Coffee in piano

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

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In a message dated 2/16/02 8:22:48 AM Central Standard Time, 
pryan2@the-beach.net (Phil Ryan)
 writes:


> A client whose piano I service, spilled a cup of coffee into the action of
> the piano.  The action  was cleaned up pretty well, but some of the notes
> involved later started to turn into a "thudding" sound.  After ruling out
> the hammers as the culprits, I found the problem to be in the agraffes. Some
> of the coffee must have stopped up the holes in the agraffes.  Not having
> any cleaning materials with me (It's on a cruise ship), I left it for next
> time.  Question: Is there a good chemical solvent that will easily disolve
> this congestion without doing additional damage?  Is this a common problem
> with spills?   It's new to me.
> 
> 

Yes, when spills occur, it is a common problem.  The suggestions about 
loosening the string and scrubbing are good but I'd suggest using 70% 
Isopropyl Alcohol rather than tap water.  The other 30% is distilled water.  
The alcohol will cut the goo quicker and dry quicker, leaving no residue of 
its own.  Tap water has its own contaminants.  Whenever I use water, I would 
only use distilled water so as not to introduce any foreign matter to the 
mix.  Diluting Murphy Oil Soap, shrinking solutions and Hot Hide Glue come to 
mind.

I always have some 70% Isopropyl Alcohol on hand which still usually costs 
less than $1 a pint.  Even if you have to get some from a convenience store 
in an emergency, it will probably not cost more than $1.50.  It can clean 
some of the toughest contamination, glue residue or tough dirt from your 
hands and fingers, it can serve as a premixed shrinking solution and a 
premixed softener for overly hardened hammers.  In the latter case, I often 
use it first to soften up the felt so I can file it, then if still too 
bright, the felt will take needles easier.  The alcohol will again leave no 
residue.

If a drink of some kind is spilled on a bass string causing it to go dead or 
to rattle, loosen and detach the string from the hitch pin, locate the area 
of the spill, scrub with a toothbrush or other small brush with undiluted 
acetone, twisting the string a bit to loosen any hardened contamination, dry 
with a hair dryer and install with a twist or two.  This will often restore 
the string to its normal sound.

Acetone can be used full strength or can be mixed with Alcohol and/or 
Distilled water to treat even tougher contamination or cleaning problems.  It 
can help free up action centers which have been treated with something else 
which is making matters worse and can also defeat the hardest of hammer 
hardening solutions or hardening which has occurred because of an accidental 
spill such as from CA glue (yipes!).

In bars, restaurants or cruise ships, accidental spills in pianos are to be 
anticipated.  Having a string cover can go a long way toward prevention.  
Particularly in a restaurant where the air may be thick with grease from the 
kitchen, a string cover will help cut down the contamination that will 
inevitably settle on the wound strings and the termination points causing the 
piano to go dead and thuddy.

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin
 <A HREF="http://www.billbremmer.com/">Click here: -=w w w . b i l l b r e m m e r . c o m =-</A> 

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