Humidity and keys?

[John Formsma]

Did you completely remove all the keys from the grand? Sometimes the
corrosion is from mouse urine. If you can't remove the corrosion by
cleaning/polishing, the key pins will need replacement. Likewise for
the bushings. If it was in a chicken coop, who knows what kind of crap
might be stuck down in the mortise? That will cause lots of sticking
problems.

You must determine the nature of the problem. Start with the worst
keys since you know they are compromised. Remove the stack, then the
keys. Blow out all the trash in the mortise. Ease if necessary. Then
move to the action. You will find the problem eventually.

Wurlitzer spinets are notorious for sluggish keys. If nothing else
works, you can always install a bit of lead in the key. But check
everything else first. Have a similar procedure as for the above
grand. Check for trash in the mortise, ease the bushing, shave/sand
off wood if there are neighboring keys that are binding, etc.

For humidity control, you could try MusicSorb. I haven't tried it yet,
but am going to order some. It's cheap enough, and you'll know if
humidity is a factor.

Good luck.

JF

On 6/30/07, Richard Morgan <rsanbornmorgan at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> I was called out yesterday to tune two pianos in the same house--both
> Wurlitzers, a spinet and a grand.  They warned me that a few keys were
> sticking on each.  However, they didn't tell me how bad they were sticking!
> They are currently unplayable, and untunable until the problems are fixed.
>
> They bought the spinet very recently "from a very good home," and it was
> working fine then.  It is very clean.
> They've had the grand for 4 years, rescued from a chicken coop, before which
> it was a well-maintained church piano.  They claim an accomplished pianist
> liked it better than his own rebuilt grand.  The dampers looked very fresh,
> almost new, as if they had been recently replaced (not long before being
> rescued).  When I pulled the action, the hammers looked like they'd been in
> a chicken coop--old, hard, yellowed, and chewed-on.
> The actions on both seem to be working well, with minor, occasional
> sluggishness (could probably use some center pin lube).  I narrowed the
> problem on both pianos to the keys--many are binding against neighbors,
> and/or on the front rail bushings as well.  On the grand, the balance rail
> bushings are pretty worn and discolored, and several of the pins visible
> above the buttons are corroded; the front rail bushings I examined looked
> good.
>
> Now, for the environment:  the house is a magnificent 3-story, 100 years
> old, with no central heat/air!!  It is in east central Texas, where, as you
> have heard on the news, we have received virtually our annual allotment of
> rain in this past week, and the whole spring/summer so far has been
> unseasonable wet.  Imagine the humidity!
>
> I'm sure the humidity has caused most of the problems, especially on the
> spinet.  How much will the key-sticking and sluggish action
> problems disappear as the humidity level drops?  Should I wait to do any
> work, to see how they stabilize?  If I were to do some key-easing on the
> spinet, and the humidity then drops significantly, would I then have
> 'pulley,' too loose keys?
>
> On the grand, from examination, I worry a bit about warped keys, but won't
> know that for sure until I take the action stack off and am able to handle
> each key.
>
> It seems I have two courses of action:
>
> Do nothing at the moment, let humidity levels go down, and see how the
> pianos are affected; also, strongly encourage heater bars installed on each,
> preferably immediately, to stabilize the humidity in the piano itself.
> For immediate action, at the very least, on the spinet apply silicone/teflon
> powder to the key bushings, and (very minimally) ease the key bushings; on
> the grand rebush the balance rail pins, polish the balance rail pins and
> front rail pins, apply silicone/teflon powder to the bushings.  The grand
> also calls for adjusting some of the back checks, that are 'grabbing' the
> hammer tails.  Also, strongly encourage heater bars for long-term stability.
> Oh, great list, I solicit your thoughts on this situation.  BTW, the lady
> several times made the point of saying that they were on social security,
> and couldn't afford to pay much (that's not going to cause me to underbid or
> lower my price--they did buy these two pianos, after all!).  After about the
> third time mentioning SS, I gently pointed out that I am helping to pay her
> social security!!  Too, from my limited exposure to sales, I remember that
> most people are able to afford what they want to afford.
>
> Thanks for your insights and suggestions.
> Richard Morgan
>
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