Piano On Ice.

Don drose@dlcwest.com
Sun, 19 Oct 1997 20:28:01 -0600


Hi Roger, :)

In Regina and Saskatoon according to Environment Canada 4% to 84% *EVERY
YEAR*. I have measured as low as 4%, but of course, at so low a level the
gauge is *suspect*.


At 01:41 PM 10/19/97 -0700, you wrote:
>Danny Moore wrote:
>> 
>> NBWW@aol.com wrote:
>> 
>> > I have this theory that as the temperature goes down, the humidity goes up,
>> > thus the piano sits in a relatively stable environment. It may be -10
degrees F
>> > outside but thr relative humidity can be
>> > as high as 70 %.
>> 
>> Could you expand on that theory please?  I had always assumed that the
relative
>> humidity approached 0% as the temperature dropped below freezing since any
>> moisture that had been in the atmosphere would be frozen and thus removed
from
>> its vaporous state.  This should remain true inside a non-heated building as
>> well.  It seems that the only humidity would be a result of the heating of a
>> building for short periods of time, say for Sunday services, which would
result
>> of condensation as a result of the radical temperature change.
>> 
>> Those of us here in the swamp are not familiar with that since (1) it only
>> freezes about once every 5 years and (2) we rarely see the relative
humidity drop
>> below 80%.  All comments and observations are welcomed.
>> 
>> Regards from the land of mold, mildew and allergies.
>> 
>> Danny Moore
>> Houston Chapter
>Hi Danny,
>          Here in the far frozen north our winter temperature gets below
>-40 degrees but the RELATIVE humidity can be 80%. If you were to warm up
>a cubic meter of that air to 70F the RH or RELATIVE humidity at that
>temperature would be almost non exsistant.   The key word here is
>relative, The 100% RH is the maximum amount of water vapour the a given
>amount of air can hold, once you reach that point it either rains,
>hails. or snows. Commonly refered to as the dew point. Piano wise we
>encounter different problems than you would encounter in the swamp
>lands. Cracks rattles loose pinning due to shrinkage ect.  Green centre
>pins for instance is a sure sign that the piano has not spent its life
>in the hinterland.  As a piano warms up, the warm air has a higher dew
>point and no doubt a resonable amount of RH. Therefore when this
>moisture laden air comes in contact with the cold object the temperature
>drops past its dew point hence the condensation.  To avoid this
>condensation when we uncrate pianos in the winter we wrap them in thick
>moving blankets right to the floor and leave them for 48Hrs. I have
>uncrated pianos that have been exposed to extremely low temperatures and
>seen them turn white with frost in minutes. The piano was so cold that
>two things happened, First the dew point was passed to create water
>second the object was so cold that it immediately froze the water.
>  I think I remember Damp Chaser had a nice little blurb that explains
>RH and dew points ect. Or maybe You can find a basic physics book that
>covers the complete subject Altitude also has an effect.
>Hope this helps
>Roger
>
>
>
Regards,
Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.M.T., R.P.T.
"Tuner for the Centre of the Arts"
drose@dlcwest.com
3004 Grant Rd.
REGINA, SK
S4S 5G7
306-352-3620 or 1-888-29t-uner



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