Guitar Humidification System Complete User Guide
Understanding Active Guitar Humidification & How To Maintain Your Cabinet
Purchasing a Guitar Habitat or Estate ensures that your instrument collection is properly humidified, displayed, and preserved for generations to come. Annual maintenance and some knowledge of how humidity affects the environment will aid in providing the optimal home for your guitars and a better overall user experience. This complete guide will ensure all Habitat users including new customers understand how the environment affects their humidified guitar display case whether it is a Guitar Habitat, Guitar Estate, or Nashville humidified wall mount display. Furthermore, this guide can be used for advanced calibration of the humification system and includes a few tips for troubleshooting common humidification situations. Let’s get started!
Although the location, type of home, and more specifically, the room in which the cabinet lives varies between Habitat owners, most users will be adding moisture to their cabinet (humidifying) in the colder months, and maintaining or removing moisture (dehumidifying) during the warmer months of the year. The majority of Habitat maintenance can be easily categorized into two types: cold weather preparation and warm weather preparation. Before getting into maintenance, we’ll quickly mention a few key terms and things to understand for new & existing customers. Later, we’ll discuss advanced calibration and the best methods for monitoring your Guitar Habitat from anywhere in the world…
New Habitat Customers:
The moment your cabinet is placed in its desired location and you’re finally ready to display your instrument collection in your Guitar Habitat is an exciting time. Rest assured that your guitars’ increased playability and elevation to art will surely make your experience with them all the better. In doing so, understanding humidity and how to properly preserve them using the Guitar Habitat’s built-in humidification system will ensure their safety and longevity.
Because each customer’s Guitar Habitat within their home presents a unique set of circumstances concerning humidity, it’s important to understand not only how humidity affects guitars, but also how humidity fluctuates in general and some of the terms that are beneficial to understanding humidification so that your experience with the furniture and your instruments is exceptional.
First, it is important to understand that like a guitar, each cabinet (crafted from premier quality hardwoods) will endure a short period of swelling the first time the humidifier circulates moisture throughout the cabinet. Rest assured that this is completely normal and each cabinet is designed and handcrafted to retain its structural integrity regardless of these changes in humidity. As a result, it’s important to note that you’ll notice that the first time you fill the one-gallon reservoir with distilled water, it goes through the water faster than it will be going forward because the moisture is saturating the cabinet for the first time.
This also leads us to another common situation to consider. Because each Guitar Habitat will absorb and emit moisture if the ambient humidity is within the guitar humidity safe zone of 40% – 60%, you will NOT need to add water to the reservoir when first setting it up. For this reason, we recommend that you always have a secondary hygrometer placed somewhere in the room where your Habitat is located. This tool will aid in deciding whether or not you will need to add water to the reservoir not only when you first receive your cabinet, but also in the future. We’ll discuss this more later on…
Typically in cold winter climates, those who are heating their home at a comfortable temperature will notice that the relative humidity is below the guitar humidity safe zone (40-60%) necessitating a full reservoir to maintain the ideal 45% by adding moisture to the cabinet. However, as weather patterns have changed in recent years worldwide, we have noticed that certain locations throughout the United States are typically dealing with more fluctuation in temperature and humidity throughout the winter season than in previous years. This is why having a secondary hygrometer that displays your ambient (room) humidity is a valuable tool.
Let’s look at the basics of guitar preservation via the Guitar Habitat or Guitar Estate models…
Glossary Terms
- Static Evaporation: The act of stagnant water evaporating into the atmosphere over time, which increases the RH% of an area.
- Ambient Humidity: The relative humidity of a specific space; for example, the humidity level of the room in which you store your Guitar Habitat.
- Hygrometer: A tool for measuring the Relative Humidity (RH%) of an area
Cold Weather Preparation: (Adding Humidity To Your Guitars)
Depending on your location, you may see temperatures dropping off as early as October or November, resulting in a decrease in humidity within your home and the cabinet itself. During this time, you’ll want to prepare your Habitat to add moisture to the cabinet.
As winter approaches, it is common to see the temperature and relative humidity fluctuate often. Once you notice that the RH% level is consistently on the lower side of the guitar humidity safe zone (around 40%) it is recommended that you begin humidifying.
To prepare your Guitar Habitat, start by removing your guitars in addition to the lower bout rails. Once set aside, remove both hatch covers allowing full access to the humidifier’s reservoir tank. If you’d prefer, feel free to detach the power cable from the reservoir, then carefully remove the tank from the cabinet.
Next, before installing a new wick, reach into the back portion of the reservoir. Here you will feel a small float valve, which should move freely up and down. This mechanism is responsible for sending the low-water signal to the controller. However, in some instances, it can become stuck due to calcification.
Now, insert a new wick into the designated slot. Note that if you reside and/or store your cabinet in a particularly dry environment that requires humidification throughout the majority of the year, you may want to replace the wick twice per year to avoid possible bacterial growth and reduced airflow.
Once the new wick is installed, place the reservoir tank back into the cabinet if it was removed and ensure that the power cable has been reconnected.
At this time, you may add distilled water to the reservoir. We recommend utilizing distilled water ONLY and also adding a few drops of Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) per gallon to interrupt the bacterial growth process and avoid calcification. Repeat this process each time you refill the reservoir tank.
Lastly, place the adjustable rails back in the cabinet along with your guitars.
Warm Weather Preparation: (Maintaining or Removing Humidity)
Depending on your location, you may see temperatures rising as early as April or May, resulting in an increase in humidity within your home and the cabinet itself. At this time, you’ll want to safely remove any excess water from the reservoir to avoid over-humidifying your guitars through static evaporation.
