My Oasis Humidifier Falls into Sound Hole

On both my Mainland and Pono tenor periodically the humidifier has fallen off the strings and into the soundhole. Anyone else experience this? Does it really have to hang by the strings or can it just be left in the case?

Dan

Most of my humidifiers are in the upper area of the case behind the headstock. I don't think it really matters where they are in the case as long as it closed.

I've had that with my Pono tenor too. I think that humidifier placement DOES matter. I use a gauge and the humidity in the case can vary by 10% depending on where I put the gauge. The inside of the body is unfinished and thus best able to absorb the moisture from the humidifier. So that's where I keep mine. This time of year, when the humidity plummets due to both weather and heating I'll use a second humidifier up at the headstock. Still they will need filling every other day.

I've also observed that zippered cases, like uke crazy, hold the humidity better that hard shell cases, by about 8-9% over a couple of days.

So what;s the downside? If I have to open the cases to fill the humidifiers I might as well play a little.

I have feared this problem since I got my Oasis humidifier, but have not suffered from it yet. I am very careful putting it in and out of the sound hole. I also found that it works best in a multi-step process - unhook hanger, rotate 90 degrees, work under the fourth string (I hand from the 2nd and 3rd) and then take it out.

Frankly, it's a bit of a pain, so I only use it on the one uke I rarely play any more, and have gone to Hercos for my more frequently used ukes.

I have the same problem. My oasis uke humidifier keeps falling inside the uke. I have no way of getting it out. By my estimation, I probably have 4 or 5 inside the body by now. At least I know it is going to be humidified for a while.

kenikas said:

Most of my humidifiers are in the upper area of the case behind the headstock. I don't think it really matters where they are in the case as long as it closed.

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PereBourik said:

I've had that with my Pono tenor too. I think that humidifier placement DOES matter. I use a gauge and the humidity in the case can vary by 10% depending on where I put the gauge. The inside of the body is unfinished and thus best able to absorb the moisture from the humidifier. So that's where I keep mine. This time of year, when the humidity plummets due to both weather and heating I'll use a second humidifier up at the headstock.

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I agree that humidifier placement DOES matter. I experimented by placing the humidifier (at different times) in the headstock area, on the neck/accessory storage area and in the body area. I used a zippered canvas rigid case that had a concave area in the lid which ran the length of the case so no area of the case is sealed off unto itself. This experiment was conducted with no uke in the case. A hygrometer was placed in the body of the case to measure RH. As one might expect, the RH rose as the humidifier was placed closer to the hygrometer. In the headstock area, the RH readings were low and did not raise the RH level to the desired 45+ reading. In the neck/accessory area, RH readings were just below or on the low end of the desired level of 45+ and in the body area, RH readings were on target.

I also have a Musician's Friend hard case that is very tight. When the lid comes down, it doesn't push down on the strings but you can see the impression of the strings in the fuzzy interior. With that case, I think my only choice is to get a humidifier that fits inside of the ukes body. I wouldn't trust a humidifier in the headstock area alone to properly humidify the whole case.

I've put Oasis inside the body a few times when I thought the uke and environment was a little dry. I've never had one leak.

hoosierhiver said:

I've put Oasis inside the body a few times when I thought the uke and environment was a little dry. I've never had one leak.

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Same here - no problems at all. And to the OP - I've used small a rubber band across the part that hangs in the strings to keep it from dropping in the soundhole.

Most of mine stay put on the strings, but a few repeatedly fall in. They're easy enough to fish out, though. I have a few ukes that are too thin to put the Oasis inside, or there's a brace that gets in the way. For those ukes, the Oasis is in the case wherever it will fit.

I think I will try the rubber band trick.

are tenor strings that much farther apart than concerts? I've never had a problem with my concert...I just spread the 2nd and 3rd strings a little, slip it in and it clips to the strings!

"I've used small a rubber band across the part that hangs in the strings to keep it from dropping in the sound hole."

Could you explain..or show a photo of how that works?? I just tried it and can't seem to see where to clip the rubber band so that it holds the Oasis in place.

My Oasis falls into the sound hole only when I carry the hard case by the handle but it's annoying and I don't like the idea of it rattling around on that thin, thin wood.

Mine falls into my Collings Tenor fairly often, I just rotate the uke until I can get my fingers on it and fish it out. It's slightly inconvenient but I don't think it hurts anything unless I'm missing something ?

I had nothing to contribute to this thread because I make my own humidifiers but when I bought Glenn's Pineapple Sunday he kindly included not one but two Oasis humidifiers - so now I see how they're made.

As I see it, the ukulele version is basically designed to fall out of the strings! (I'm sure that wasn't the intent, but the way it is designed it is going to twist and fall out of the strings when the case and uke are turned upright and carried by the handle, etc.)

The problem is that as soon as the uke is turned upright (i.e. by lifting the case by its handle) the weight of the Oasis rotates the plastic piece that holds it to the strings. The "hooks" in the slots of this plastic piece are not sharp enough to prevent this happening because most of the weight is pulling the plastic into rotation instead of inwards toward the bottom of the uke.

If you put the humidifier in the sound hole as close to the neck as you can get it the tendency to twist and fall may be reduced - especially on smaller ukes where the body can't rotate far before hitting the inside of the "waist" of the uke. Placing it between the A and E strings might also help for the same reason - it will put the body close to the waist where it can't rotate as far. Finally, carefully cutting the slots in the plastic hanger so they actually reverse direction should help (though it will be a little trickier unclipping the Oasis to remove it).

EDIT: Actually, depending on the geometry of your uke it might make more sense in some cases to put the clip closer to the bridge end of the sound hole but turn the whole unit around so the body is pointing towards the neck. Basically, do whatever will put the body close to the waist so it can't rotate far.

HTH,
John

I use Oasis humidifiers with several 'ukes. The Falls-Into-The-Body syndrome is very rare and easy to recover from as long as you are not in a zero-G environment.

A different and more serious problem is that the string hanger "ate" the winding on wound strings, causing the string to fail. Only two solutions then: hang the Oasis differently (the guitar hanger model?) or, quit using wound strings.

OldePhart said:

As I see it, the ukulele version is basically designed to fall out of the strings! (I'm sure that wasn't the intent, but the way it is designed it is going to twist and fall out of the strings when the case and uke are turned upright and carried by the handle, etc.)

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I carry my concert to and from Uke Club in a hard case every week and the oasis never falls out.

PereBourik said:

I use Oasis humidifiers with several 'ukes. The Falls-Into-The-Body syndrome is very rare and easy to recover from as long as you are not in a zero-G environment.

A different and more serious problem is that the string hanger "ate" the winding on wound strings, causing the string to fail. Only two solutions then: hang the Oasis differently (the guitar hanger model?) or, quit using wound strings.

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If the rubber hanger eats your windings, I think it's time to replace your strings anyway...

I think there is a difference between slight variations in humidity within a closed case containing a humidifier and the sort of wood moisture draining humidity levels that we are typically concerned about. I am more concerned about evidence of dryness such as actual wood movement than I am in variations in hygrometers readings given that many will read 5-10% differently while sitting alongside one another.

If a Uke is trying to survive in a low humidity setting that is low enough to cause wood shrinkage, then any humidifier in a case that is kept moist according to its design is quite likely to be adequate wherever it resides in the case other than in a hermetically sealed container.

I realize that the counter point to humidifying is not a common theme here, but more than one skilled luthier has related to me that they see more instruments in for repair for over humidifying than for drying out.

If you are in a dry climate, then by all means humidify. But, dropping 5-10% below optimal humidity on a changing basis is not typically an instrument killer.

I have a number of planet waves brand humidifiers. The big ones fit nicely for guitar sound holes. The small ones for ukes and violins are in two shapes, a rectangular model and an egg shaped model.
I like these sponge based humidifiers because there is not much chance of them opening up and causing water damage.I have found that hard cases retain humidity better than soft cases aka:Blues traveler.
I added a whole house humidifier and that makes me feel better in the cold months. For the instruments, I refill the humidifiers weekly.