Ceiling fans and tuning.

[keys60]

Have any of you more experienced tuners noticed that ceiling fans turned on in the area of the piano chops up the soundwaves and creates beats. I have recently tuned a Steinway O and a Petrof 40" upright where the ceiling fan was on and created interference  until I turned them off.
Background noise and air conditioners are no problem, but those blasted ceiling fans.......
Comments?

[_nisa_]

I'm not experienced at all in tuning, but maybe can i make a comment?

I am not surprised of this. I may be wrong, but these fans create regular waves that, due to the fact that they are ceiling fans, can spread in all the room and interact with the piano acoustic waves. As both waves are constant (periodic), it seems normal to me that it creates beats of no-noise.

Take a diapason: hit it and make it turn around itself near your ear. Due to the interaction of both branches, you will hear zones of silence and zones of sound.

My 2 cents,

_Nisa_

[netzow]

Yup, it happens, ceiling fans can screw with your tuning, as can other consistent frequencies. It happens to the best of us.

[silverwoodpianos]

I am not bothered by consistent frequencies as per electric motors, unless they vary like a weed eater or something. The constant hum of air conditioning, compressor or a vacuum is not a problem.

Unless you are tuning strings close to the same frequency emitted by the running motor.

The ceiling fans beat a lot of air and this will interfere with the frequencies emitted by an excited piece of wire, which is beating the same air.

It is the same as throwing a small rock into a pond that is still.  You get small ripples in the water.

Then, throw in a bigger rock and the previous small ripples from the small rock are overtaken by the larger ripples......

Sound does the same thing; in the air of course........