Squeaky U-3/what kind of lube?

[Joe And Penny Goss]

Hi Dave,
I use Ballistol aerosol on metal to plastic friction.
Joe Goss
imatunr@srvinet.com
www.mothergoosetools.com
----- Original Message -----
From: <PNHISTIC1@AOL.COM>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, June 07, 2002 10:40 PM
Subject: Squeaky U-3/what kind of lube?


> List,
>
> I was tuning a 15-20 year old gray market U-3 today.  Not a bad piano at
all,
> except for the occasional rattle-squeak-creak on a few select notes.  The
> owner of the piano is a PHD candidate in piano performance at North Texas
> State, so I determined to find the cause of the problem.
>
> After finishing the tuning, I removed the action, tightened every screw I
> could find, but the noises were still there.  I removed the whippen of the
> worst offender, did nothing special other than check for looseness, then
> removed and examined a jack spring.  Found nothing out of the ordinary,
and
> put it back in, then replaced the whippen.  The noise was gone.  I
> deduced(eventually....:-)  that the jack spring was rubbing on the side of
> the jack near the nipple that holds it in place.  I took all of the noisy
> springs out and bent them ever-so-slightly so they wouldn't rub, and
voila!!
> Noises were gone.
>
> Does anybody regularly use ProTek or any other lubricant on these plastic
> jacks and springs?  I'd like to treat all of the jacks next time I go
back,
> because it's a certainty that more will act up in the next 6 months.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dave Stahl
>
> PS  Made me feel good to hear a Bach Partita being played as I walked down
> her apartment stairs!  It's nice to tune for somebody who really
appreciates
> it and benefits from it.  She even slipped me a tip!