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Old 03-30-2020, 02:37 PM
MrBJones MrBJones is offline
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Default Humidity: Realistically, what's too high?

Here in the Dallas area, we've had an awful lot of rain and damp weather. RH indoors has been above 50% for a while, sometime into the low 60s. At what point should the guitar go back into the case where it's not as humid?
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Old 03-30-2020, 02:39 PM
Dbone Dbone is offline
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https://www.larrivee.com/pdfs/Larriv...aintenance.pdf
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Old 03-30-2020, 02:42 PM
Dbone Dbone is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MrBJones View Post
Here in the Dallas area, we've had an awful lot of rain and damp weather. RH indoors has been above 50% for a while, sometime into the low 60s. At what point should the guitar go back into the case where it's not as humid?
I wouldn’t fully assume that it’s not as humid in the case necessarily....depending on how long of a period it is that you are talking about...ideally u are measuring the humidity in the case to know for sure...
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Old 03-30-2020, 02:44 PM
pagedr pagedr is offline
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Your guitars should be completely fine at those levels. If humidity gets to 70%+ and is going to stay that way for a week or longer, then get them in cases. Otherwise all should be fine.
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Old 03-30-2020, 02:48 PM
MrBJones MrBJones is offline
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Thanks all. Should have mentioned that I have D'Addario 2-way humidity packs in the case...I just like leaving the guitar out, within easy reach.
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Old 03-30-2020, 03:18 PM
Dbone Dbone is offline
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Originally Posted by MrBJones View Post
Thanks all. Should have mentioned that I have D'Addario 2-way humidity packs in the case...I just like leaving the guitar out, within easy reach.
Do you recharge those humidipaks, or do you just throw them out and use new ones?
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Old 03-30-2020, 03:20 PM
bufflehead bufflehead is offline
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You'll find that different guitars are more sensitive to high humidity than others. At around 70%, some guitars will sound noticeably dull, as if the strings got really old real quick. Others will take 70% in stride, at least for a few days. If left outside, no guitar will sound as bright at 70% as it will at 45%.
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Old 03-30-2020, 03:54 PM
Rosewood99 Rosewood99 is offline
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I'm on the Georgia coast and even with my AC on humidity is in the low 60s. I find that once it gets in the 70s the sound suffers. That's when I usually turn on the dehumidifier but the downside is it generates a bit of heat. Never have put my guitars in their cases because of high humidity and so far in 10 years no damage.
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Old 03-30-2020, 04:03 PM
MrBJones MrBJones is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dbone View Post
Do you recharge those humidipaks, or do you just throw them out and use new ones?
I recharge them a couple times before I toss them, they work just fine afterward; the key is to not let them get completely dry and hard...recharge them when the stuff inside just gets thick. Quickest way is to submerge them in distilled water (it has to be distilled). But I prefer to just leave them out when RH is above 45, or to put them in an airtight container with a damp sponge (tap water)....let them soak up the humidity like they'd do in your case.

I have others that I use for cigars, they maintain 70%. Works with them too.
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Old 03-30-2020, 04:09 PM
Matts67 Matts67 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MrBJones View Post
I recharge them a couple times before I toss them, they work just fine afterward; the key is to not let them get completely dry and hard...recharge them when the stuff inside just gets thick. Quickest way is to submerge them in distilled water (it has to be distilled). But I prefer to just leave them out when RH is above 45, or to put them in an airtight container with a damp sponge (tap water)....let them soak up the humidity like they'd do in your case.

I have others that I use for cigars, they maintain 70%. Works with them too.
You submerge the actual packet in distilled water? I thought they couldn't get wet...
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Old 03-30-2020, 07:09 PM
Dbone Dbone is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MrBJones View Post
I recharge them a couple times before I toss them, they work just fine afterward; the key is to not let them get completely dry and hard...recharge them when the stuff inside just gets thick. Quickest way is to submerge them in distilled water (it has to be distilled). But I prefer to just leave them out when RH is above 45, or to put them in an airtight container with a damp sponge (tap water)....let them soak up the humidity like they'd do in your case.

I have others that I use for cigars, they maintain 70%. Works with them too.
I only ask because of the following I wanted to warn you about:

I posted about this not too long ago. I recharged a set not too long ago and observed that the recharged set was greatly over humidifying inside my case relative to a new set that stayed closer to the 50% value they are designed to target.

My SensorPush showed that the recharged set was over humidifying by 15% or more...not good...

The solution for that I found was to leave the recharged set out on my shop bench for 2-3 days min to let them decharge in an an accelerated fashion, and only then put them in the case. Even then by memory I still did not need as many packs as I would if they were brand new not recharged ones....

The Sensorpush don’t lie. I suspect a lot of people are just recharging these things and not realizing that this could be a problem.

I will do more testing moving forward. This was observed inside a Godin Tric case, which is really superior at controlling environment. Perhaps a conventional less tight wood case wouldn’t exhibit the same behaviour...not sure...

Just be careful
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Last edited by Dbone; 03-30-2020 at 07:16 PM.
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Old 03-30-2020, 07:12 PM
Dbone Dbone is offline
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Originally Posted by Matts67 View Post
You submerge the actual packet in distilled water? I thought they couldn't get wet...
I personally wouldn’t dip them in water, but some do...I think that could more quickly bring the packet’s integrity into question...
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Old 03-30-2020, 07:44 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MrBJones View Post
Here in the Dallas area, we've had an awful lot of rain and damp weather...At what point should the guitar go back into the case where it's not as humid?
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Old 03-30-2020, 11:04 PM
MrBJones MrBJones is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dbone View Post
I personally wouldn’t dip them in water, but some do...I think that could more quickly bring the packet’s integrity into question...
Need to be careful until the packet's outside dries. That one of the reasons I prefer the other way.
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  #15  
Old 03-30-2020, 11:06 PM
MrBJones MrBJones is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dbone View Post
I only ask because of the following I wanted to warn you about:

I posted about this not too long ago. I recharged a set not too long ago and observed that the recharged set was greatly over humidifying inside my case relative to a new set that stayed closer to the 50% value they are designed to target.

My SensorPush showed that the recharged set was over humidifying by 15% or more...not good...

The solution for that I found was to leave the recharged set out on my shop bench for 2-3 days min to let them decharge in an an accelerated fashion, and only then put them in the case. Even then by memory I still did not need as many packs as I would if they were brand new not recharged ones....

The Sensorpush don’t lie. I suspect a lot of people are just recharging these things and not realizing that this could be a problem.

I will do more testing moving forward. This was observed inside a Godin Tric case, which is really superior at controlling environment. Perhaps a conventional less tight wood case wouldn’t exhibit the same behaviour...not sure...

Just be careful
Point well taken. I never use them - or anything else - blindly. Always have a hygrometer.
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