Damp Action Drying

[Delwin D Fandrich]

Paul McCloud wrote:
> 
> List:
>         I just finished working on a Kimball console action which was almost
> frozen due to dampness.  The house is only a few blocks from the ocean,
> and although it is on an inside wall, really soaked up a lot of
> moisture.  My usual "cure" is to dry the action slowly with a hair
> dryer, and then put Protek on the action centers  to keep them from
> soaking up more moisture.  I also put a dehumidifier in the piano.
> Sometimes I use a shrinking solution ("Honey, I shrunk the action!") of
> alcohol and water.  I have had the unfortunate experience of
> overshrinking the centers, and had to rebush a whole set of hammer
> flanges.  Since most other places in the U.S. have much more humidity
> than San Diego, I'd like to know what other techs do to get rid of
> excess moisture in the action.  Am I setting myself up for callbacks by
> using the hair dryer method?  Is the dryer too strong, weakening glue
> joints, etc.?  Should I just repin the action and ignore the moisture in
> the bushings?  Just curious to know what others do.
> 
> Paul McCloud, RPT
> San Diego, CA

Paul,

At one time I built a box large enough to hold both grand (stack only)
and vertical actions for this very purpose. I started out with light
bulbs to heat things with, then switched to four fifty watt Dampp-Chaser
rods. These were controlled by a thermostat.

I could put an action in the box, set the thermostat and leave the thing
for 12 to 24 hours, coming back to find a nice, free action—I learned
early on that it was best to go gently with the thing. I learn slowly
sometimes, but repining every center in the entire action is a great
teacher. In those days we did not have Protek or McLube so, once the
action was dried out I would treat everything with Wurlitzers naphtha
and silicone mixture. 

Once I learned to control it, the system worked remarkably well. Even
without treating the action centers, actions would stay quite free. I
did used to wonder why some actions would be affected and others were
not—there seemed to be little commonality between brand or action type
and their propensity toward sluggishness. Two seemingly identical pianos
in similar homes would each respond differently. Nor did I figure out
why an action that became sluggish in just a couple of years would seem
to work fine after treatment from then on. With or without treating the
action centers. 

As may be, were I to find myself in that situation again, I’d certainly
build another.

Eventually, of course, we moved to dryer climes and my wife confiscated
my hot box and it became a food dryer. Ah, well...

—ddf