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What do you guys think about the Humidipak system. Keeping a package in guitar case to control the RH....... any experience? Hawaii can have 75% some days.

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I prefer to do the whole house or at least a room but as case units go this is about as good as you can get.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Good system, I recommend them.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Is 75% bad? I didn't think that was excessively high for an instrument to live in.

It looks to me like they may be the best product out there, year round perfect fool proof climate control in your case. The only thing that bothers me is the thought that I will be buying those expensive packs every three or four months forever.
For now I'm sticking with my Oasis humidifier but I don't know, maybe later on?

Oasis humidifiers are really good and we sell around 100 of them every winter and recommend them wholeheartedly as well.

Every day we see this: Guy comes in with recent D-18 with sharp fret ends, top sunken in front of the bridge, bridge may be lifting.... strings are nearly on the frets and the complaint is that the instrument is buzzing out all over the place....

Well duuuuuuuh...... You let it dry out, Einstein....! But, but my furnace has a humidifier on it!!! Well it doesn't work very well and they never do especially if they don't get serviced frequently during the winter season....

And then we bag em and tag em (the guitar not it's owner....) placing them in a bag that we have tested to be in the neighborhood of 75% RH with a couple cups of water in the bottom and a large, car wash type sponge in the bottom of the bag acting as a wick to dissipate the water into the air in the bag. Three days or so and the thing usually returns to it's original shape unless it's been dry for a long time... and then we set em up, deliver to the VERY relieved client, and all is well. Then the cycle repeats the next day....

75% is pretty high IME for an instrument to live in perpetually without something giving way such as popping a brace, bridge decided to visit it's friend the nut, etc. When we bag em for several days we are also keen to keep watch for any issues and never bag em for longer than perhaps 4 days or so. And....... this is at 75%.

As such I think that if you have RH of 75% or more frequently the humidipak is an excellent solution and when you consider the costs associated with recharging the humidipak please keep in mind that repair folks are likely WAY more expensive.... you will be without your instrument for perhaps a week, and if the image of your beloved Martin or other hanging in a garbage bag bothers you those humidipak refills may seem more economical in the big picture....

Hope this helps!

PS: IBM made their name for themselves with "FUD." FUD stands for "fear, uncertainty, and doubt" and this was and remains to this very day one of the tactics that IBM uses to push product. Slogans such as "you will never lose your job for buying IBM..." also are very much part of that FUD strategy.

Thought that I'd start my Monday with a FUD about RH.... thanks for listening.....

One thing that needs to be added to this is that ( DON"T THINK A HYGROMETER IS CALIBRATED WHEN YOU BUY IT). Especially if you paid under $50 for it. I have seen this way to often , My meter says it is 55% but the top cracked but after explaining how to calibrate one , they find out it is actually 30%. Please , learn how to do this. I won't use a digital they are often too unreliable. Abbeon is the one I use. They are costly but are lab rated. If you are going to spend a 100 hours building a guitar , and you are thinking you may want to do this for a side line business , this is a needed tool for the shop.
As Hesh also points out , not all house humidification systems are the same. The evaporator styles are useless , you have to monitor the wick and reservoir . Then you have to be concerned about the bacteria. Steam units are more reliable. In my shop I run 2 lasko recirculating units. It holds my shop 45% to 50%. I am well insulated and vapor sealed. I also toss them after a season as they get full of dust and grime even after cleaning them on a regular basis. They are not a lot of money. Of all the things, one needs to learn to be a good builder is RH control. You can make the nicest joints in the world but without good RH control it is often not enough. To me Danger area is under 35% and over 65%. long exposures to these extremes stress the instrument. What I find wasteful is how someone will buy a $10000.00 guitar and not invest in a decent case humidifier.
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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

+1,000 to what John said, all of it!

I'll add that I always suggest to folks before the bandsaw, before the Fox bender, before the binding channel routing jig, before the chisels, before all the rest of the stuff getting a reliable RH solution in place, no matter what it takes, AND a calibrated hygrometer or method to know what the RH really is important!

This is not building furniture, boats, or model airplanes (shout out to Rick Turner... ) guitar family instruments are intollerant of less than suitable RH and will let you know, always.... in short order.

Boveda (formerly Humidipak I think), sells a calibration kit for their hygrometers. You put it in the bag, maintain it at 50% RH for 24 hrs, adjust the hygrometer and you are good to go. Anyone bought these products?

3-4 month effective life is a bit of a stretch in my experience. Back in my guitar store repair days we sold lots of these once Humidipak got the leaking thing worked out. A 1 month life was not unusual. I don't think I ever saw one last 3 months. Replacement packs are expensive and when expired they are just one more piece of junk headed for the landfill.

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Stay with the happy people.
--Reynolds Large

I agree the whole shop is the best option. However this isn't going to happen at this time. I might be able to do one room in the house......... utilities in Hawaii are insanely expensive. Typically the RH is about 60-68% with peaks at 70-72 at times. I need a temporary fix until I can do it the right way.

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