Zapper voltage source

[Susan Kline]

At 09:05 PM 9/17/98 -0400, Robert Scott wrote:
> If I thought zappers were of any use (and so
>far I don't), 

Dear List, Robert ---

There are two occasions where a zapper saved me:

1. A Steinway grand (M, I think) in a fancy house where it had not been
played except by a guest or two for thirty years. They were holding a fancy
wedding there that afternoon, and I was tuning the piano for it in the
morning. The room was a little humid, and two dampers were sticking, and it
wasn't in the guide rail. So I went to take the underlevers out and repin,
and it was the glued-on style. I had never encountered them before, so I
was helpless. I was able to zap the center pins for the top flanges, and
they worked again. I knew to barely let the current touch them, but that
was enough.

2. (WARNING: sentimental story) A _very poor_ short grand piano, with a
very sick, timid, and elderly owner. She had just moved in with relatives,
and brought her piano, and all the jacks had started to stick after the
move. Her music meant a lot to her, and (of course) she hardly had the
tuning fee, let alone enough for me to take the action home and repin all
the jacks. She dithered, and her voice started shaking, and her hands
trembled. I said, "there, there, just go and take a nice nap, and come back
in half an hour." I gently zapped every single one, and they freed up
instantly. It only took about 1/4 hour. Handy that they are at the front
like that, so easy to reach. I started tuning, she came back out of the
bedroom, the piano played perfectly ... and I never heard that it gave her
any more trouble. 

The zapper earned its keep that day.

Susan

P.S. There was one time where determined zapping only made things worse:
Kimball console, with the usual darned seizing jacks. Light zapping only
worked till they cooled down again, and I got more determined, and tried a
longer time ... not quite till smoke started curling up, but close. Some
were fixed, but others only got worse, so I took them out and looked.
Sloppy gobs of glue around the bushings -- the zapping had melted it and
spread it even worse. 


Susan Kline
P.O. Box 1651
Philomath, OR 97370
skline@proaxis.com