Well, I talked with the piano moving company again today, and although the first person I spoke to about this (weeks ago) told me they could easily deal with the dampp chaser for the move, the person I spoke to today said that they wouldn't know how to do the removal and reattachment and so we should arrange to do that before the move. :/

I don't know if it's because it's a newer model (the old kind didn't have water apparently?) or what, but it's a little frustrating... At least I'm not finding this out on the morning of the move! (We move next week).

So that's kind of a hassle. But, I spoke to a piano tuner today and he sort of talked me through it so I think my husband will be able to remove it. And then if we feel like we can't get it back on, he can come out and reinstall it.

So hopefully that will be ok???

Has anyone here removed one before?

I'm probably way behind on the story here, but did you ask Dampp-Chaser if it needs to be removed before the move, or if there's a way to drain it completely?

I suspect there's not an easy way to get all of the water out with it installed, and when the movers tip the piano, a cup full of water is going to tilt out into the belly?

    The piano will need to be tuned again after it is re-installed. My tech told me that installing it causes the piano to go out of tune - I was thinking about getting one installed and that's when he told me it will mess up the tuning he had just done. So best to wait for the next tuning. Since you are moving, you will probably need a tuning once you settle in anyway.

    Gombessa I first spoke with the person who did the install. Unfortunately, he lives far away and can't easily come out to do this (and I don't want him to tune my piano again, more about that in a future thread!) so... Anyway, he said the tank should be removed in order to get rid of the water, and I have the impression that the movers don't want to move the piano with unit attached. Which makes sense because I think it would be in the way when they tip it.

    @danno858 Thank you. Yes, I will have the piano tuned after it's moved and the DC is reinstalled. What I'm worried about right now is removing the unit ourselves.

      Ah, got it.
      I looked for the installation instructions (found a copy here: https://www.pianoteksupply.com/assets/pdf/instructions/Dampp-Chaser%20Grand%20Instructions.pdf) and it looks pretty easy. The tank is secured by clips and rods and just lifts out, and the watering tube is just routed around the beams with velcro, seems like you can remove it pretty easily.

      The control box/humidistat and heater bars look like they could just be left in place for the move. I know that leaves a bit of hardware and cabling to deal with, but I suspect they can be tucked out of the way. Look at the bottom of my piano, which was also shipped long-distance in a truck 🙂

      @ShiroKuro the dealer installed the DC system at the dealership prior to the piano being delivered to me. I think the main concern is the water, not really the tipping. Like Gombessa said, I think removing the water reservoir should not be too difficult, and I can’t fathom that anything else would be a real issue for the move. You may just want to ditch the pads and get them replaced with the next tuning… I’m sure you could also do this yourself, but as the piano will need a post-delivery tuning, I don’t see any harm in just waiting for tuning visit to set it back up.

      @Sgisela and @Gombessa this is super helpful, thank you!!

      Also Gombessa, thank you for the manual, we’ll take a look!

        ShiroKuro I just looked underneath my piano and it the water reservoir looks exactly as in the manual, hanging from a couple metal bars. It’s easy enough to get the clips off the bars, and from there I think it’s straightforward to remove it. Good luck!

          @Sgisela Thank you!!

          Ok, Mr. SK laid down underneath the piano and took a look. He said it should be easy to remove and reinstall the tank, and indeed, the rest of it can stay just as it is.

          I'm glad we're thinking about this now, and not in the morning when the movers arrive, because I noticed something else too.

          The person who install the DC took the cord and used zip ties to attach it to the lyre brace. There's probably 10 zip ties or more! I guess that's good because it makes the cord pretty unnoticeable. But it means you can't remove the lyre with dealing with that cord!

          Mr SK said he think he can cut all those zip ties without damaging the cord, but geez.

          Where do you all have the cord? Have you done something to minimize its visibility?


          Mine’s just dangling. Here’s a pic from underneath. But there aren’t any zip ties! Incidentally, I never knew there was red and green felt until it came out in the photo, with the flash on.

          The dangling cord doesn’t bother me, but I suppose it could be secured underneath, run down near the leg, and it would be a little more discrete.

          Also incidentally, this is the first picture I post here, and geez was it easy & intuitive.

          Thanks for the photo! I think after we get moved, I won't have Mr SK re-do the zip ties... We'll see. Fortunately, there's an outlet in a good place.
          BTW, is that a PageFlip Butterfly under there? 😁

            ShiroKuro it’s a PageFlip Firefly. It’s not actually buried under the carpet… just pushed up against the fringe

              I have the PageFlip Butterfly, I don't know what the difference is, but I recognized yours as a PageFlip 😃

              14 days later

              Ok some updates, and kind of fyi for anyone else moving with a dampp chaser.

              We moved last week, so this is all now from direct experience. The tuner was scheduled to be in town for other clients so he came over two days before we moved and I got down on the floor under the piano with him (that was kind of awkward) and he showed me the location of the tank, the hooks, the water sensor etc.

              First re some questions above, yes, the tank has to be completely removed in order to empty it.

              Second, even if it's empty, the tank should be removed before moving a grand piano. The tank hangs on four skinny hooks. They look like they could easily be broken. Also, because the tank hangs down, I think it would be in the way when the piano gets put onto its side, and it would be in the way when the piano gets strapped into the board on the moving trunk.

              Fortunately, this is pretty straight forward. Lying under the piano, you can easily remove the tank by lifting up and getting those hooks off of the bars or whatever they're hanging on. Take a photo first so that it's easy to put it back into place.

              The other thing you need to do is push the water sensors up out of the way. These are two long, thin ...poles (for lack of a better word) that hang down into the tank and tell the system when the tank is out of water. The tuner showed me how to push them up out of the way so that they don't get broken or damaged during moving.

              The heater bars are not really in the way. Oh but you do have to remove the pads which drape over the heater bars and sit in the water. Remove those, and put them back when re-installing the tank.

              We also had to remove the zip ties that held the power cord onto the lyre brace. The movers said that the lyre braces actually need to be removed for transit to ensure they don't get snapped off! (Which would be bad...)

              Let's see, what else did I learn....

              I think that's it. After the piano was moved and set up, Mr. SK draped the pads over the heater bars, lowered the water sensors, and reinstalled the tank for me. As soon as I plugged it in, the lights lit up telling me it wanted water, so we're back in business! 🙂

              In conclusion: if your grand piano is being moved, be sure to remove the DC water tank and prep it for moving. 🙂