rusted piano strings

[Farrell]

I'll buy what you say Ron. Some of that did occur to me, but I felt that the 
strings would warm fairly quickly and that any short period of time where a 
small amount of moisture might be on the strings would not be significant. 
Perhaps doing that twice a week (don't forget Wednesday evening), 52 weeks 
per year, over some number of years is enough to become significant.

Terry Farrell

----- Original Message ----- 
>> If the entire room environment reaches the dew point...... No, this 
>> likely didn't even happen in New Orleans during/after Katrina.
>
> The entire room environment doesn't have to reach the dew point, only the 
> strings. That isn't that far fetched when the room cools down at night, 
> and both the temperature and moisture content of the air rise in the 
> morning before the strings catch up. For instance, if the piano was down 
> to 60° during the night, and is subjected to 70+° air at 60%RH or higher 
> when the heat cycles up and the lid is opened (or cover removed), the 
> strings are at or below the dew point of the room air. They won't have to 
> actually drip to be damaged, but it is an entirely possible situation.
>
>
>> The only way dew point could be reached on piano strings would be if the 
>> room was cold and somehow was rapidly heated AND the humidity was raised 
>> to a very high level.
>
> Like turning on the heat and filling the room with people as the piano 
> lags 20° behind, or opening the doors to a room air conditioned to 73°, 
> and letting in 85° 75% outside air in? Again, not that far fetched.
>
>
>> Now it certainly could happen if maybe the piano was stored in an 
>> unheated building in a cold climate and was then moved into a warm room 
>> of moderate humidity - then, yes, you could actually have water 
>> condensate on the strings.
>
> You don't have to be able to see the water for it to be there, and I 
> expect it doesn't take much.
>
> Just an observation from the cheap seats.
>
> Ron N