Noisy Yamaha action

[Steven Coolidge]

Did anyone mention putting teflon on the knuckles?  That is the cause of 
the "click first time" effect on grands in my experience.

Steve

At 05:15 AM 2/11/01 +0000, you wrote:
>List:
>
>I'm working on a Yamaha C5 c1979. I just replaced the hammers and shanks.
>Piano sounds great.  But, the action is very noisy.  Two types of noises 
>seem to be there:  First, there is a sort of click that one frequently 
>hears when a note played or even tapped.  Interestingly, the noise does 
>not occur if you keep playing the note, only on the first blow.  In a 
>discussion with another tech, he informed me that some Yamaha keys tend to 
>leach sap onto the balance rail pin creating a sticky residue that (when 
>the pin is too tight) makes a noise (clicking type) when the key is first 
>played.  The noise does not continue with repeated blows because the 
>contact has, in effect, been broken.  Once the key rests for a bit, this 
>contact sets up again and the noise will again be heard when the key is 
>next played.  Some of the balance rail pins are, in fact, a bit tight.  I 
>have not heard this theory before and would be interested in some comments 
>if there are those who have.  I can certainly ease at the balance rail, 
>but if this noise is in part because of some sort of residue, what can the 
>pins or key be lubricated with that will have a positive effect.  I 
>normally lubricate the pins with McClube (and these pins have been 
>lubricated), so I suppose my question is what would you lubricate the 
>balance rail hole in the key with.
>
>Second, there is a fair amount of side to side play in the whippen flange 
>and I when I push the repetition spring from the side it makes a slight 
>click where it enters the back of the jack tender.  Aside from addressing 
>the problem at the balance rail, my first thought was to repin the whippen 
>flanges and lubricate the lower part of the rep spring with some Protek 
>grease type lubricant.  My second thought was to replace the whippens.
>
>Note:  The problem is not loose weights either in the key or the damper 
>flanges (noise continues even with dampers lifted out of the way).
>Backrail cloth and cloth on the heel of the whippen are fine.  Leather on 
>the balancier is not hard.  Hammer flanges are fine, and the hammer/shank 
>glue joint is solid.
>
>P.S.  Though the action is somewhat "rattly", I realize that actions do 
>make some noise and that eliminating all of it is difficult if not 
>impossible.
>Nevertheless, this customer is sensitive to extraneous action noise and I 
>would like to get it as quiet as possible.
>
>I appreciate your comments.
>
>David Love
>
>
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