How dry can you get it?

[tomcat5]

Hi Gang,

I live in the tropics (about 70-80% RH all year round) and recently have tried to dry out my LV-03RE a little as it seems a bit damp. The guitar was on a stand in a room that is air-conditioned at night (about 45% RH) but during the day, windows are opened.

It is currently in its case now with two bags of silica gel. Haven't been able to get RH below 65%. I can have the case open, read 45% (when air-conditioned), close the case, open half an hour later and see it back up at 65%.

Would like to hear from folks who also live in high humidity areas on how much have you managed to reduced the RH. i.e. Is it possible to get it below 40% just by using silica gel and keeping it in a case?

(am gonna do an experiment later with just silica gel in an air-tight container to see what's its maximum effectiveness. will keep you guys posted)

[roknroll]

Buy a dehumidifier? We have one in our basement.  Lets off a pleasant "hum" as well. I'm a big fan of ambient noise when trying to sleep.

[tomcat5]

Haha...maybe. But it won't work too well with the windows opened right? If I close the windows then the AC has to come on or else it gets too hot, which then brings RH down to about 45%. So either way it doesn't seem to make sense.

[Steve]

tomcat, read what Dru said in your other post.  He dried out his guitar in a humid environment.

http://www.larriveeforum.com/smf/index.php?topic=11358.0

[tomcat5]

Thanks Steve! I think I need to turn e-mail notification on. :p

[Randy_R]

Georgia is humid in the summer but there are fluctuations. I do leave my windows open in most of the house most of the time, and only run the airconditioner if the temps go to the high 90F range and stay there. I like fresh air.

That said, I keep most of my guitars in the basement where I have a dehumidifier that can be used if humidity goes above 50%. The basement will also stay at about 60F during the winter when I heat the upstairs of the house, and the humidity upstairs drops below 40% unless humidified.

So thats what I do here.

[Hoser Rob]

... I live in the tropics (about 70-80% RH all year round) ... Is it possible to get it below 40% just by using silica gel and keeping it in a case? ...

Around here we not only have winters where you really need humidification but serious humidity in the summer.  In fact it's just about impossible to get the indoor RH down to 50% even with air conditioning.  Not the ideal situation for acoustics, for sure, but I know a lot of guitarists and I don't hear too many stories about their flattops flying apart.

I'd be very cautious about using silica gel ... sudden changes in humidity are the worst thing and it's still going to be humid when you take it out of the case.  The cure would probably be worse than the disease ... I think you should just live with a rather wet guitar.

[Dru]

[quote author=Hoser Rob link=topic=11371.msg103660#msg103660 date=1146071423

I'd be very cautious about using silica gel ... sudden changes in humidity are the worst thing and it's still going to be humid when you take it out of the case.  The cure would probably be worse than the disease ... I think you should just live with a rather wet guitar.

Rob, I agree that caution is very important when you're either dehumidifying [ as I've had to do ~ see link above ] or humidifying a guitar. I'm trying to monitor my guitar fairly closely now, but I'm not wrapping it in cotton wool either. I think anyone would do something if their guitar started to dry out radically before damage occured just as I've had to deal with mine showing signs of being very wet. I live in the sub-tropics of Australia with no air-con, where our RH never drops below 60% and our long "summer" gives us readings above 80% for 6mths.

I had mine checked by a local well known luthier and [ like the Talyor site "Symptoms Of A Wet Guitar" http://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/reference/techsheets.html ] he warned that damage will eventually occur with a wet guitar [ just as with a dry guitar ~ same advice as the Taylor tech sheet ] and it can be more expensive to repair. I couldn't live with a guitar that has a top that is starting to swell fairly dramatically. Plus the tone of a wet guitar is really bad ;)     

[tomcat5]

Did the experiment by putting 500g of silica gel into a small sealed container together with the hygrometer. Lowest reading I could get after about 2 hours was 32%.

Since this is at most 10% lower than building conditions, i'm guessing that there is no danger of the guitar seriously drying out if left in the case for too long or if too much silica gel is used.

As for the pressure gradient going from 80+RH to maybe 50+ within 10-15 mins (which is probably what happens when the case is opened, guitar placed inside and then shut), that's something I'm not too familiar with. But I'd rather have a drier guitar and take the risk. It does sound a lot better.

Anyway, my cat peed in the case while i was trying to dry it in the AC. AAAAAARGH! No case for a week. Talk about murphy's law.

[jeremy3220]

Anyway, my cat peed in the case while i was trying to dry it in the AC. AAAAAARGH! No case for a week. Talk about murphy's law.

If I were you I'd be working on a way to rewrite murphy's law, something like how far a cat will fly off a balcony is directly proportional to how pissed off you are (pun intended). I think it's obvious I'm a cat lover  :rolleyes: