-
I have a few Ventas that I picked up from thrift stores for under $10 each. I also managed to score a bunch of antibacterial packs at the same time.
Originally Posted by Max405
they work fine but you really need to use distilled water in them, if you use tap water they'll leave a fine white dust on everything in the room.
-
06-09-2022 02:27 PM
-
Joe, hey my friend.
I like the Venta. The antibacterial they sell is a weak Quaternary ammonia. Typically used for sanitizing food contact surfaces. I think it's used in restaurants, cafeterias, and kitchens' industrial dishwashers maybe.
I like the Venta because there are no wicks. And I did get a larger version. We don't have forced air. We have radiant hydronic floors. It can be like a dessert in here during heating season. Even with it, and Vornado, and house plants, it barely keeps us at 30.
Those Vornado wicks are tough. Especially with any minerals. You're right. I've tried soaking them in citric acid, and get an extra use but they're a pain. With fresh wicks they're great.
The best solution I've found is taking over the small spare bedroom as a guitar room. It's manageable. Takes a very small humidifier that hardly uses any water. The guitars are happy bro!
-
-
That’s what I do. Originally Posted by skykomishone
My guitars are in a small bedroom/office 13x11. In the winter, either one of my humidifiers does the job nicely. But I’m always trying to find something better.
Maybe I’ll just suck it up and spend $100 per year on filters for 4 years and when we get our retirement house, I will have the one installed in the furnace.
We had one in my old house. The problem was, our main ducts were made of some spongey material that soaked up the moisture. This unit only lasted a couple of months and then while investigating the problem, a tech showed us all the black mold growing in the vents. $3,000 later we had galvanized ducts and I was afraid to get another furnace type humidifier. I’ve been in a house that had one installed where the owner kept the humidity at 60 degrees! And in the middle of the winter it felt every bit of 60% humidity. My babies would have loved living there.
Thank you sky. This is an excellent topic. One that is overlooked most of the time. Just looked at all the checked nitrocellulose lacquer guitars in the world. There’s proof.
Wintermoon, $10 for a Venta? Nice deal. Maybe I need to visit thrift stores more often!
JD
-
60% is on the higher side, I'd recommend around 40%
-
Mold thrives around 55% or over, and houses are more expensive than guitars
Skickat från min iPad med Tapatalk
-
"In-case" humidifiers are marginal, at best, although I use them in all my guitar cases. The Bovedas are fine but lose their moisture too quickly, for me, and are costly for how long they last. The D'Addario's(for CG's/Acoustics) with the sponge inside are better but must be monitored every other day if your house is continually air-conditioned(35-45% relative humidity) as we do in the Tropics. In my EG, I use an old plastic film canister with holes drilled and a simple piece of kitchen sponge wetted with distilled water and it has worked well for 56 years. So, based on my experience: I like 50% +/- relative humidity because, in my opinion, 40% is a marginal number and lower RH numbers in the right conditions could damage your guitar while 60% definitely deadens the sound of an all-wood instrument and has potential damage to headstocks swelling/cracking to effect CG tuners/rollers. 50% is my sweet spot. One last thing: I like to keep my instruments stable and while practicing back to back--2 one-hour sessions with a 20 minutes break, I leave my instrument in its stand so the sound/tuning stays stable. Once finished, it is returned to its case. I hope this helps someone.
Marinero
-
Just an FYI, the friend whose house was set to 60% didn’t have a guitar in it.
I am well aware the 60% humidity is exorbitant. No worries.
Anyone else here use a Venta to humidify their guitar rooms?
JD
-
For my Taylor flat tops I installed their internal hygrometer and use the D’Addario, made by Boveda?, humidipacks here in dry gulch Phoenix. I like the dry air so I moved here and won’t go whole house humidifiers. The device tracks humidity, temperature and has an accelerometer to record impacts. Gives hourly, daily or monthly averages.
-
Thanks for this info. The 15'x10' Room I keep my archtop guitarts in stays between 40&50% humitity year round. I life in the Sacramento Valley Delta, near the Sacramento River in California. I keep plastic shoe containers full of distilled water with wet painters sponges in the room & use Boveda 49% size 8 packs. I might have been overly concerned when I ask my original question, but I ended up learning much. Originally Posted by wintermoon
Thanks again to everyone.
Eddie
-
My ENT Doc just told me I need a humidifier. I asked him which one, and he just said I could find one on Amazon for about $100, and walked out of the office.
My question is can I find a humidifier for my bedroom, which is about 18 feet by 12 feet, that is good for my nose and my guitars?
