Creepy Creak - Not just a stream in Transylvania I had an interesting bout with a 5 yr old D today. There was a loud very defined creaking noise from the treble side of the keyboard when using the shift pedal. I thought it was the spring but after putting some thin felt behind it that was eliminated. Then I thought the frame was squeaking against the key bed so I lubed everything with dry teflon. Nope, still there. Then I thought maybe the shift lever itself. After tightening everything below and lubing the creaking was still there. Then I thought maybe the frame itself might be loose. I tightened all screws on the frame including the action bracket screws. Nope, still there. By this time I'm getting really frustrated. The creaking is loud and obnoxious and there is a concert later in the evening. Next I thought maybe it was external. Perhaps it's the leg or the lyre. No fault could be found. Repetitively I took the action in and out, tightening, adjusting, lubing, checking again. Then on about the 20th time of lifting the action out I heard the creak AS I was handling it. Good, that eliminates the piano, it's IN the action somewhere. Almost by accident I found it. It was the strip of wood glued on the bottom of the frame where the lever engages. It wasn't loose, in fact it was quite secure. The problem was the end of it where it was rubbing on the balance rail cross member. In other words, it should never have been glued tight up against it, a gap should have been aloud to prevent rubbing when flexing from the "push" from the shift lever. With that fixed it was smooth as silk, but not before taking over an hour tracking it down! Rob Goodale, RPT Las Vegas, NV -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut.php/attachments/20100929/ec19b06d/attachment.htm>
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