KoAloha and internal humidifier: Cautionary note for internal humidifiers (eg Oasis)

KingPie

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Hello folks,

I just wanted to share a recent note from KoAloaha repairs department. I was inquiring KoAloha regarding my ukulele I had purchased recently and they noticed my Oasis humidifier in the picture. They suggested that I should keep these internal humidifier out of the sound hole and relocate it toward the headstock area. They have been receiving numerous repair requests from folks using internal humidifier, where glue joints have come undone, possibly due to excessive humidity.

Happy strumming~

Peter
 
That’s interesting. So what really is the best way to properly humidify a nice uke?

Andy
 
That’s interesting. So what really is the best way to properly humidify a nice uke?

Andy

I am quite new to ukulele (or any musical instruments for that matter). I was told the internal humidifier similar to Oasis (I have OH-18) may leak or give off too much moisture than the smaller size of ukulele can handle. As recommended, I now have my humidifier behind the headstock. Perhaps others can chime in.
 
Depending on the design of the case - putting a single humidifier in the headstock compartment might not be sufficient. In my experience, there's not much air exchange between the two compartments in some hardshell cases, so the main compartment might not get enough water vapor.

Tests at home with guitars in hardshell cases showed me that the humidity readings in the guitar soundhole could be as much as 15 points higher than the readings from the headstock compartment. That lead me to making smaller humidifiers from pill bottles and water beads to tuck into the headstock area, along with the sponge type soundhole humidifiers in the main compartment.

My solution for ukes is to keep them, case and all, inside jumbo ziploc storage bags with a kitchen sponge in a perforated sandwich bag taped to the inside. This way I can keep the entire instrument properly humidified in my home during winter, where the humidity level is currently in the teens.
 
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We sell a lot of KoAloha ukes w Oasis humidifiers and have not experienced that issue. And I've done tests as well like Swamp Yankee and documented the superior effectiveness of humidifying from in the body. From all the ones I've tested the OH-5 Oasis was the best when you're below 25%. And something more extensive like doubling up at the headstock is even better.

One thing to make sure of with the Oasis humidifiers is that you don't let it dry out for a long period because the inner membrane sticks to itself and can tear when expanding again and cause a leak. I have experienced over humidification due to a leaky humidifier, but the customer was also refilling it every few days..

Oh, I should also mention, the Humistat humidifier, sitting in the corner of the body of your case right near the neck body joint is also pretty effective and does not hang in the instrument. But in a room at 20% it kept the inside of the case at 40% over a few weeks, where as the OH-5 kept it at 49%. But if you really didn't want to hang a humidifier inside the body you could do a Humistat at the edge of the body and another at the headstock. That might be sufficient. Low humidity especially at this time of year is a common problem so I thought I'd chime in.
 
Great to have more perspectives regarding the Oasis humidifier. Perhaps there is more to the story regarding the issue that hasn't been mentioned/revealed. As Andrew mentioned, I also suspected it may be the leakage due to the improper maintenance of the humidifier. I am just a little cautious at this time as I am experiencing dishing/dip (~1mm) on my newly acquired instrument. I will keep experimenting as the real world data says its safe.

I currently have Martin polygut primium strings on my Koaloha concert. The spec sheet lists tension value of 31.4. Does this seem acceptable for this instrument?

Thanks for your input.
 
I use the Oasis in my tenors, but for my KoAloha concert they are just too big so I have the d'Addario uke humidifier in it which seems to work well. As for their warranty, I always thought that NOT humidifying would cause problems....
 
What I have been doing with my guitars and ukes is using the daddario humidipaks. They seem to work great and my cases for all my instruments are reading at 40ish percent when my house is at about 25%.. so far no complaints.

I
 
We've had an unusually long and cold winter and I got tired of checking and filling case humidifiers and never being sure of the actual case humidity without buying a bunch of hygrometers. Last week I bought a small "ultrasonic" room humidifier for about $20. It holds over a gallon of water and lasts a bit longer than 24 hours, while bringing the room humidity up to 50 percent or better. I can leave the instruments out, so the nuisance of daily filling is probably about equal overall, what with opening and closing cases and multiple trips to the sink to refill individual humidifiers.

It wouldn't work if I traveled in the winter, and I may change my mind next year, but I like it so far. Since I mostly use homemade case humidifiers, I don't have much invested, but I think the dAddario packs I bought that humidify one or two ukes cost about the same as this thing that does the whole room. If I had only one uke or two ukes, case humidifiers would be fine, but I have a stupid number and my hobby is playing them, not filling, soaking, or dampening gadgets, which is how it seemed I was spending Saturday mornings. Plus one glance at one hygrometer tells me the status of all the ukes.
 
I use Oasis humidifiers in the sound holes of all my ukuleles every Winter. Except the OXK because it's made of HPL.

One trick I picked up somewhere is to loosen the cap half way and stand the humidifier on end over the Summer. That lets them dry out without the sides sticking together and allows the beads to fall to the bottom away from the cap. Been doing this for 4 years without a single leak or cracked wood..
 
Bumping this helpful, informative comment, thanks AndrewKuker.

Up until now, I've been using Dampit, Oasis hanging from strings or magnet clipped to case, & Herco (listed in order of decreasing inconvenience).

Am trying out Humistat for the first time, middle setting. Am really liking how small it is. We'll see how long it'll go before needing refilling (this post is sort of a personal time stamp for that). Definitely needs to be refilled over a sink... or towel... with quick closure.



We sell a lot of KoAloha ukes w Oasis humidifiers and have not experienced that issue. And I've done tests as well like Swamp Yankee and documented the superior effectiveness of humidifying from in the body. From all the ones I've tested the OH-5 Oasis was the best when you're below 25%. And something more extensive like doubling up at the headstock is even better.

One thing to make sure of with the Oasis humidifiers is that you don't let it dry out for a long period because the inner membrane sticks to itself and can tear when expanding again and cause a leak. I have experienced over humidification due to a leaky humidifier, but the customer was also refilling it every few days..

Oh, I should also mention, the Humistat humidifier, sitting in the corner of the body of your case right near the neck body joint is also pretty effective and does not hang in the instrument. But in a room at 20% it kept the inside of the case at 40% over a few weeks, where as the OH-5 kept it at 49%. But if you really didn't want to hang a humidifier inside the body you could do a Humistat at the edge of the body and another at the headstock. That might be sufficient. Low humidity especially at this time of year is a common problem so I thought I'd chime in.


I can't imagine NOT having the option of humidifying a solid wood stringed instrument from the inside in low humidity climates or colder times of the year. Dampits are pretty much standard issue for all violins/cellos of value, especially high value. Makes me wonder about other factors in the ukes mentioned in the original post (esp glue & temperature).

Hello folks,

I just wanted to share a recent note from KoAloaha repairs department. I was inquiring KoAloha regarding my ukulele I had purchased recently and they noticed my Oasis humidifier in the picture. They suggested that I should keep these internal humidifier out of the sound hole and relocate it toward the headstock area. They have been receiving numerous repair requests from folks using internal humidifier, where glue joints have come undone, possibly due to excessive humidity.

Happy strumming~

Peter
 
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