Disklavier

Anybody looking to purchase a dehumidifier bar for their piano? I have one 
that's only been used once. I bought a DGT2 Disklavier piano and have no need 
for the dehumidifier bar at all.


Josh

I have read that the recommended humidity for a piano is 42%

My DC1A just arrived into my home last week on Wednesday evening, and after
measuring the humidity in the room I am a bit concerned.  The level doesn't
even read on the digital readout - it just reads 'L' for low.  I think it
must be below 10%.

How soon should I try to get a humidifier installed without doing any damage
to the piano?  I am leaning toward getting a whole-house type like
Aprilaire, but if I should get a room unit in there pronto to avoid damage,
I will go buy one.

Your advice is appreciated!

John W. Gewartowski 
Sr. Product Support Engineer, Product Technical Services 
Tyco Healthcare Retail Group 
610-878-3423

John,

If you allow the piano to dry out sufficiently, there is a risk 
(although probably not a great one) of the sound board shrinking and 
cracking.  If it does crack, and you had not maintained its humidity, it 
is quite unlikely that Yamaha would cover the mishap under warranty.

You will save money in frequent tunings if you can get the RH under 
control. Since wood changes dimensions with humidity, you will also get 
the best performance from the action and other wooden parts when the 
dimensions are stabilized. I am convinced that the characteristics of 
felt in the hammers, and, thus the voicing of the instrument, changes 
with RH.

While 42% RH is probably a somewhat arbitrarily chosen value, 
consistency of the RH is important.  You don't want large swings over a 
period of time--such as you might get with sunshine directly on the 
instrument.  You can think of the piano wood as being like a large tank 
with small input and output pipes.  It takes time to get water into it, 
and time for the water to leaks out of it as well.

One solution is to humidify the room--assuming that you can.  (My house, 
for example, does not have an adequate vapor barrier and frost would 
form above the ceiling, which would lead to other problems for me.)  If 
you are able to humidify the room, I wouldn't put the humidier very 
close to the piano where you might run the risk of condensation. 
Keeping a steady value of RH in a room is probably going to require 
feedback--a humidistat control.

Remember that relative humidity is the ratio of the moisture in the air 
to the moisture that the air would contain at saturation (at the same 
temperature and atmospheric pressure).  Other things being equal, 
lowering the room temperature will raise the relative humidity.  It 
takes less water to bring a room up to some RH when the room is cool 
versus warm.

Another solution is to install a Dampp-Chaser humidifier system under 
your grand.  This system uses a humidistat controller to switch on the 
humidifier or the dehumidifier alternately to maintain an average RH of 
42%.  I have one and I'm happy with it.  The only catch is that the 
little humidifier cannot keep up with the dry air in the room unless I 
cover the piano to the floor and to isolate the air beneath it.  (In 
Dampp-Chaser's fine print, they do suggest keeping the piano closed and 
covered.)  I recommend sewing a fabric cover for the piano that will 
reach to the floor.  If you wish, you can monitor the Dampp-Chaser's 
operation by adding pilot lights to the humidifier and dehumidifier AC 
circuits.

As a quick temporary fix, I'd put together a floor length cover for the 
piano (maybe with some extra bed sheets) and suspend a damp bath towel 
beneath the instrument.  You could drape the towel over an inverted 
plastic pail on the floor, for example.

Gewartowski, John wrote:
> I have read that the recommended humidity for a piano is 42%
> 
> My DC1A just arrived into my home last week on Wednesday evening, and after
> measuring the humidity in the room I am a bit concerned.  The level doesn't
> even read on the digital readout - it just reads 'L' for low.  I think it
> must be below 10%.
> 
> How soon should I try to get a humidifier installed without doing any damage
> to the piano?  I am leaning toward getting a whole-house type like
> Aprilaire, but if I should get a room unit in there pronto to avoid damage,
> I will go buy one.
> 
> Your advice is appreciated!
> 
> John W. Gewartowski 
> Sr. Product Support Engineer, Product Technical Services 
> Tyco Healthcare Retail Group 
> 610-878-3423 
> 
> 
> To Post a message to the group, send it to:   disklavier@...
> 
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> 
> Todd's family web site was completely updated 012/22/03.  It contains some fun disklavier content and links to midi sites among many other things, The url is:
> http://MuncyFamily.com 
> 
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> 


-- 
Robert Welcyng
Anchorage, Alaska

Hi

You really need to do something quickly.

It is likely that over time the tuning pins will become loose and tuning will 
be unstable.

While Yamaha seem to survive better than some, I would not risk it.  As 
a temporary measure, even putting a bucket of water somewhere in the 
room will help.

I tell my customers to keep a few plants in the room which they will need 
to water (not near the piano).

Incidently, humidity in the uk is normally around 60 percent.



On 28 Jan 2004 at 17:14, Gewartowski, John wrote:

> I have read that the recommended humidity for a piano is 42%
> 
> My DC1A just arrived into my home last week on Wednesday evening, 
and after
> measuring the humidity in the room I am a bit concerned.  The level 
doesn't
> even read on the digital readout - it just reads 'L' for low.  I think it
> must be below 10%.
> 
> How soon should I try to get a humidifier installed without doing any 
damage
> to the piano?  I am leaning toward getting a whole-house type like
> Aprilaire, but if I should get a room unit in there pronto to avoid 
damage,
> I will go buy one.
> 
> Your advice is appreciated!
> 
> John W. Gewartowski 
> Sr. Product Support Engineer, Product Technical Services 
> Tyco Healthcare Retail Group 
> 610-878-3423 
> 
> 
> To Post a message to the group, send it to:   
disklavier@...
> 
> To Post a private message to Todd Muncy, the group's founder and 
moderator, send it to:
> disklavier-owner@...
> 
> To reach our group's web site go to:
> http://Yahoogroups.com/group/disklavier
> 
> Todd's family web site was completely updated 012/22/03.  It contains 
some fun disklavier content and links to midi sites among many other 
things, The url is:
> http://MuncyFamily.com 
> 
> THINKING OF LEAVING THE GROUP?
> If you are thinking of unsubcribing because you are getting too much 
mail, go the the web site and change your email delivery option instead.  
That will fix the problem, while maintaining your access to the group.  If 
you insist on leaving us completely send a blank email to:
> disklavier-unsubscribe@... 
> 
> Know someone who wants to join?  Have them send a blank email to:
> disklavier-subscribe@... or give them this link:
> http://Yahoogroups.com/group/disklavier/join 
>  
> 
> Yahoo! Groups Links
> 
> To visit your group on the web, go to:
>  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/disklavier/
> 
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>  disklavier-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> 
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
>  http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 
> 
> 


Keith

- -

Keith Barrett


gw4nby

Bridgend
South Wales

--- In disklavier@yahoogroups.com, "Keith Barrett" <keith@b...> wrote:
> Hi
> 
> You really need to do something quickly.
> 
> It is likely that over time the tuning pins will become loose and tuning will 
> be unstable.
> 
> While Yamaha seem to survive better than some, I would not risk it.  As 
> a temporary measure, even putting a bucket of water somewhere in the 
> room will help.
> 
> I tell my customers to keep a few plants in the room which they will need 
> to water (not near the piano).
> 
> Incidently, humidity in the uk is normally around 60 percent.

Hi,

I would say get a good humidifier with a humidistat.  If you have a bucket, nearly all 
the water will still be there at the end of the day doing little good.  The same goes for 
plants, the water needs to be in the air.   My humidifier puts out several pints of water 
per day to keep the right level in winter when the heating is on.

Bob