Official Luthiers Forum!

I just bought an Abbeon AB167 on eBay that doesn't work! I was refunded my full amount, they probably knew it did not work! I was wondering if there is something I can do to make the mechanism work again? Like an old grandfather clock, oiling the gears makes a huge difference in performance!
Is anybody familiar with the salt test at 75% humidity?

Looks to me that the Abbeon is working just fine. Just needs a minor adjustment to be exact.
I'd put my money on the Abbeon before any of those other digital gadgets which are notoriously wrong, and usually read low by at least 10 points. The Abbeon in the bag is only off by 2.5%. Easily adjustable with the adjustment screw. When I bought mine, it was off by a good bit. When I called Abbeon about it, they said adjust it. I did and it's fine now. Took 4 or 5 times to get it just right. They have to break in to your environment. Abbeon's use a synthetic hair for reading the humidity.

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Waddy,
How did you find a starting point to adjust from! I used a sealed zip lock with a small amount of salt & waited 24hrs, then adjusted the needle to 75%, waited another 8 or so hrs, then put it in the wall.
I don't trust my digital gadgets anymore! That's way I bought the Abbeon. My shop feels drier than 57%, but if it's right,
than it's right!! I'm running my dehumidifier at 42%! My shop is hot & dry! Today the Abbeon is showing 60%. It just doesn't seem correct!

Salt & distilled water, making a salt slurry in a sealed environment is supposed to reach 75%.
I'm I correct?

You are correct the salt solution should read about 75.5, so you're pretty close. The cheap digital hygrometers are more of a hazard than a aid IMO.
Their error also varies by temperature. I have one that's pretty close at 70 degs. but way off at 60 degs. And the one on my humidifier is totally useless.

_________________
Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

What's the proportion salt to water for the solution and how much solution?
Thanks, Wendy

Wendy- 1 litter bottle cap with peanut butter constancy! I did put the mixture in a larger container so I wouldn't spill it.
I'm done with my digital devises!!

I found this article very helpful when first exploring this topic.

http://publications.gc.ca/collections/c ... 09-eng.pdf

Gregor

_________________
Wake up and smell the rosewood!

OMG ! I just bought one. Called the Silicon Valley.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Greg
I'll try that salt water mixture also!

I've got a hygrometer out in my porch room. It was raining like sixty and the thang said it was 48%.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You could determine the relative humidity in your shop using the dew point. It's not difficult at all.

Mario Proulx gives a pretty good run down of how he does it using a can (or thing walled glass), water, ice cubes, a thermometer, and an online calculator here . . . .

http://www.mimf.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1701&p=15587

Every 3 or 4 months I do this and check the accuracy of my hygrometer. I usually take 3 to 5 measurements in quick succession and average them.

In other online discussions of relative humidity/hygrometers, people have asserted that some hygrometers can be accurate in some ranges and inaccurate in other ranges. Point being that by calibrating with the salt test alone, one could end up with an instrument that is accurate at higher humidity levels (70% - 80%), but inaccurate at the humidity levels most of us build at (40% - 50%). Calibration, or at least checking the accuracy of the instrument, at your preferred "build humidity level" is important.

I use a wet/dry bulb set up to check mine, regularly. You have to know wet bulb temp, dry bulb temp and barometric pressure. There is a website that lets you plug in the numbers and it gives you a reading. http://easycalculation.com/weather/dewp ... ulator.php

It will also calculate from dew point.

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

I usually check mine every month or so with a sling psychrometer but now you are saying I need barometric pressure too? So how do you make sure your barometric pressure is accurate? Geez!

What you can get off your weather app for your location is close enough.

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

I think I should just make decorative boxes or something. It's 109 here and just 3% humidity the other day. I'm spending a fortune on A/C and humidity just for my shop and sweating in the house to save money. I miss working in a shop with the windows and doors open and no hygrometers on the wall. I'm either building the wrong thing or living in the wrong place, or maybe both!

Ok!
This is my third test bringing my hydrometer to 75.5%! After 12 hours being in a salt environment and then being in my shop for 12 hours, the needle won't go past 65%! I know for a fact that my shop is at least 52%!
I think I'm going to buy a new hydrometer!

Just a word of warning there, I tried looking up my barometric pressure at places like weather underground and other websites, my local airport even went to the NOAA website. I'm not sure whats going on with the numbers, but they appear to normalized to sea level or something. For example I live at 7000 ft and they all list my pressure being very slightly over 30 in Hg. Stand pressure at sea level is 29.9 in Hg. a normal pressure at 7000 ft is about 22-23 in hg. I was fortunate enough to know that 30 in Hg was not right and also had access to data for my area that was not normalized ( or what ever they're doing). I suspect if you know what the standard pressure for you elevation is that would be close enough. And of course if you live at or near sea level all is good.

_________________
Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

I don't really understand your statement. You hygrometer says it at 68%. It'll only read 75% when in the sealed bag with the salt.
edit: I think I just totally misinterpreted you statement, sorry about. I assuming that you think the shop is below 52%, what instrument do you have that makes you believe that.
BTW: do you happen to have a fairly long thermometer, you can easily replicate a psychrometer and make a wet bulb measurement using a thermometer, so wet cotton and a fan using the link Waddy gives above.

_________________
Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Seeing as how you already spent a small fortune on the gauge you may want to consider sending it back to Abbeon to be adjusted. These are high quality gauges and what they charge you for the adjustment is cheaper than buying a new one. Unless you're throwing it around the gauge should last a lifetime.
Just thought I would throw that out there before you give up and buy something else.

Jim,
I've use a fellow luthiers Abbeon! He has been building for 20 + yrs and I'm just comparing mine with his! The two do not read the same ?
I will use his wet/dry bulb thermometer & go from there!

Tim,
Bought it on EBay cheap! I haven't give up on it & I treat the instrument very well.

¥>~|\<€£ !
I'm going fishing!