Opposite of the colder months, once you notice that the RH% level is consistently on the higher side of the guitar humidity safe zone (around 55%), you can now begin preparing your Guitar Habitat for the warmer, more humid months.
First, start by removing your guitars, then the lower bout rails. Once set aside, detach the power cable from the reservoir, then carefully remove the tank from the cabinet, making sure that no water is spilled within the cabinet.
Once the reservoir is removed, first dispose of the damp wick. Next, dump any excess water that remains in the tank and check to make sure that the float valve that we previously mentioned is still moving freely.
Next, it is important to ensure that the tank is completely dried out before placing it back in the cabinet by using a dry towel to wipe away any remaining moisture. Doing so will prevent mold and bacterial growth.
If your Habitat does NOT have the dehumidification system add-on, you can now place the tank back in the cabinet and leave it unplugged. This will allow you to utilize the RH% display and internal lighting without the fan activating or flashing the “LOW WATER” signal.
Lastly, place the adjustable rails back in the cabinet along with your guitars.
Click the link for an in-depth understanding of our active guitar dehumidification system.
Advanced Humidity Controller Calibration:
If you have a preferred hygrometer such as a Govee Bluetooth/WiFi unit that allows you to track data and know the RH% in your cabinet from any location or another, you may decide to calibrate multiple hygrometers to establish an RH% baseline. Here’s what we suggest:
First, we suggest purchasing or utilizing multiple hygrometers for a few reasons. Whether they all match is your preference. However, utilizing the same brand will typically result in closer calibration when purchased from the same manufacturer. Also, having multiple hygrometers will allow you to track the ambient (room) RH% as well as your Guitar Habitat. We suggest having three of the same brand so that the third one once calibrated can be utilized in a travel case. To
For example, we’ll use the Govee WiFi Thermo Hygrometer 3-Pack…
- After setting up each hygrometer using the dedicated app, set all three of the units in your Guitar Habitat and shut the door, allowing them to acclimate to levels within the cabinet for about a half hour.
- Once the hygrometers have leveled off, take note of each of them to see where they compare. For instance, H1 may read 47.8%, H2 reads 48.1%, and H3 reads 47.1%. The average Govee reading (H1+H2+H3) / 3 = 47.6%RH.
- Next, in the app, adjust the calibration of each hygrometer accordingly before moving on. For example, H2 reads 48.1%, which requires a calibration adjustment of -.05% to meet the average reading.
- Now, compare the established average (47.6%RH) to the Guitar Habitat’s built-in hygrometer reading. Let’s say your Habitat is reading 44.6%RH – a difference of 3.0% overall. Since we already know that the three Govee hygrometers were relatively close in range, we can surmise that the calibration setting of the Habitat would benefit from a slight + shift utilizing the “RH OFFSET” setting in the menu.
*It is important to note that no matter how many hygrometers and which brand(s) you choose, once you choose which hygrometer(s) is your baseline humidity level, you continue forward with that as your trusted unit and RH%.*
- Lastly, using the menu button on the Habitat’s digital controller, cycle through to the “RH OFFSET” option. Once there, hit the “ ^ ” arrow to raise the OFFSET +3%RH to match the average RH% established using the Govee Hygrometers. If the offset amount is not an exact %, adjust the controller’s offset to the nearest 1%.
- Now you will see that both the Govee hygrometers and the Habitat’s built-in hygrometer are as closely calibrated as possible, providing an accurate reading between each unit. As previously mentioned, we recommend leaving one additional hygrometer in the Habitat, one in the room to measure the ambient humidity, and the third unit can be used for traveling with a guitar.
The Govee Bluetooth/WiFi Hygrometers that we trust & utilize here in the shop can be purchased through our partner link here:
Troubleshooting:
The “LOW WATER” Light is Flashing:
- First, ensure that there is enough water in the reservoir. Typically, if it has a half gallon or more in the tank, the warning light should not activate.
- If the reservoir is full, carefully remove the humidifier wick to make sure that the float valve is moving freely behind it.
The RH% Is Above The Desired Set Point:
- This is a common issue that occurs due to the constant fluctuations as the seasons change and/or high ambient humidity in the room. It is important to remember that the safe zone for guitars is between 40%RH and 60%RH and that the effects of humidity on wood take time. That being said, if your guitars are slightly outside of that range for a short period, the structural integrity of your instruments will be unaffected. Humidity damage to guitars occurs most often due to prolonged periods of dryness and sometimes wetness.
- If the humidity in your Habitat seems to be leaning more toward 55-60%, a simple solution is to leave the door slightly open, allowing some of the moisture to escape, and lower it to 40%RH before closing it again.
- Another solution for those who do not have the DRH (dehumidification system option) in their cabinet is to monitor the ambient humidity in the room where the cabinet is being stored. We suggest that all customers have a secondary hygrometer regardless of which system they have to understand the unique humidification environment of their home. For example, if your Habitat is located in your living room and the humidity in the room is 40% or above, you will not need to add water to the reservoir. Doing so when the room’s humidity is already within that safe zone will cause the cabinet (a smaller area within the room) to become more saturated with moisture due to static evaporation of the water in the reservoir. Thus pushing the cabinet’s RH% even higher.
American Music Furniture Co.: Humidified Guitar Displays & Music Room Design
Each humidified guitar display case, custom built-in, and other music room furniture including gear storage, guitar stands & wall hangers are handcrafted in our Pennsylvania studio. Contact us today to see what’s in stock & ready to ship! (267) 272-2460