Small Hygrometers

What’s a hygrometer? One puts it in the uke’s case? Where? Will it work in a gig bag? That’s mostly what I have. They’re mostly stored in my garage.

I haven’t had a crack in any of the ukes since I bought ‘em. My battle is mostly against sun fading or dryng ‘em
out — ahh, well . . .
:eek:ld:
 
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DownUpDave said:
Sorry friends I really wanted to keep my mouth shut and not rain on your parade but that would not be right. I have had a bad run with cheap hygrometers, a number of different brands and units. Did the old, buy 10 keep 5 that read close to the same so they must be right WRONG.

A couple years ago I bought 3 Caliper IV hygrometers which are tested and trusted by cigar afficiandos, about $30.00 each. More importantly sold and recommended by Burgess Violin. Google him and read all the work he had done with testing hygrometers and humidifers. When the Calibers were all reading 24% the cheap ones were stuck at 38%, they would not read lower then that. I threw them all out. The most important condition for a solid wood instrument is humidity level. If you DON'T have something good to test your cheap ones against you are driving blind.
Click to expand...

Just curious, were those mechanical or electronic?
 
glennerd said:
Thanks Dave, I'll be taking mine to work next week to see if they'll read low humidity in my office. Good heads up about buying quality.
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You're welcome and my pleasure. The Caliber IV doesn't read below about 20%. You get a 'LL on the screen, might mean low low:p

When it's below 35% I know I need to do something so reading down to 20% is ok for me
 
I have a Happy Farm hygrometer I bought on Amazon. It appeared to me to be working accurately down to 12% RH over this winter. It has a cord that allows the sensor to string into your case and down into the sound hole while leaving the display visible outside the case. Apparently it was designed for hatching chicks, but I'm willing to give it a recommendation for use on ukuleles.

With this, I discovered that the Oasis ukulele humidifiers that hang in the sound hole are more effective on small instruments... my sopranos quickly registered up to around 50% RH with Oasis humidifiers, the Tenors crept up to around 40% RH over 24-36 hours with the case shut.

The Oasis kept my tenor uke that was played every day somewhere between 30-35% RH for most of this winter, at least according to the Happy Farm hygrometer.
 
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I agree with others on the Caliber IV hygrometer. But even they can differ between units by 5% or so. Not that you need anything more accurate. You can check the accuracy by doing a salt-slurry test. Basically, fill a water bottle cap with salt and add just enough water to make a slurry. Enclose in a ziplock bag with your hygrometers and leave for 6 or more hours. Compare each reading vs. 75%, which is what the salt slurry should create.

Strongly suggest people invest in a whole room/house humidifier. This time of year in SoCal the humdity can quickly drop to below 20%. I use humidifier to keep the downstairs around 45%.

Also, I had to replace my thermostat and installed an Ecobee smart thermostat. It’s shockingly consistent in its RH reading to my Caliber. And I’ve set it up to alert me if the humdity exceeds 55 or drops below 40.

Keep your instruments hydrated, my friends.
 
Now that the pine cone hygrometer has been indoors for several days, it has opened up in the approved manner. I already know the position for "too humid" (fully closed). All I need now is to establish the configuration for "too dry".

I think I'm on to something!

John Colter

Pine cone in indoor mode.jpg

Compare with previous photo.
 
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ukantor said:
Now that the pine cone hygrometer has been indoors for several days, it has opened up in the approved manner. I already know the position for "too humid" (fully closed). All I need now is to establish the configuration for "too dry".

I think I'm on to something!

John Colter

View attachment 116176

Compare with previous photo.
Click to expand...

I have a large bush out back that tells me how cold it is. I think it's a rhododendron. When it's about 20°, the leaves are folded up, but as the temperature rises, the leaves unfurl and rise.

You could also try one of these Weather Stones. :D
https://www.amazon.com/Original-Personalised-Weather-Forecasting-Stone/dp/B004FM4ELK
 
I'm deeply offended. You are not taking my contribution to this thread seriously!

John Colter
 
Living in Nevada where humidity is very low, I needed to monitor the humidity inside my cases to protect my ukuleles. I found humidity gauges (hydometers) at the local Pet Smart Store (in the reptile section) of the store that where less than $10. They have a sticky back that can be attached to the inside of the case. They work very well.
I also use Oasis Ukulele Humidifiers in each uke that is inserted into the sound hole.
 
I just received the small hygrometers. Two read 49%, and two read 50%. Good enough for me.

I found that if I turn one upside down, the reading goes to 05. Big difference! :D
 
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aremick said:
I got the same ones on ebay just a little cheaper.

I did the salt test on one and it read 76%.

The one in the case with the 50% Boveda packet reads 51%.

Good enough for me!
Click to expand...

Did the salt test on mine and it was the only one of four different hygrometers to read over 70% (reading was 71%). Two of my others are adjustable so are now calibrated, but my Thermopro is not adjustable and was 10% low (to add insult to injury, I had tried to return it shortly after I got it and Amazon said it was non-returnable ... Amazon.)

Anyway, the round one read well at 75% RH, but it does tend to fluctuate 1-5% over time when my others are holding steady. Lowest reading I've managed to get so far is 32%.
 
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