Mezzo-thermoneal stabilizer, plus DC with no controller

[Ron Nossaman]

>Gee, all this time I thought you guys were pulling my leg about the 
>mezzo-thermoneal stabilizer!  Today, I tuned my first one!  Had I known, I 
>would have worn my radiation suit for protection!  (Conrad, do your 
>standard-issue suits cover this hazard?)

They had to have something to counteract the Harmitone action.


>20+ yr-old Kimball studio in a church, hammers and pin torque not bad, but 
>worn action.  One hammer wobbled so much it hit the next string over on a 
>soft blow.  I thought it was a loose flange screw, but it must be the 
>pinning that's so bad!  Bass string tone that makes your eyes water.

That's them all right.


>It had a DC heater bar without controller, which was unplugged, so I left 
>it that way (80 degrees and 66% humidity), since the church isn't 
>air-conditioned, and I didn't want to have to come back after it 
>restabilized.  It's a 15W bar, the width of the piano, with "PIN PEG" as 
>the only identifying part number.
>
>Is this the kind of old heater bar that could be dangerous if left plugged 
>in (possibly catching fire)?  Secondly, it seems like 15W would be way too 
>low for this situation (we have a lot of humidity even up here in the 
>mountains).  Keys weren't sticking, and also I'd want to make sure they'd 
>leave it plugged in if I used it (this was my first visit to this 
>customer; lots of education to do).

I can't think of any excuse at all for having ANY unregulated heater bar in 
a piano, plugged in or otherwise.


>Suggestions?
>
>--Cy Shuster--

You've probably already heard them all on this subject.

Ron N