pipers pal cap

[Pete Buchan]

I have been using a Kinnard Pipers Pal reed protector instead of leaving the chanter and reed plugged into the bag for the past month.It has solved the problem with the reed drying out,but now the reed has horrible green mold spots.Has anyone got any suggestions on how to prevent this happening.I play for about half an hour every day.I thought that maybe a dip in peroxide or bleach wouldn't go amiss but maybe that would damage my reed.Any suggestions anyone?
Pete.

[David Corbett]

let it dry a bit before putting in the protector. Where is the protector when you're playing? is it open to the air so it can also dry?

when you remove your chanter, is there visible moisture on the seat?

[burp birl]

I've found that it is possible that there is too much moisture in the gel beads. I was taught by a direct Kinnaird contact to soak the gel beads in water for several minutes and then SQUEEZE out all the excess moisture you can!

The one time I didn't do this I had black mold growing on my reed.

Jenni

[Iain Sherwood]

Peroxide is safe, it will disinfect the reed and actually stiffen it a little.

Just don't use as much water in the gel beads, as said above - and be sure to change the gel every year, or it gets nasty and loses effectiveness.

[bob864]

The Piper's Pal is designed to keep the reed at 80% RH. According to Kinnaird, 80% is optimal playing moisture. According to the EPA it's also good growing conditions for mold.

If you squeeze the extra water out of the system, you'll loose some of the salts that are what make it work (eventually ending up with none) -- better to avoid putting too much water on it in the first place.

[ratherbpiping]

If you play every day, you probably don't need any more moisture in the reed.

Leave the reed air dry for a good time before putting it in the reed protector. If the reed gros mold, use a normal reed protector or a wooden one.

[burp birl]

If you squeeze the extra water out of the system, you'll loose some of the salts that are what make it work (eventually ending up with none) -- better to avoid putting too much water on it in the first place.

The gel capsules are the exact same thing as what florists use with their plants and you can go to a good floral shop and purchase them yourself. The activated carbon is what is used in aquarium filters and you can purchase that at aquarium shops. You can also purchase 'recharge kits' at pipe supply dealers with both the gel and the charcoal (for an exhorbitant price).

:thumb:It's good to re-charge the system at least once per year so I've no worry about giving my gel a good squeeze!! I've got a lifetime supply of 'recharge' and it was cheap.

Jenni

[bob864]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: bob864</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
If you squeeze the extra water out of the system, you'll loose some of the salts that are what make it work (eventually ending up with none) -- better to avoid putting too much water on it in the first place.

The gel capsules are the exact same thing as what florists use with their plants and you can go to a good floral shop and purchase them yourself. The activated carbon is what is used in aquarium filters and you can purchase that at aquarium shops. You can also purchase 'recharge kits' at pipe supply dealers with both the gel and the charcoal (for an exhorbitant price).

:thumb:It's good to re-charge the system at least once per year so I've no worry about giving my gel a good squeeze!! I've got a lifetime supply of 'recharge' and it was cheap.

Jenni </div></div>

The gel is only 1/2 of the "magic." The other half is the mineral salt that Kinnaird mixes in with the gel. The gel works in concert with the salt to keep the humidity at the optimal level. If you just use plain gel it won't work the way it's supposed to.

The charcoal is to help reduce mold.

[burp birl]

I'm just going by what a direct Kinnaird contact told me and I've been using my own florist purchased gel and aquarium store charcoal for 3 years now without any problem AND I've passed it along to everyone in my band and they've had no problem either provided they squeeze out excess moisture.

I like what I've got and it's working for me/the band....AND it's cheap!

A question I have whilst on this subject that other's might be able to help with is that of the use of copper instead of and/or along with charcoal in preventing mold. Is this a valid idea? I've experienced black mold and Peter (the originator of this thread) is experiencing green mold....would an older (all) copper penny help prevent a different type of mold growing? I don't think a penny would fit in a Piper's Pal Chanter cap but is there an alternative copper source that would work? Copper wiring?

Thanks,
Jenni

[Brian Kittel]

I read somewhere, don't ask me where, that copper does inhibit mold growth. thus some people put an older coper penny in thier bags (newer ones have less copper, but supposedly enough to get the job done). The problem with the penny in the bag is that it can fall down your chanter stock and chip the reed. To get around this I took a piece of 10 gauge copper wire that was about 8" long and inserted into the bag, then bent the wire full round. No way in hell it's getting down or up a stock now. It's been there for about 2 or 3 months and for the past 1.5 months or so I have played every day for at least 30 minutes (not strait, still building the lips up), and no sign or smell of mold yet.

I'm no chemist, but I know it used to be pretty common, and some still do it, out in the Pacific Northwest to run cooper wireing along the peak of a roof. As the watter hits it and runs down the roof thereby preventing moss from growing, zinc works also, but I think it is more destructive to metal gutters.

I don't have a pipers pal chanter cap, so I don't know, but I would imagine the air flow would be very restrictive between the reed, carbon, and then gel. If any of you have ever donned a Gas Mask you can see how difficult it is to pull air through the carbon filter. This leads me to question how effective the carbon would be at filtering mold spores as there is nothing to force the air through the carbon. A small piece of coper wireing though may increase the air exchange and the oxidization process of the copper may be enough to combat the mold.

I'll try to build a couple and experiment, but if someone already has a couple of caps maybe they could get a quicker result? :hmm:

[Shawn Husk]

When I used a sheepskin bag I too would use a copper penny and I too also would once in a while have it make it's way down into one of my stocks. But on the upside I never had any mold issues.

Now I use an old English penny. They're about the size of a half dollar and are all copper I think. Zero problems with this big coin falling down into a stock. You should be able to find a big old copper coin at any coin shop for under a buck.

Shawn

[bob864]

I'm just going by what a direct Kinnaird contact told me

I'm going by what Mr. Kinnaird wrote in his patent application. According to that, yes, the gels are what you get from a florist, but they're not there by themselves.

You might want to take a look at the thread in the DIY forum on this topic.

Bob