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Old 03-08-2014, 07:25 AM
jsanfilippo5 jsanfilippo5 is offline
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Default Humidifier and hygrometers

I have a room humidifer. It seems to work pretty good in terms of getting moisture into the air - But the hygrometer built in o the unit is terrible. When my Hygrometers in the room read 45-50% the hygrometer on the humidifier still read 25%.

So trying to put the unit on auto for 45% does not work it basically runs forever. and its causing things to get too wet now. My j-45 action has come up because of the over-humidification.

I am at work all day and if i keep the humidifier on my secondary hygrometrs read 60+% (the humidifier read 32%) - when I turn the unit off the humidity drops pretty quickly and humidity is back down to 20% by the time i get home from work.

Any one have a solution to make this work properly - Or know of a better humidifier I can buy??
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Old 03-08-2014, 07:35 AM
Long Jon Long Jon is offline
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Tried setting the unit RH lower, to fool it ?
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Old 03-08-2014, 07:54 AM
jsanfilippo5 jsanfilippo5 is offline
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The unit only goes downto 40%
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Old 03-08-2014, 08:22 AM
The Bard Rocks The Bard Rocks is offline
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Default humidifiers and hygrometers

First off, realize that unless you have an expensive hygrometer, that these instruments are notoriously inaccurate. I have three, 2 of them being cheapies. They vary considerably even when sitting next to each other, though I must admit the differences are usually consistant, indicating the problem is more calibration than anything else.

We've tried whole house humidification and the minerals in our well water plugged that up in no time. Room humidifiers were a pain to keep full and I can't see they made much difference as our home has an open floor plan. The humidifier in our attached greenhouse is another matter. Huge; it creates a fog in there every so many minutes. In mild winters, that is all we need to keep the rest of the house in the 40's. This winter is another matter and I have kept everybody in their case with a variety of in-case humidifiers working away. I fill them with distilled water about every 2-3 weeks.
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Old 03-08-2014, 08:22 AM
leatherguy leatherguy is offline
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Would it help to place the humidifier furthest away from your guitar as the room will let you?
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Old 03-08-2014, 09:12 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jsanfilippo5 View Post
…Any one have a solution to make this work properly - Or know of a better humidifier I can buy??
Hi jsf...

Lived in the country with a free standing wood burning stove for 20 years, and kept a 2˝ gallon pot full of water on top of it all winter long. It kept the house at 35-40% all the time. We started this for health (nose bleeds if too dry) and furniture and hard-wood floor protection against shrinkage, but the guitars benefitted.

When we moved to town, we tried house/room humidifiers of three types. Rotating drum, cold mist type, and Wick.

Both the wick and drum made a lot of noise all the time (fans and motors running al the time) and the house sometimes faintly smelled of swamp. They had to have new filters twice a year and cleaning monthly plus chemicals in them to keep things from growing in them.

The cold mist types coated everything with white dust unless you put a new $8 filter in it every week. They have to be disassembled and cleaned monthly or they grow things too. After they coated everything thoroughly with white dust (inside and outside) and killed two of our DVD players by coating their guts with white dust, we ditched them too.

Out of frustration one day, I grabbed a 6 quart stainless pot and filled it and put it on the stove in the kitchen on Low. It kept the kitchen at 35% just fine. So I bought a pair of hot plates and put one in the living room, one in the family/guitar playing & teaching room. Now they stay at 35-45% all winter.



These simple units inject 5-6 gallons of water a day into these rooms, and are set on Low all the time. I fill them when we wake, and before bedtime (sometimes suppertime).

Dead silent, and just have to change the water weekly, and put some CLR (Calcium, Lime, Rust remover) in the bottom every 3-4 months. I've replaced one hotplate every other year ($17 each) as they are not designed to run 24-7 so the switch eventually goes bad.

No noise, no mess, no fuss and they will run for about 12 hours before they are close to going dry. I monitor the level in each room and attempt to keep them at 40% which is fairly easy since we are retired and around the house a lot.

When we go on vacation, I farm out the guitars to friends who keep them humidified and we unplug the hot plates.

Hope this contributes...


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Old 03-08-2014, 09:24 AM
kbob kbob is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks View Post
First off, realize that unless you have an expensive hygrometer, that these instruments are notoriously inaccurate. I have three, 2 of them being cheapies. They vary considerably even when sitting next to each other, though I must admit the differences are usually consistant, indicating the problem is more calibration than anything else.

We've tried whole house humidification and the minerals in our well water plugged that up in no time. Room humidifiers were a pain to keep full and I can't see they made much difference as our home has an open floor plan. The humidifier in our attached greenhouse is another matter. Huge; it creates a fog in there every so many minutes. In mild winters, that is all we need to keep the rest of the house in the 40's. This winter is another matter and I have kept everybody in their case with a variety of in-case humidifiers working away. I fill them with distilled water about every 2-3 weeks.





I have 5 of different brands and they are all within 2 to 3 points of each other. Are they all wrong??
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Old 03-08-2014, 09:43 AM
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I have 5 of different brands and they are all within 2 to 3 points of each other. Are they all wrong??
Hi knob...

Maybe, but who cares? I'm just keeping my guitars safely humidified and stable, not running a museum. So I just need ball park figures to keep them safe.

For years we just had a piece of cardboard with different shades of blue on them to indicate low, medium and high which lived in the pick drawer (came with Dampits). The idea was to keep it in the middle and it worked.


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Old 03-08-2014, 10:11 AM
ecguitar44 ecguitar44 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jsanfilippo5 View Post
The unit only goes downto 40%
Honestly...buy a new humidifier.
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Old 03-08-2014, 10:40 AM
numb fingertips numb fingertips is offline
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Question from a new player. What should the humidity level be? When it was just my body, disregarded humidity level. After a get a guitar, I pretty much get a humidifier right away. Kinda funny when I think about it. I keep it on constantly now. Forgot one day, and now that I'm use to it, I can tell the difference. What is good for my guitar?
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Old 03-08-2014, 10:50 AM
jsanfilippo5 jsanfilippo5 is offline
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Originally Posted by ecguitar44 View Post
Honestly...buy a new humidifier.
Any recommendations on a new one?

I appreciiate the recommendation on hotplates and pots. That is definitley NOT going to happen though. especially with a 6 year old child in my house.
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Old 03-08-2014, 10:51 AM
charles Tauber charles Tauber is offline
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Simple solution: plug the humidifier into a timer. Set the humidifier to turn on for an hour, off for an hour, repeatedly for much of the day. You can purchase inexpensive analogue timers that plug into a normal wall socket. This type has pins that allow you to turn the thing on or off on an hourly basis over a 24 hour period. This sorta thing:



Experiment with how many hours per day provides you with the humidity you want.
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Old 03-08-2014, 10:54 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by numb fingertips View Post
Question from a new player. What should the humidity level be? When it was just my body, disregarded humidity level. After a get a guitar, I pretty much get a humidifier right away. Kinda funny when I think about it. I keep it on constantly now. Forgot one day, and now that I'm use to it, I can tell the difference. What is good for my guitar?
Hi nf...

If you can keep it 40%-50% you are doing well (well the guitar is doing well).


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Old 03-08-2014, 10:55 AM
ecguitar44 ecguitar44 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jsanfilippo5 View Post
Any recommendations on a new one?

I appreciiate the recommendation on hotplates and pots. That is definitley NOT going to happen though. especially with a 6 year old child in my house.
I don't, I'm sorry.

The more I think of it...I bet it's ok to keep it off while you're at work. Getting the humidity to 60 at night and letting it fall to 20 during the day means your average is right around 40. Humidity doesn't change instantly...so it's not going to harm your guitars.

You are savvy enough to recognize the changes to your guitar...so see if turning it off during the day keeps things nice and cozy.
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Old 03-08-2014, 11:09 AM
Ted @ LA Guitar Sales Ted @ LA Guitar Sales is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ecguitar44 View Post
Honestly...buy a new humidifier.
This is the answer, you need a new humidifier. I would be very uncomfortable leaving a hot plate on 24/7 as well, these things are simply not meant for that.

I use several Hunter Carefree humidifiers with the new "permawick" in the store, and one in my music room at home and they have served me well. They use very little energy and last for years. In addition to a good humidifier, I would suggest you get a few of the inexpensive hygrometers and calibrate them once or twice a year by putting them in a plastic baggie with a few table spoons of moist salt. Left overnight they should read 75 percent. If they are off, adjust them, or if you have one that is not adjustable simply make a note of the discrepancy.
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