Oasis humidifiers

[aarra]

I have been using Oasis humidifiers for a few years.  I also have Planet Waves and Kyser but prefer Oasis.  I recently, one month ago, bought two new Oasis humidifiers.  They don't appear to be using any water whereas my older ones do.  Any thoughts or suggestions?  I have already switched the humidifiers to different guitars without any difference.  Thanks and donuts in advance.
 

[ffinke]

Uh, DON'T use water? That's a new one on me! I just bought one to replace an older one and it still uses water. Do you have something totally different?

[JOYCEfromNS]

Is distilled water ... water

[cke]

Funny boys, Is it April 1st already?

FWIW my new black and maroon colored Oasis's have much stiffer cases than my older blue ones. They don't collapse as dramatically. Could that be why you think they give off less vapor? Or have you measured and gotten  different results?
                                                                                         

[ffinke]

...black and maroon---

I haven't seen that one yet. Must be an improvement on the old blue one. I'll have to look for it!

f

ps/ maybe that's the one that doesn't use water...

[aarra]

I appreciate the responses.  To clarify a bit, I have 4 Oasis soundhole humidifiers.  Yes, I use distilled water.  The 2 original are blue and the plastic that holds it in place on the strings is also blue.  The 2 new ones are still blue, but the plastic holder on top is yellow.  To me, it does not look like they are losing any water at all. 

[GGBB]

To me, it does not look like they are losing any water at all.

Look inside and check the water level.  As cke said, the new ones are stiffer.  I recently got a new maroon one and was surprised when it didn't seem to curl up like the pics on the Oasis web site seem to suggest.  It eventually did change but the length stayed pretty much straight with just the diameter collapsing in.

[aarra]

Thanks.  Yes, I opened the two to check the water level (distilled water level).  One does seem to have used some, but the other is still full to the top.  I am going to watch for the next month and see what happens.  In the meantime I also have a Planet Waves at the headstock.  I don't think that I'll be over- or under-hydrating and I will keep an eye on them.  If there are any other suggestions, I'm willing to try.  I try to keep the instruments mint.  I'm the crazy person who loosens the strings on my 12-string before putting it back in the case to avoid pressure on the bridge.  Definitely too much effort, but so many 12-strings have had the bridge repaired due to lifting. 
Thanks again.  I appreciate all of the responses.

[RoundLakeDT]

I bought one of the new ones and was also alarmed that it didn't seem to be using / expending enough water.  Definitely seems to be "steaming out" at a lower rate than earlier versions, since I put an old & new side by side (outside of a case) and the inner water level seemed to remain a lot higher in the new version after a couple of days

Just bought a new Oasis "plus" humidifier (the version that's supposed to provide maximum humidification); interested to see whether it performs like the previous plus version

[aarra]

Let me know, I'm curious also.  I have the Oasis "plus" in my 1968 Guild.  I had it in an attic for 20 years, no humidifier, -10F in the winter, 110F in the summer.  When I finally took it down, brought it to Mandolin Brothers, Staten Island, NY and it didn't need anything more than a set-up.  Back then I never heard of anyone using a humidifier and nothing bad ever happened to the guitar.  It may be more the change in location and drastic changes in humidity that create a problem.  The musicians I hung out with essentially stayed in NY or Florida.  Just my theory, there may be more to it.

[cke]

Let me know, I'm curious also.  I have the Oasis "plus" in my 1968 Guild.  I had it in an attic for 20 years, no humidifier, -10F in the winter, 110F in the summer.  When I finally took it down, brought it to Mandolin Brothers, Staten Island, NY and it didn't need anything more than a set-up.  Back then I never heard of anyone using a humidifier and nothing bad ever happened to the guitar.  It may be more the change in location and drastic changes in humidity that create a problem.  The musicians I hung out with essentially stayed in NY or Florida.  Just my theory, there may be more to it.

Temperature and relative humidity are not the same things! NY and Fla. are fairly humid areas, unless your a/c or heat is drying the room, n.p. usually. So no need for humidifiers. But in the desert SW where humidity can be LOW (like 10%) the need is demonstrable by sinking tops and potential cracks.

