Planet waves Humidipaks Experiment!

[Bubblemaker]

Good morning!

I just thought I would share the very promissing results of an experiment I conducted with my spent Humidipaks!


It seems that the packs can be successfully recharged!


All I didi was simply place my dried up packs together in a sealed plastic container over a bundled up wet rag.   I seperated them from the rag with a smaller plastic lid that fit inside the container.

I checked the packs after 3 days and wow...they were rehydrating....I resoaked the rag and sealed them up again and after 7 days now...they seem to be as fluid as they were when they were new!


There is no telling how many cycles they can go through...but I'm very happy to learn and share with everyone that these somewhat pricy packs which work wonderfully by the way....are easily reuseable!


Cheers

[ffinke]

Don't tell Planet Waves or their stock will tumble and all those millionaire investors will have to make do with only 3 Mercedes.

f

[cke]

interesting...

Can you give particulars? Are you humidifying? Dehumidifying ? What RH is in your room? What readings are you getting in the cases?

[Bubblemaker]

I have been using this system now for my guitars for over a year.

It controls the RH in either direction.  Will add humidity or will remove exess humidity.  I have an electronic humidistat in all of my cases and they have been maintained at an even 45 RH with the packs in place.....of course with the cases kept closed at all times.

The technology has been around for a while in the food industry and also for preserving expenssive cigars.

My guitars have been very happy.

MY home's RH can range from 45-70 depending on the season.


Cheers!

[cke]

And you get equal results with the 'reconditioned 'paks?

[Bubblemaker]

I'm going to reinstall them and let everyone know how it goes!

During the winter months...I occasionally put a couple of dampits into my case along with the packets and this prolonged their life....by having excess moisture to absorb.

Thats what gave me the idea to try and recharge them!  I can't see why they won't work!

Cheers!

Bubblemaker

[cke]

My problem is never de-humidifying, but rather humidifying  - RH is Summer in SFV is usually well under 20%.

I like that the PW system can be 'set-up and forget' until you need new packs. I DON'T like thecoast of the packs, so this is very interesting. Thanks for the experiment

[Bubblemaker]

Well a few weeks have gone by and the recharged packs seem to be working just fine!

So far so good!

Cheers!

[cantwellm]

Bubblemaker,
Did you confirm the humidity levels were within the humidipacks specs or just that they rehydrated and are "generally" humidifying your git?
Cheers"

[Dale_I]

I can't speak to the technology in the Humidipacks, but i do know about cigars. In the cigar world you use propylene glycol solution 50/50 with distilled water. The pg will absorb excess humidity and the distilled water will evaporate in under humid conditions. The solution will effectively regulate a humidifier to 65-70 percent. Obviously, a little high for a guitar, but I would imagine you could change the mixture, or perhaps the chemical used, and do something similar for guitars.

It should be noted that this is NOT automotive coolant, but a food grade propylene glycol.

Another item is the type of media you are using to conduct the fluids. Most use absorbent gel. There are two types of crystal gel, one that is sodium based and lasts about a year, the other with a potassium base that lasts about 10 years. They can be recharged as many times as needed with just distilled water, but once a year you should also reintroduce additional propylene glycol if you are using the potassium based gel.

For what it is worth....
I would guess the Humidipacks are using sodium based gel and will degrade in about a year, which should allow you to recharge them 6 to 10 times.

[cantwellm]

Good intel thanks! I had just bought a pack of these things and had asked the seller the same questions about reusability since it just didnt make much sense to me that they could only be used once...
Cheers

[claudefr]

Hi,

I just receive the humidipack system yesterday. To test it. I put the 3 packs in an empty guitar case with an hydrometer. Humidity is about 62% in my room. After 24 hours, the RH does not change in my case. It stay around 58% even if the room go back to near 50% this morning (and return to 61% this afternoon).

Is this system realy work? How many time it take to go to 45% in a case?

At this time, I am not very impress by this system.

Alternatively, can someone suggest me a good brand of deshumidifier I can put in my studio (about 380 ft/2)?

Thanks for your input.

Claude

[L07 Shooting Star]

Hi,
I just receive the humidipack system yesterday. To test it. I put the 3 packs in an empty guitar case with an hydrometer. Humidity is about 62% in my room. After 24 hours, the RH does not change in my case. It stay around 58% even if the room go back to near 50% this morning (and return to 61% this afternoon).
Is this system really work? How many time it take to go to 45% in a case?
At this time, I am not very impress by this system.
Alternatively, can someone suggest me a good brand of dehumidifier I can put in my studio (about 380 ft/2)?
Thanks for your input.
Claude

How accurate is the hydrometer in the case?  Does it match the room readings without the humidipack?  In other words, is the room and case instrument's reading the same in identical conditions?  If not, comparison is not valid.  Sorry, don't know much about DEhumidifiers as out here in Edmonton, too low RH in winter is more of a problem.  In summer, RH is usually ideal for guitars (this summer has been a bit damper than most though).  Is this xtra high RH situation normal for summer in Montreal?  Or are you just experiencing a short-lived anomaly?  Maybe just a few days of high RH would be OK.  But if this is normal, then I would think just compare specs and buy the cheapest dehumidifier that removes the amount of moisture you have calculated that needs to be removed?

[claudefr]

How accurate is the hydrometer in the case?  Does it match the room readings without the humidipack?  In other words, is the room and case instrument's reading the same in identical conditions?  If not, comparison is not valid.  Sorry, don't know much about DEhumidifiers as out here in Edmonton, too low RH in winter is more of a problem.  In summer, RH is usually ideal for guitars (this summer has been a bit damper than most though).  Is this xtra high RH situation normal for summer in Montreal?  Or are you just experiencing a short-lived anomaly?  Maybe just a few days of high RH would be OK.  But if this is normal, then I would think just compare specs and buy the cheapest dehumidifier that removes the amount of moisture you have calculated that needs to be removed?

Hi Shooting Star.

This RH is normal for this period of the years. I have to say that my studio is in the basement where humidity is always higher. This is the only space I have. This morning, humidity had go a little up in the case, 62%. It match the room. My hydrometer is very accurate (one is a Oasis and the other is a Nexxtech found at RadioSchack, the two give the same reading).

Thanks for your comments. 

Claude

[Long813]

I'll have to try this out as I use these all the time.

[claudefr]

Hi Long813,

Please. post your comments.

Claude