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<DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I have a very firm opinion that whole
room/house/institution humidity control is superior to a standard DC
installation, or even a DC installation with bottom and string
covers.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Now hold the phone before you clobber me - let me explain!
I am also of the opinion that a good DC installation can be very effective for
tuning stability and instrument longevity. I have a good DC dehumidifier
installation on my personal grand piano at home and the piano pitch and tunigns
are rock solid. The better the instrument is isolated from the room, the
better the DC can perform (undercover, string cover, and better yet, a nice
quilted cover with long sides for the entire piano - that is used whenever the
piano is not being played).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>That being said, let's address whole
room/house/institution humidity control (let me use an acronym - my typing
fingers are getting tired - WRHC). IMHO, the key word in this title is
"CONTROL". Mist being sprayed onto a piano is humidity OUT OF CONTROL. A
humidity source with no regulation is humidity OUT OF CONTROL. A room with
a humidity source that is open to other rooms, even if the humidity
source is regulated, likely is humidity OUT OF CONTROL. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>A room with a Sears dehumidifier with a tank that is not
emptied or does not have a functioning drain for water discharge or a room with
some crude humidity source and likely an even more crude regulatory device (if
any such device at all) is humidity OUT OF CONTROL. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>From a practical standpoint, I agree that in many, if not
most, situations, a good DC installation will offer superior performance to
"whole room humidity control", but again that is because most WRHC installations
are poor at best - and not because HVAC is inherently inferior.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Now consider a "proper" WRHC - and really, I think in most
cases, this would be the entire facility - be it an institution or a
home. Most proper systems would be automatic. I'm no HVAC expert, but
I know it requires proper sealing of the building, proper insulation, proper air
movement, proper regulation, etc., etc.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Or, if one is able and willing to manually control
humidity levels, it can be done. I keep my shop between about 48% and 58%
relative humidity 365 days per year. I use a small basement-type dehumidifier,
my wall AC unit, and an accurate relative humidity gauge to manually
regulate humidity. If find that here in Florida I don't need to ever add water
to my shop environment. If I were located elsewhere, obviously things would
become more complicated and perhaps impractical to do manually.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Several examples of proper WRHC would be a good museum
(perhaps like the one that houses one of Christifori's pianos), a modern home
with a central HVAC system that also has a good regulated dehumidifier and
humidifier integral to the system, or something simple like my shop. IMHO, all
three of these examples would offer superior environmental control compared
to a good DC installation. Now again, I realize that most WRHC
installations are crude and ineffective (or even destructive), but to
categorically reject WRHC as inferior to a DC installation is, IMHO, incorrect
(exercising restraint here).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>It's like morphine. Used in a controlled, intelligent
(properly regulated) manner, it can be extremely beneficial. Used in an
uncontrolled manner, it can be deadly. But to categorically reject its use would
be, IMHO, well, you get the idea......</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Nuff said.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Terry Farrell</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV>My (anecdotal) observation is that a standard DC installation on a grand
will not promote oxidation of steel strings and copper windings, while usage
of a room humidifier often will result in rapid accumulation of rust &
dull brown copper windings. If customers are inclined to use a room humidifier
I urge them to keep the lid closed when not in use. Customers sometimes blast
the mist right into the piano -- sigh -- they think they're "doing the right
thing."</DIV>
<DIV><BR class=webkit-block-placeholder></DIV>
<DIV>Patrick Draine</DIV>
<DIV><BR>
<DIV class=gmail_quote>On Feb 18, 2008 12:36 AM, Greg Newell <<A
href="mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net">gnewell@ameritech.net</A>> wrote:<BR>
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<DIV lang=EN-US link="blue" vlink="purple">
<DIV>
<P><SPAN class=Apple-style-span
style="FONT-SIZE: 15px; COLOR: rgb(31,73,125)"> I believe that it's
even a bit of a stretch to claim that it helps to prevent rusty strings in a
grand as the pictures would seems to
indicate. </SPAN></P></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><FONT
size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Cy, the DC unit can't physically put out enough moisture
to control the humidity a room, the action or the pin block. If it did, I
wouldn't have read 15% humidity in the room when I tuned the piano. As I wrote
before, after 6 week the humidity in the room was up to 40% and the pinblock
was back to normal.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>A church is another story. Congregation enters, humidity
goes sky high. Congregation departs humidity drops. That is the one place I
*would* use a DC unit. I would also add a string and undercover. That's
the only way you have some control in a church of keeping a
piano in tune. You then just hope for the best for the action and
pinblock.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Al Guecia</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>What is the difference between a DC humidifier in a piano,
and a room humidifier sitting even farther away from the action
cavity?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>If a gallon of water a week disappears into the air, it
doesn't matter whether it's from a box sitting on the floor or one hanging
under the piano. Humid air from a DC gets into the action cavity the
same way dry air gets in there without a DC.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Sure, whole room humidity control is great, and there are
all kinds of special situations (like the church I had that was built *over*
a stream), but it's inconsistent to argue that DC moisture can't enter the
action cavity, but humid air from a ceiling vent can.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>--Cy--</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>ABQ, NM</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
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<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
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I agree that DC units do not address the pin block in a grand piano. Have
you also noticed that the brochure seems to suggest that it controls
humidity in the action cavity as well? I believe that it’s even a bit of a
stretch to claim that it helps to prevent rusty strings in a grand as the
pictures would seems to indicate. Perhaps that’s different with string
covers but that’s not stated. I wish the pictures would be re-taken
showing upright keys, actions, strings and pin block drawings. It sure
would save a lot of time I spend in educating my
customers.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Greg
Newell</SPAN></P></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>