked, and was at a loss to figure out how this
> could happen, especially in a house with radiant heating(that's another
> issue).   
>
> It is on caster cups on a painted cement slab floor, and there are no plants
> in the room. 
>
> I had a few ideas, and I'm pretty sure I figured out the reason for this
> early oxidation, especially after talking to the rather freaked-out owner
> tonight. 
>
> So what, in your esteemed opinions, might this be caused by? 
>
> Dave "rust never sleeps and neither do I" Stahl