Not enough humidifier?

flailingfingers

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I have one OASIS uke humidifier hanging in the sound hole of my uke. The OASIS hygrometer is placed in the end of the hard Collings case near the headstock. It is now reading around 38-40% humidity. The humidity in the house is about 30%. (Outside humidity is in the 15-20% range.) I would like to keep the humidity in the case in the 45-55% range. I think the distance between the sound hole humidifier and the hygrometer may be a factor- the humidity in the sound hole is likely higher than the reading. Any suggestions, comments?
 
That humidity level is fine, especially given the space between the oasis and the hygrometer that would suggest it's a bit higher in the uke itself. It's more important to avoid sudden shifts in humidity or extended periods of very low humidity. A stable 38-40% is no big deal, IMO. I would leave it alone.
 
Will a humidifier work in a soft-shell case/gig-bag?

I have 12 ukes, but only four have hard cases- the rest are all in gig bags. I've focused on putting my most expensive all-solids in the hard cases with humidifiers, followed by solid-tops in gig bags with humidifiers, and the laminates in just gig-bags.

My apartment has gone from being in the steady 40-60% range to 20-30%, with occasional drops below that if I'm not paying attention to the heater. I've already had one solid acacia start a crack on the soundboard that I'm kicking myself for not having caught sooner.

I'm using the large Herco guitar humidifiers.
 
I recently moved my six ukes from cases to a shelf to be able to control the humidity for all of them at once. It's very low tech, I just put a couple of trays of water below them and keep track with an analog hygrometer I got on Amazon for $15 (on the back panel behind the ukes). Works pretty well so far, stays between 35 to 50%, but if I find that the humidity goes too low consistently, I'll put glass doors on the front. If the humidity gets too high, I just put covers over the water trays.

Uke shelf 2.jpg
 
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Will a humidifier work in a soft-shell case/gig-bag?

I have 12 ukes, but only four have hard cases- the rest are all in gig bags. I've focused on putting my most expensive all-solids in the hard cases with humidifiers, followed by solid-tops in gig bags with humidifiers, and the laminates in just gig-bags.

My apartment has gone from being in the steady 40-60% range to 20-30%, with occasional drops below that if I'm not paying attention to the heater. I've already had one solid acacia start a crack on the soundboard that I'm kicking myself for not having caught sooner.

I'm using the large Herco guitar humidifiers.

A humidifier will work in a soft case/gig bag; I currently store my soprano in a gig bag with a humidifier. However, you will need to check it and refill it more often, since gig bags tend to be more leaky than a good quality hard case. I don't buy expensive humidifiers sold in stores, since they do not work any better than a simple wet sponge placed in a open ziplok bag. I also found that discarded plastic pill bottles work really well too--just punch a bunch of holes through it and add a damp sponge.
 
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