[aarra]

Absolutely correct.  But, does that mean that you do not need a humidifier if you remain in NY or Florida.  The swings in humidity can be quite dramatic.  Am I wasting my money on humidifiers?

[RoundLakeDT]

aarra, you're not wasting your money on humidifiers in NY.  I live upstate near Albany, not really that different climate-wise, and my first guitar developed a top crack the second winter.  I never humidified, but learned my lesson then.

You can get yourself a digital humidity meter (hygrometer) at any hardware store and figure out where you are.  Your type of heat will make a difference; we have forced-air heating and that tends to drive out the moisture a lot more than say steam radiators.  You want the guitar to be over 40% humidity (and of course too much is bad, but that's not a winter issue in our parts of the world)

Dave

[aarra]

Thanks Dave.  I will happy to buy a humidifier, but I've read that most are not accurate.  Which one do you suggest?  I also have central, forced air, heating-ac.   I have recently added a central humidifier, but really don't know if that is doing anything.  I have it set at 45 but it only sends out vapor when the air is actively blowing and then depends on the temp setting.  The hotter I keep the house the more vapor, in theory.  On a completely unrelated subject, I understand that there is company coming out with a central system which emits a very low level of hydrogen peroxide which will humidify but also kill bacteria, viruses as well as mold.  Enough hydrogen peroxide to kill pathogens, but no odor or irritants.  I have no connection with the company, but if it works, sounds like a great idea.

[RoundLakeDT]

I use a PlanetWaves digital hygrometer, which indicates that my house is usually about 20-30% relative humidity in the winter.  I sometimes put it in the guitar case and then it reads above 40%. 

The case makes a lot of difference, though.  Standard Larrivee cases (made of plywood) tend to lose moisture more easily than plastic or fiberglass cases.  My OM-60 in its original plywood case with just the Oasis in the soundhole gets an in-case humidity reading of just 37% (with the meter next to the guitar under the neck/body joint).  The humidity is probably higher inside the guitar, where the sound-hole humidifier is focused.  By contrast if I store the guitar in my Hiscox ABS plastic case (also using just the Oasis sound-hole humidifier), the case humidity goes to 53%.

I hear what you're saying about meters being potentially inaccurate, though.  At one point I had three different brands of humidity meter, put them right next to each other for a couple of days and just watched.  They read almost identical temperatures (within 1 degree or less) but their humidity readings tended to diverge a lot.  Two of them were always close together (within a few percent), one was always at least 10% higher.  Then I put them in the basement and they all showed more humidity but with the same divergence.

I kept the two meters that were reading pretty close together, on the hope that they were more likely to be correct than the one that read differently.  (ever seen the movie "Minority Report", though?  Always possible that the third / outlier reading was the right one)

There is also a way to get an absolute calibration on your humidity meter by placing it in an enclosure with a specific mixture of something.  I think it's been discussed in this forum or elsewhere but haven't tried that

[aarra]

Excellent points, makes a lot of sense concerning the case.  I am going to start researching humidifiers and possibly get two, although three may be better.  I would just buy the most expensive, but that does not always correlate with quality.  Maybe I should just buy a trumpet, no humidity issues there.
Thanks for the informative post.

[Mr_LV19E]

If you have a central humidifier attached to your forced air furnace and it is set at 45% chances are it is keeping the humidity at 45%. The biggest culprit for dry air in the winter is forced air heat because blowing heat around dries the air out. If you compensate that with a good central humidifier you should be good because the humidifier is adding moisture to the air instead of drying it.
If that central unit is new it may be the reason your oasis devices aren't using as much water.
If you turn the dial on the humidistat (near the furnace) and listen for a click then look at that setting it should tell you what the humidity is at, compare that to what your hygrometer reads (it should be the same reading).

[aarra]

I am getting quite an education.  The house is 6 years old.  A plumber came in approx 2 months ago and conviced me to go for the humidifier which seemed like a good idea because the house was really dry in the winter.  I never considered any connection between that and the guitar humidifiers, but you make a good point. Thanks.