Hi Ruth, As you know I'm no stranger to climate systems , having installed 200 or so in the last 10 yrs. , all supplied by you.(I'll be calling in the am to order more). Thanks to all on this list for sage advice and good council. Rick Ucci/ Ucci Piano On Jan 17, 2010, at 8:34 PM, "Ruth Phillips" <ruth at alliedpiano.com> wrote: > Rick, > > You've gotten some great answers. Listen to Dr. Will as he knows > whereof he speaks, being of the frozen tundra section of the US, > and a smart guy to boot. > > In my area as well, RH goes from below Death Valley levels (way lower > than 20%), to 85-90%. NH has longer periods of the extreme lows, and > a lot more people with wood stoves. > > As to educating your client - manufacturers and PTG are our very > best resources. Manufacturers have, since time began, been telling > their > consumers how to care for pianos. Use their literature. The people > who made the piano have sage words on maintenance. PTG has produced > wonderful hand-outs/mailers for the same purpose. Consumers > need to know that this is not just a sales pitch, it's physics. > Dampp-Chaser has an excellent package of educational materials. > > I have a habit of looking around the room for vents, radiators, cold > air returns etc. on my first visit. That is the time to bring it up. > If I don't, when the inevitable occurs, it's my reputation on the > line. > > Key point: > > Do everything possible for the room, but not to the point where you > will damage the structure of the home if you add any more moisture. > (Use the well-known Bemis chart as a guide to maximum room RH at given > outdoor/indoor temperature levels.) Put in a full DC system. Use > an undercover, and add a string cover, if needed. > > Especially due to your location: > > Lower the moisture level in the humid seasons to an approximation of > what you can achieve by raising it in the dry season, thereby > minimizing > the drastic change. I started playing with this in about 1982 with a > customer who had a stream under her house (wooded lot). > I decided to expand this quest after getting the desired results, and > got to where I would go, at no charge to the customer, to check the > pitch > in the tenor, to see what was was going on with the humidity > levels. I > can't tell you how much I learned. After a couple of years of this > at the business' expense, I could be pretty sure of what to expect. I > was making additions in wattage, re-arranging components, whatever it > took to get the pitch of F3 (or comparable) to settle down > through seasonal shifts. In those days it meant adding lots of short > extra rods. I hope this is helpful. > Best regards, > Ruth > > Ruth Phillips > ruth at alliedpiano.com > > > >> The pan on the stove is a drop in the bucket (or pan) in terms of the > humidity control needed. It will lend the false sense that something > meaningful is being done, when that pan is inadequate to the task. > >> The conversation I have with my wood stove customers goes thusly: > >> Here in New Hampshire with our long, cold, and very dry winters, a >> wood > stove in the same room with a piano is ultimately the kiss of death. > Relative Humidity can drop below 20% in deep winter, and the > corresponding > EMC of the wood can floor out in the 4% range, which is drier than > most of > the components in the factory ever were dried to. We know what > happens to > soundboards, etc. > >> The best thing to do is move the piano to another room away from >> the wood > stove. They should not be together. > >> If the piano must remain in the same room, it is imperative to get >> a large > humidifier and put it in that room, along with a decent quality room > hygrometer. Try to get the RH over 30 % if possible. 40% is better > but > that is limited by the condensation on the windows that may form. > But as > high as possible without damaging the window frames from the dripping > condensation. You may find the humidifier is putting 3 or 4 gallons > of water > a day into the interior air. > >> Install a damp chaser in the piano as well. > >> Tune after the major humidity shifts so that the tuning will last >> as long > as > possible. The October tuning means that her piano is going to smack > into the > dropping pitch wall sometime in December or early January. You could > be the > finest tuner on the planet, and the pitch is still going to fall > through the > floor. Hell, you could tune it a week before and the result will > still be > the same. > >> Tell her that once a year is inadequate to her needs and the >> setting the > piano is in. Two minimum, probably more. > >> I would have forewarned this customer back in October that all bets >> would > be > off as far as tuning would be concerned once she got seriously into > the > heating season with a wood stove. That way when the tuning goes > kablooey, > she will know that was the predicted result that came true. If you > do go > back to tune it, paid or unpaid, take pitch readings of say every > octave on > C, and show her the results. > >> What I might do to meet her in the middle a bit would be to offer >> to drop > by > and spend half an hour talking with her about humidity control on > your dime, > but that if she wished you to retune the piano, that would be full > price, as > you are not the cause of the tuning instability. The inference that > goes > with tuning the piano again for free is that it was your fault that > it went > out of tune in the first place - which it is NOT. > >> Good luck. > >> Will Truitt > >
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