Hi Mark, To quote from the Warden in Cool Hand Luke, "What we have here, is failure to communicate". Steinway suggests humidity levels not be allowed to vary outside the limit of 45% to 50%. In most of North America that would require a "purpose built" building such as an Art Gallery with buffer zones nested one inside the other going from uncontrolled to very carefully controlled. There is no question a wonderfully controlled location is the ne plus ultra for a piano--but only folks who are "out of this world" rich can afford to accommodate such a situation. If the tuner communicates with the client about maintenance of the piano lifesaver system, then except in rare cases the unit will operate correctly. The systems have been improved over the years to give the client more "feedback". There is a need where I live for the pads to be changed at least 4 and perhaps 6 times per year unless distilled or reverse osmosis water is used. I train my clients to be able to service their lifesaver systems--and I build the training into the fee that is charged for installation. Again where I live, humidity levels go from 4% to 84% (not my figures--they are from Environment Canada). When I can come back in a year and find a quality upright piano not out of tune more than 2 cents on any note I'm more than pleased with what Piano Lifesaver systems can do. We also get to below -40 C most years. I have many institutional clients that also service the systems properly. Where I live cracked soundboards are common--except in pianos with Lifesaver Systems. I did see a crack once--in a piano where no one would add water--but that was before the days of auto shut off. That location has another piano without a control system with multiple cracks--so perhaps the years that the system was in operation did do some good by limited the crack to *just* one. Just remember the Warden from Cool Hand Luke. At 10:26 AM 4/3/2009 +0000, you wrote: > Hello, >As for the piano life-saving system, while they work well when properly >installed, I have seen them poorly installed buzzing on the soundboard, >dumping massive amount of humidity into the piano soaking the felt, I have >also seen them work to crack a soundboard. they MUST be installed correctly, >and with the understanding that proper maintenance is a MUST. I almost never > recommend the piano life-saver system in a home. It is always better to >regulate the humidity in the room. The moisture king system works to do this >quite well. I even have some customers who have gone to the expense of >installing a humidity system into their heat pump. this is far better for >every aspect of the home as well as the piano. Either way, if you install >the life-saver system, be sure to do a good job for the sake of the piano. Regards, Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.P.T. Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat mailto:pianotuna48 at yahoo.com http://us.geocities.com/drpt1948/ 3004 Grant Rd. REGINA, SK, S4S 5G7 306-539-0716 or 1-888-29t-uner
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