[pianotech] Air compressor recommendations

[John Ross]

Alright you caught me, it had been returned, and I got it for $589.99.  But 
the catalogue price was what I said.
That was a lot of money back then, as my tunings were $35 in 1982, the only 
date I could find with no trouble.
About 17 tunings.
Look what 17 tunings will buy today.
Tools were tools then, not the imported cheap stuff from some countries, we 
have today.
When my generator acted up during a power outage the other week, the guy 
asked me what brand I had, I had a Kodiak made by Honda. He said that was 
ok, it was not one with aluminum windings, he said they can only run under 
load for about 3 hours, without overheating.
Now I know why some 7KW ones were less than $1000.
Took the covers off the compressor, it was only the belt off, and it had 
been flopping around.
John Ross
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ron Nossaman" <rnossaman at cox.net>
To: <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2009 4:07 PM
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Air compressor recommendations



> Good point.
> I just found the owners manual. It was a Craftsman, back when they were
> better. Oh, I just noticed yours is a Craftsman, so they must still be 
> good.
> LOL

They're still good, at least by my standards. Eventually, I'll
get around to replacing the tank on my old one and it'll be
fine too.


> It has a nice parts list, so I will go in and see, what I can find.
> I had just replaced the switch last year, so was thinking that it might
> nickel and dime me.
> Another 20 years, I probably won't last that long. LOL
> But fixing for a few years is probably the way to go, since a few years 
> will
> be long enough.

I figure, we spend so much time nursing along old pianos that
should more realistically be either extensively rebuilt or
disposed of, that we ought to at least give an expensive tool
a good look for repair options before writing it off.


> I might even find something simple like a belt off.
> Your e-mail got me thinking, it can't be seized up, or the breaker would
> have blown. It was just making a weird noise, and had no pressure. I had
> forgotten to turn it off, and it was what I noticed on going in this
> morning.

Check the valves. You might have it back up for $30 in parts
and an hour's time.


> They were expensive back then, this one listed for $819.53, and it was 
> 1980,
> not late 70's.

Listed, sure, but what did it actually SELL for? <G>
Ron N