<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=windows-1252"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1400" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>Greg - the 25 watt rod was = discontinued as a system staple long ago.  </DIV> <DIV>On the soundboard, once compression = has taken place, drying the wood is not going to make it disappear.  When you = install a system you will find that the wood changes - that is about all you can = say with certainty.  With the right equipment, properly installed, the = system will stabilize the wood.  Once it stabilizes, you can make = corrections based on what you find at that point.  It may take some time as = there will be residual change, such as there is when you change pitch.  Every = change causes reactions, and you keep at it until the change is so miniscule = that the reaction is meaningless.</DIV> <DIV>I hope this helps to clarify what = you found.</DIV> <DIV>Ruth Phillips</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Greetings listers,          I have = recently installed a standard Dampp-Chaser ,ok,ok, Piano=20 Life Saver = system on a small 5 foot something Petrof grand. The reason = for= =20 installation was to try and diminish or eliminate some compression ridges=20 in it's = soundboard. After installation I asked the customer to wait a month= =20 or so and call me for a tuning once it has had a = chance to settle down as=20 per my normal procedure. The month came and I = went out to tune and found no= =20 appreciable difference in the = compression ridges. The customer and I are=20 concerned that the system is less = effective than we would like it to be.=20 After a couple conversations with Becky = first and then Roger at the Piano=20 Life Saver Systems offices I hadn't = really reached any iron clad=20 conclusions but I did have more information.          One of = the observations that my customer had was that the = rearward= =20 mounted heating rod was getting much hotter than the long one mounted near= =20 the keybed. Since I have the distinct advantage of = living rather close to=20 this customer I went right over. We plugged both rods = directly into an=20 extension cord and then directly into the wall outlet to = eliminate anything= =20 weird in the control unit or the 1-3 plug = adapter. The results were the=20 same. The long rod was much cooler than the = short rod. I looked for the=20 markings on the rods and they both are 25 watt. = Now that makes a little bit= =20 of sense. The 25 watts will have much = more of an affect on a piece of metal= =20 half the size of the other = one. My question to all of you who have ever=20 installed or thought about = installing one of these systems is; "Does this=20 not create an imbalance = where the sole purpose of installing a system such= =20 as this is to gain = balance?". Simple logic would seem to dictate that the=20 short rod being = hotter than the long one would make the tail of the piano=20 warmer and = therefore dryer than the front under the belly rail.          If my logic = holds up I think that there are a few consequences=20 here. First and foremost = these standard systems should be discontinued or=20 changed in some way = to achieve the balance that we are purchasing the=20 system for in the first = place. Secondly, there are quite a few systems out= =20 there that = probably should have a second look and a swap of heater rods.=20 I'm rather = concerned that a first time installer expecting the stability=20 touted by = not only the company but my many of us who have installed systems= =20 in = the past simply will not have that experience with the current standard= =20 system. It may have some effect but certainly = not what it could by = my=20 thinking.          = I must confess to never having given much though to the various=20 configurations possible with these systems. I was = operating under the=20 assumptions that someone else has figured out all this = already and all I=20 need to do is follow the directions and I will be able to have = the same=20 success that others claim. Once the systems I've put on in = the past were=20 installed I didn't go looking for trouble. If no one = complained I figured=20 all was going as planned. I will have to rethink that = strategy obviously.          I would = encourage all of you who have any interest at all to share= =20 your = observations not only with this list but also with the fine folks at=20 Piano = Life Saver Systems and also all of the suppliers and resellers for=20 these = systems. I say this because I wish I had been warned and purchased = a= =20 system with one 2 ft. 25 watt rod and one 4 ft 50 watt rod to achieve = the=20 balance I'm looking for. I personally would like to see the standard 2 ft=20 25 = watt and 4 ft 25 watt configuration discontinued. I'd love to know = what= =20 YOU think. Greg Newell Greg's piano Fort=E9 <A href="mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net">mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net</A><BR= > P.S. you should know that Becky and Roger at Piano Life Saver Systems were= =20 extremely helpful and congenial as always. =20 </DIV></BODY></HTML>