Dampp Chaser/PLS

ShiroKuro

Well, I talked with the piano moving company again today, and although the first person I spoke to about this (weeks ago) told me they could easily deal with the dampp chaser for the move, the person I spoke to today said that they wouldn't know how to do the removal and reattachment and so we should arrange to do that before the move. :/

I don't know if it's because it's a newer model (the old kind didn't have water apparently?) or what, but it's a little frustrating... At least I'm not finding this out on the morning of the move! (We move next week).

So that's kind of a hassle. But, I spoke to a piano tuner today and he sort of talked me through it so I think my husband will be able to remove it. And then if we feel like we can't get it back on, he can come out and reinstall it.

So hopefully that will be ok???

Has anyone here removed one before?

Gombessa

I'm probably way behind on the story here, but did you ask Dampp-Chaser if it needs to be removed before the move, or if there's a way to drain it completely?

I suspect there's not an easy way to get all of the water out with it installed, and when the movers tip the piano, a cup full of water is going to tilt out into the belly?

ShiroKuro

Gombessa I first spoke with the person who did the install. Unfortunately, he lives far away and can't easily come out to do this (and I don't want him to tune my piano again, more about that in a future thread!) so... Anyway, he said the tank should be removed in order to get rid of the water, and I have the impression that the movers don't want to move the piano with unit attached. Which makes sense because I think it would be in the way when they tip it.

@danno858 Thank you. Yes, I will have the piano tuned after it's moved and the DC is reinstalled. What I'm worried about right now is removing the unit ourselves.

danno858

The piano will need to be tuned again after it is re-installed. My tech told me that installing it causes the piano to go out of tune - I was thinking about getting one installed and that's when he told me it will mess up the tuning he had just done. So best to wait for the next tuning. Since you are moving, you will probably need a tuning once you settle in anyway.

Gombessa

Ah, got it.
I looked for the installation instructions (found a copy here: https://www.pianoteksupply.com/assets/pdf/instructions/Dampp-Chaser%20Grand%20Instructions.pdf) and it looks pretty easy. The tank is secured by clips and rods and just lifts out, and the watering tube is just routed around the beams with velcro, seems like you can remove it pretty easily.

The control box/humidistat and heater bars look like they could just be left in place for the move. I know that leaves a bit of hardware and cabling to deal with, but I suspect they can be tucked out of the way. Look at the bottom of my piano, which was also shipped long-distance in a truck 🙂

Sgisela

@ShiroKuro the dealer installed the DC system at the dealership prior to the piano being delivered to me. I think the main concern is the water, not really the tipping. Like Gombessa said, I think removing the water reservoir should not be too difficult, and I can’t fathom that anything else would be a real issue for the move. You may just want to ditch the pads and get them replaced with the next tuning… I’m sure you could also do this yourself, but as the piano will need a post-delivery tuning, I don’t see any harm in just waiting for tuning visit to set it back up.

ShiroKuro

@Sgisela and @Gombessa this is super helpful, thank you!!

Also Gombessa, thank you for the manual, we’ll take a look!

Sgisela

ShiroKuro I just looked underneath my piano and it the water reservoir looks exactly as in the manual, hanging from a couple metal bars. It’s easy enough to get the clips off the bars, and from there I think it’s straightforward to remove it. Good luck!

ShiroKuro

@Sgisela Thank you!!

Ok, Mr. SK laid down underneath the piano and took a look. He said it should be easy to remove and reinstall the tank, and indeed, the rest of it can stay just as it is.

I'm glad we're thinking about this now, and not in the morning when the movers arrive, because I noticed something else too.

The person who install the DC took the cord and used zip ties to attach it to the lyre brace. There's probably 10 zip ties or more! I guess that's good because it makes the cord pretty unnoticeable. But it means you can't remove the lyre with dealing with that cord!

Mr SK said he think he can cut all those zip ties without damaging the cord, but geez.

Where do you all have the cord? Have you done something to minimize its visibility?

Sgisela

Mine’s just dangling. Here’s a pic from underneath. But there aren’t any zip ties! Incidentally, I never knew there was red and green felt until it came out in the photo, with the flash on.

The dangling cord doesn’t bother me, but I suppose it could be secured underneath, run down near the leg, and it would be a little more discrete.

Also incidentally, this is the first picture I post here, and geez was it easy & intuitive.

ShiroKuro

Thanks for the photo! I think after we get moved, I won't have Mr SK re-do the zip ties... We'll see. Fortunately, there's an outlet in a good place.
BTW, is that a PageFlip Butterfly under there? 😁

Sgisela

ShiroKuro it’s a PageFlip Firefly. It’s not actually buried under the carpet… just pushed up against the fringe

ShiroKuro

P.S. if you want to read about my tuner (and why I didn't want to call the guy who did the original DC install), visit this thread:
https://forum.pianotell.com/d/806-trying-out-a-new-tuner

ShiroKuro

I have the PageFlip Butterfly, I don't know what the difference is, but I recognized yours as a PageFlip 😃