[CAUT] large and rapid humidity changes!

[Paul T Williams]

Richard and all,

The damage is starting to become apparant to the Steinway.  Two weeks ago, 
the local chapter was blessed to have Wally Brooks for an all day seminar. 
 It regarded tone building among other things.  I learned quite a bit and 
decided to perform some tone building of my own on this instrument while 
the students were out on T-Day break.  The first thing I did was tighten 
everything I could find on the cabinet,plate, etc.  The plate bolts turned 
nearly 1/4 turn!!  No doubt due to the crazy humidity fluxes.  I was able 
to turn most other screws, but nothing of this magnitude.  I will be going 
to all pianos in the building and record the results.

You others that also have humidity challenges might try tightening your 
plate bolts too and let me know if you get such noticable outcomes.

Thanks for all your input,  My report will be thoughtful and insightful 
upon compiling my data.

Good times ahead!

Paul T. Williams RPT





"rwest1 at unl.edu" <rwest1 at unl.edu> 
Sent by: caut-bounces at ptg.org
11/28/2006 01:31 PM
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Re: [CAUT] large and rapid humidity changes!






Wim,

The picture was sent up the food chain, but I don't know how far up 
it got.  The problem was treated as an emergency, so that the 
maintenance people were right there to see what they could do.  They 
followed up for several days after the problem was "fixed", so I 
couldn't complain about their service or the desire to get things 
fixed.  The problem is beyond simple fixes, however.  The HVAC has 
been causing problems in that room for a couple years now and 
evidently continues to need periodic attention.  It's not a problem 
that occurs daily, at least not while I was there, but something gets 
screwed up every few months or so.

Money does get spent.  A year or two ago a wad was spent replacing 
the HVAC in one of the recital halls.  The emergency there was pigeon 
poop and a pile of dead birds.   You can imagine the stench that was 
starting to permeate the hall.

There is a lot of deferred maintenance on campus.  Nebraska voters 
want taxes cut, and spending reduced.  As long as that mood exists, 
they'll have foggy rooms, and pay more in the long run for what 
should be routine maintenance.  At least that's my take on the real 
cause of the problem.

Having said all that, I hope you all don't get the impression that 
the University of NE is falling apart.  There are a lot of good 
things happening there.  With all the recent budget cutting around 
the nation, I think NE fared better than some universities.  New 
buildings go up.  Renovations of old buildings get done.  It's just 
hard to know when the music school renovations will move to the top 
of the priority list.  For Paul's sake, I hope it's sooner rather 
than later.

Richard


On Nov 28, 2006, at 10:49 AM, Willem Blees wrote:

> Richard
>
> Was this picture shown to the higher ups at the university? I can't
> imagine how a HVAC system that produced this kind of atmosphere inside
> a lecture hall could be considered a non emergency problem. The
> effects of this kind of humidity on not only the instruments, but the
> building itself should warrant immediate action. It would seem to me
> that putting a new HVAC system in this building would be much cheaper
> than replacing all the wood, electrical wiring, lights, etc, not to
> mention the audio visual equipment, screens and instruments.
>
> Wim
>
>
> Quoting "rwest1 at unl.edu" <rwest1 at unl.edu>:
>
>> The room Paul is talking about has had problems for years.  The
>> building simply needs a new HVAC system, but it's not high on the
>> university priority list.  The room in question has gotten worse in
>>
>> recent years. The complaints would go in and the facilities people
>> would come over right away.  They were cooperative, but the problem
>>
>> was bigger than a quick fix.  The problem would be okay for awhile,
>>
>> but inevitably return.  I took pictures to prove how bad it got.
>> These were taken in May, just before I retired.  It was so damp it
>> was foggy and water was dripping from the ceiling.  Not good for the
>>
>> pianos or for the electrical stuff either.
>>
>> Richard West
>>
>> On Nov 27, 2006, at 11:28 AM, Paul T Williams wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Hi list,
>>>
>>> We have a classroom/recital hall with a huge humidity problem.  Has
>>
>>> anyone else had this problem:
>>>
>>> The room seats about 200 and has a Steinway D from the late 70's
>>> and a harpsichord.  The room can change by 30-40% or more in a
>>> day!  Over the T-Day  weekend I put in one of those small
>>> humidistat from Pianotek and it showed a range of 24-80%!!!  Not
>>> only are my tunings worthless for recitals if I tune in the morning
>>
>>> and the concert is in the evening (as some days, that is the only
>>
>>> time the room is available),  but it has got to be wrecking havock
>>
>>> on the instruments. It doesn't have a piano life saver system in
>>> it, and I wonder how much it would help with such wild swings.  I
>>
>>> and all the faculty have complained about it (apparantly for years
>>
>>> prior to my getting here this year) and nothing gets done.
>>>
>>> Can I do more that just cover them and go ahead and put a DC system
>>
>>> on it?  They do have thick blanket style covers on them.
>>>
>>> Sweating to the oldies in Lincoln....
>>>
>>> Paul
>>
>>
>
>
> Willem Blees, RPT
> Piano Tuner/Technician
> School of Music
> University of Alabama
> Tuscaloosa, AL USA



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