TIA
-
"Thanks, Doc." Originally Posted by sgcim
I have a Vornado, and it works well. ** Get the "evaporative" model if your local water is high in minerals, NOT the "ultrasonic!" I had an ultrasonic that left a fine, white film on everything! Yes, it wiped off easily, but still -- what a mess! [And yes, distilled water fixes that, but distilled water became a "rare entity," like toilet paper, during covid, so that was not a good option.]
-
Thanks, Marc! Originally Posted by marcwhy
"Thanks, Doc."
I have a Vornado, and it works well. ** Get the "evaporative" model if your local water is high in minerals, NOT the "ultrasonic!" I had an ultrasonic that left a fine, white film on everything! Yes, it wiped off easily, but still -- what a mess! [And yes, distilled water fixes that, but distilled water became a "rare entity," like toilet paper, during covid, so that was not a good option.]
-
I followed your advice, and bought a Vornado Whole Room Humidifier for $80 that came in yesterday, I suspended my nightly literary session, and replaced it with a study of the Vornado instruction booklet.( I found it written in a neo-realist style, with an emphasis on environmental issues Originally Posted by marcwhy
"Thanks, Doc."
I have a Vornado, and it works well. ** Get the "evaporative" model if your local water is high in minerals, NOT the "ultrasonic!" I had an ultrasonic that left a fine, white film on everything! Yes, it wiped off easily, but still -- what a mess! [And yes, distilled water fixes that, but distilled water became a "rare entity," like toilet paper, during covid, so that was not a good option.]
)
I bought the evaporative model.
Until my next appt. with my ENT Doc, I've decided to leave it on only at night at the Constant setting,until he gives me more specific instructions.
Thanks again for the rec!
-
Originally Posted by sgcim
I followed your advice, and bought a Vornado Whole Room Humidifier for $80 that came in yesterday, I suspended my nightly literary session, and replaced it with a study of the Vornado instruction booklet.( I found it written in a neo-realist style, with an emphasis on environmental issues)
I bought the evaporative model.
Until my next appt. with my ENT Doc, I've decided to leave it on only at night at the Constant setting,until he gives me more specific instructions.
Thanks again for the rec!
Great, glad it's working for you! [I have one of these hygrometers from Oasis to monitor the room; it seems to read a few percentage points below where the Vornado is set, but the room is still at a good level for guitars.]
-
As I mentioned I have a few Ventas I bought at thrift stores for less than $10 but the white dust they emit is annoying and distilled water is too pricey. I'm going to look into the evaporative models Originally Posted by sgcim
I followed your advice, and bought a Vornado Whole Room Humidifier for $80 that came in yesterday, I suspended my nightly literary session, and replaced it with a study of the Vornado instruction booklet.( I found it written in a neo-realist style, with an emphasis on environmental issues)
I bought the evaporative model.
Until my next appt. with my ENT Doc, I've decided to leave it on only at night at the Constant setting,until he gives me more specific instructions.
Thanks again for the rec!
Which one did you get?Last edited by wintermoon; 01-07-2023 at 09:33 PM.
-
Over in the acoustic guitar forum (AGF), the Vornado Evap40 has been widely recommended. I purchased one a few weeks ago and it has been great. My condo is about 1200 square feet and the Vornado seems to keep it around 42%, and keep it higher if I so choose since the control is only about halfway.
In each guitar case, I have two soap dishes, each with a 3M anti-bacterial sponge cut to fit. A local long time guitar repair person did a lot of experimenting on hole size and number, and arrived at two large holes in the top. I use the ones he makes and have done so for years with no problems of leaking and I can just use tap water.
Since buying the Vornado, the sponges in the cases last 2 - 3 weeks before needing to be "watered" again.
I live in Minnesota, where humidifying in winter is a must. Without the humidifier, typically we would see around 25% humidity level in our condo.
Tony
-
You can buy Quaternary ammonia tablets. One in gallon of water makes a concentrate that can be added a tablespoon or so into the humidifier reservoir when filling it.
Just be careful and follow the directions. It's used in restaurant dishwashers to kill bacteria. I think that's maybe what the active ingredient is in the humidifier water treatment products. Seems to work. That's what I use.
I like the Venta and the Vornado systems. My guitar room is at constant 40% relative humidity. Humidity gauges are 10 bucks. I have several throughout my home wherever I play guitar and monitor humidity and always return guitars to the one room that is controllable.
I don't like to stress my guitars.
Like Joe D says, they're my babies!
-
Vornado Whole Room Humidifier for $80, I bought the evaporative model. Originally Posted by wintermoon
I'm using it for both my guitars, and my nose. My ENT doc emphatically said I needed one, but now I've got to figure out how to use it so it benefits both my nose and guitars.
Youse guys don't know anything about noses, and my ENT doc doesn't know anything about guitars, so I've got to find an archtop guitar playing ENT doc.
Reply With Quote
How does this sound?
Today, 04:50 PM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos