Dear Lists, On Monday at a local private school, the valves on fire sprinkler systems failed in two practice rooms failed, and two Yamaha U1s (2 y- o, both) got rained on. Preliminary inspection after a day of sitting in a dry room with case panels off revealed (and compared to T116s down the hall which escaped damage) only loose plate bolts (a sign of expanding then shrinking backframes), tight balance rail holes on the keys (possibly transitory as the keys return to normal moisture content), and in one piano (the worst hit) what appears to be swelling of bass bichord and treble trichord damper felts. These are all easy matters to deal with. The other concern for which I'm writing the two lists is the long range on. The water level at the follor in these twos rooms was high enough (6" according to reports), that after the rooms' accumulated water had exited through opened doors, there was water draining out of the bottom of the insides of the two pianos. Once the situation was known, students went to work immediately drying off anything in the piano which they didn't feel scared to touch with towels. When I inspected the pianos the next day, all seemed fine. But that still leaves maybe two possible three hours during which the insides and outsides of the floor levels of these piano were immersed in water. I'm planning next week to put each of these pianos on its back and inspect the joinery of the backposts and the spacers. Any warning signs to look out for? More generally, has anyone nursed new pianos (presumably with resin core panels) back from such a disaster and can offer the long view, say six months to a year? Thanks in advance for your replies Bill Ballard RPT NH Chapter, P.T.G. wbps@vermontel.net "Lydia thinks she knows everything, and Lyle thinks he owns the place" ...........The outgoing staff technician to the new guy, concerning the resident artiste/pianist and the Chief Custodian +++++++++++++++++++++ william ballard wbps@vermontel.net
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