Cold and dry

[Gene Nelson]

Dean,
Thank you for your reply. I visited the piano yesterday - it has lived in 
this cabin for over 50 years - not even a speck of rust, pins are tight and 
piano pitch was only 8cents flat after not being serviced for 7 years.
We did install the 50 watt de-humidifier tube for periods of excess moisture 
but we decided aginst the humidifier.
They get up to 10 ft or more of show and no visitors from about mid November 
to late spring.
Regards,
Gene
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dean May" <deanmay at pianorebuilders.com>
To: "'Pianotech List'" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 14, 2006 1:27 AM
Subject: RE: Cold and dry


> Well, my experience is totally the opposite. Old country churches, set 
> back
> thermostats or not, tend to have the wildest pitch swings. And complete
> DampChaser systems with covers evens them out, set backs or not.
>
> Speaking of churches with set backs, always remember to tell them to bring
> the church up to the temperature (heat up, or a/c on, depending on the
> season) it will be at during service several hours before you arrive to
> tune. This will make you more comfortable (most important!) and will put 
> the
> piano at its operating conditions, if you will, which will hopefully help
> ensure that the pitch you set it at will be the same pitch it is played at
> in the service.
>
> As to the original question, I don't think over dryness will be an issue 
> in
> an unheated house. Remember it is relative humidity that is the issue.
> Relative humidity can still get pretty high in the winter, else it would
> never snow or sleet. It's when we add the heat to maintain a 60 degree
> temperature differential with the ambient that we drive the relative
> humidity levels extremely low.
>
> If the house is in an area with a lot of winter precipitation consider
> installing a 50 watt bar with dry humidistat to take care of any periods 
> of
> high relative humidity. Otherwise, I would not worry about it being over
> dry. There will be no heat on to over dry the air.
>
> Dean
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On 
> Behalf
> Of Don
> Sent: Friday, October 13, 2006 9:10 AM
> To: Pianotech List
> Subject: RE: Cold and dry
>
> Hi David,
>
> My experience in small country Churches parallel's that of John Ross. The
> pianos don't seem to mind the low humidity--it is just the "change" of
> humidity that needs to be controlled. As temperature drops RH rises. It is
> not uncommon for -30 C to exhibit 80 to 90% R.H. The killer is when that
> "outside" air is warmed up to +20 C (68 F for you metrically challenged
> folks).
>
> In Churches where DC systems are installed and a "set back" thermostat is
> used the results are very poor as far as pitch stability is concerned.
>
> My experiences in the far north where humidity is ultra low suggest that
> low humidity 24/7 is better for an instrument than the rise and fall of
> humidity levels.
>
> At about 2 liters per week an awfully large reservoir would be required.
>
> At 06:34 AM 10/13/2006 -0700, you wrote:
>>         The problem won&#8217;  During the winter where it&#8217;
>>I&#8217;      David Love
>> davidlovepianos at comcast.net
>> www.davidlovepianos.com     -----Original Message-----
>> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On
>>Behalf Of John Ross
>> Sent: Friday, October 13, 2006 6:09 AM
>> To: Pianotech List
>> Subject: Re: Cold and dry       I run across old pianos, in unheated
>>country churches, they seem to hold their tune reasonably well.      They
>>do have the rust problem though, but who knows how long ago it happened.
>>  I think a heater bar, just to keep the moisture down would be adequate,
>>if the rust problem isn't there yet. If it is already rusty, I wouldn't
>>bother, with anything.      That is, if it is just a mediocre piano 
>>anyway.
>>     I would watch which mothballs, I used, as it seems to me the fumes of
>>some are corrosive.      John M. Ross
>> Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
>> jrpiano at win.eastlink.ca
>>       No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free
>>Edition. Version: 7.1.408 / Virus Database: 268.13.3/473 - Release Date:
>>10/12/2006
>
> Regards,
> Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.P.T.
> Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat
>
> mailto:pianotuna at yahoo.com http://us.geocities.com/drpt1948/
>
> 3004 Grant Rd. REGINA, SK, S4S 5G7
> 306-539-0716 or 1-888-29t-uner
>
>
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