How to protect your cues against moisture ???

[JB Cases]

What does rain have to do with your cues if they are stored inside your home???
Is the home naturally aspirated...meaning outside air is same as inside air?

Is there air conditioning in your home?

The problem is likely that the humidity levels are too high in the home, the case gets warm and humid, then at night when the air cools, it leaves behind the moisture,...because the cool air can't hold the humidity so it sweats the moisture on the objects and in the objects that were warm and humid...

If its as I suspect...and the temperature in your home is going up and down with the weather...you are going to need to keep your cues OUT OF THE CASE...as the case will prevent the air flow from drying the cues...and it will actually trap in moisture...at the very least...leave the case open

I don't know about France but in Germany many homes have no air conditioning. They rely on fans.

My shop also has no air conditioning and when it's very humid I make sure that the fans are blowing on the leather to prevent mold from forming.

I do agree that whatever moisture is in a container will stay inside the container relative to the amount that the container is sealed. And conversely the moisture allowed into the container is also relative to the barrier.

I do not agree however that the moisture presence is a problem unless it's also so high that it's soaking other things. For example in our building in spring the moisture level is so high that the floors and walls remain moist. If I leave my windows open then my apartment gets just as clammy unless I run the fans and then it dries out somewhat. If this is not the case in the house in general then it's more likely that the particular cue is simply sucking up excess moisture.

I keep my cues, about 20 of them, in cases and in a display cabinet. I have not noticed any differences in the dryness level of any of them regardless of whether they are stored in cases or in the cabinet. My cases range from a fairly well sealed, but not airtight, GTF and JB tube cases to cloth soft cases lined with faux fur.

This is always an interesting topic. I wish I had time to run some experiments. I think one thing that people can do is read about how others handle their wooden instruments. I have seen cases with built in humidifiers and heaters to regulate the amount of moisture inside the case.

In the past I found a lot of interesting reading on the subject through Google.

 

[chevybob20]

If you play in an air conditioned pool room and then store that cue in a room without A/C or humidity control, then moisture will collect on the cue. This is what happens to a glass of ice water outside in the summer or the windows of your car overnight.

 

[erriep]

HelloBaby- ,

In addition to top notch protection , you could use big silica gel packets as "emergency" solution, but you'll have to replace them often.

To find big silica gel packets in Paris isn't so hard : go to see an audiologist. They always have in stock around 7cm diameter kind of silica gel cartridges , pricey (around 8€) but they are efficient.

erriep

PS :

--->HelloBaby- , va chez un audioprothesiste près de chez toi , demande lui des cartouches dessicantes. Ils ont toujours ça en stock. c'est assez cher, mais beaucoup plus efficaces et plus gros que les petits sachets qu'on trouve par exemple dans les emballages eletroniques, de chaussures ou autre...

--> JB , in France most homes have no air conditioning.

 

[JB Cases]

If you play in an air conditioned pool room and then store that cue in a room without A/C or humidity control, then moisture will collect on the cue. This is what happens to a glass of ice water outside in the summer or the windows of your car overnight.

Actually this is not entirely correct. Condensation, such as what causes the outside of a cold glass to get wet happens because the cold surface of the glass lowers the temperature of the air to the dew point right at the surface. If you use an insulated mug then you don't get condensation on the outside of the glass.

Essentially dew forms when you have cold air plus humidity. Water vapor condenses until it forms a droplet and that droplet attaches to something. Without humidity there is little to no dew.

I leave my cues in the car all the time, all seasons.

While you are correct that dew will form and sit on the surface of objects that is very different than those objects becoming thoroughly wet. A good analogy would be a t-shirt left outside and a plastic toy. In the morning the toy and the shirt would both be wet but the toy will only be wet on the surface while the t-shirt is likely to be soaked.

Take two pieces of wood that have the same weight, one which is raw untreated lumber and one which has been sealed and put them outside. In the morning the untreated one will be noticeably heavier due to the water content inside it.

A cue which has been well sealed can withstand dew formation on the surface. A cue that has not will absorb as much moisture as the cells can hold.

Condensation will not form on a cue simply from going to an air conditioned environment to a non A/C environment. The cue's surface temperature would have to be drastically lower for it to condense water vapor.

All of the cue dealers know this. You have to ask yourselves how they handle it moving cues around the country from homes to cars to very cool casinos to hot cars and so on. You would think that their cues would be wet all the time if this was a problem. But their cues are not wet all the time because cases provide an adequate moisture barrier and they are not leaving the cues outside to face the dew in the morning.

Now I have left my cues outside in the rain and snow in my cases on purpose to see what happens. One time at the US Open I was challenged when I said that our cases would not allow water to get inside. Outside was a torrential downpour so I told the person who didn't believe me to pick any case on the wall and he did, a $479 3x7 Instroke limited case. I put my personal cues inside it, a very nice Scruggs and a sweet Olivier and took it outside and set it standing up. I was soaked as I got back in after only one minute outside.

We left the case there for about ten minutes while people walked around it and looked puzzled as to why a case was standing there. I had to shoo a few people away.

Anyway when we brought the case in it was wet of course but the cues inside were perfectly dry as promised. Not even any moisture on them at all.

So a case which makes a decent seal is a barrier to moisture. It keeps the interior fairly even by not letting excess in but, if not airtight, allowing latent moisture to evaporate to a degree.

In my unscientific opinion and experience that is.

 

[Harold Smith]

I have a Instroke 3x7,leave it in my truck, lived down on the Gulf Coast of Texas and never had the problem you have. I would get rid of that soft case first. If you are just sold on your case you could put some rice in a cheesecloth bag to absorb the moisture.---Smitty

 

[HelloBaby-]

Thanks for all the inputs, I'm thinking about getting a new case but I can't stand to use a heavy one so an enveloppe leather won't help much I think... I will try to get some moisturing absorber pack...

 

[JB Cases]

Thanks for all the inputs, I'm thinking about getting a new case but I can't stand to use a heavy one so an enveloppe leather won't help much I think... I will try to get some moisturing absorber pack...

Reread the first post and you said everyone else has the same problem at the pool room. Then it's simply too wet in your house and your pool room.

Here is a good guide for you, http://www.makingmusicmag.com/forte/humidity-control.html