> Interesting. We have pretty radical humidity swings here in Indiana, but I > am finding lots of pianos with a DC system and cover on a regular schedule > to be +/- 1 cent. In fact, just last Friday I tuned a G5 with full system > that was -4 cent and I was surprised it was out that much. I have found, > generally, that adding the cover will keep it more stable than that. > Dean So I hear, and it would certainly be a welcome change from what I'm used to. Heck, I've *always* been willing to be spoiled. But I've not sold, nor even seen locally, a D-C installation with either back or bottom cover. In the unlikely event that there is a D-C at all, and it is against all odds still plugged in and has water in the tank, the over the top cover just means I get to wait for the strings to settle down from the temperature difference before I can tune it, and the low tenors are still out by more than 4c at that. Just for the record, I think the D-C system is terrific. The problems tend to be associated with the willingness of the piano owners to spend the time, money, and brain cells to listen to the education attempts, see the value of the system, and be willing to spend the money to install it and the time maintaining it. I don't think I've tuned a D-C equipped piano that I haven't at least once found unplugged or dry. For too many of them, this is the expected condition. For the most part, I find people will more likely put up with 10c-20c pitch changes twice a year and suffer the result than to buy a humidity control system that they have to maintain in any way. I don't get it, but that's what I find here. The other side of that is those who have purchased the system, and can't seem to grasp the concept of how it works, despite repeated description/quiz attempts. They seem to think the unit contains tuning, and is to be plugged in only to refill the piano when the tuning gets "noticeably" rough or they receive some sort of cosmic vibe telling them it's time. And those lights are blinking again, but they still don't know what that means - if they notice, or don't unplug it to make the lights stop. Surely all these people don't work at the DMV, but maybe so. Again, I don't get it. Then I get the "I thought this was supposed to keep the piano in tune" posture three years after installation, when they finally give up on the unit "healing" the tuning and call me to complain. Yes, I explained in detail but, no, it didn't stick. Maybe it's just Uncle Wookie's quantum mechanics' rule of localized reality that doesn't apply outside my personal Schwarzschild radius. Wouldn't be the first time it's happened. Comes with being a quantum mechanic, I guess... Ron N
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