Hi: I hope the subscribers of this list don't mind a question from somebody who is not a tuner or technician. I own two Steinway grands: a model D less than a year old, and a model B about two years old. My question relates to the necessity of using a Dampp Chaser system. On the model D, the dealer installed a Dampp Chaser system and it has always concerned me that the long rods are very hot -- you can't even touch them for more than a few seconds. I brought this to the attention of the dealer's technician and he moved them down a couple inches (thereby adding more holes to the piano woodwork!). But still they remain very hot. On the other hand, the Dampp Chaser wants a drink every week! So it seems that the system is fighting itself. The final straw is that I just bought a couple hand-held hygrometers (I got two different ones to, hopefully, make sure they were in the ballpark with their humidity readings). In the room with the model D, the humidity is consistently between 40% and 50%, which sounds good. In a nutshell, is a Dampp chaser necessary in my scenario, and does it appear to be malfunctioning since it is always very hot to the touch, yet wants to be filled with water each week? Thanks very much for your comments. Frank Leister Mechanicsburg, PA
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