Steam Blaster

[Ken Jankura]

At a local outlet/salvage place in my area called Ollies, I purchased a
Eureka Enviro-steamer for about $75. It is about the size of a breadbasket
with wheels and a 8' hose and has about a dozen nozzles and tubes of varying
types; the right-angle (ostensibly for steaming under toilet rims), (2) 2'
wand sections, a wide floor nozzle, upholstery brushes, even a window
squeegie attachment. It is very cool. It holds about a pint of water which
takes probably 10 or 15 minutes (more or less continuous) to use up as
steam. I have used it only a few times so far, and it is definitely worth
having! You've got to work out your own system of removing bushings from
keys or any other felts while preventing steam burns, but that is just part
of the fun. I haven't used it enough to know the full extent of its
usefulness, but I will keep experimenting. For example, balance rail
bushings, I would hold six or eight keys in my hand upside down on a thick
towel and shoot steam (and it does shoot!) through the balance hole for a
few seconds each, the bushings would fall out and the hole is ready to size
with a pin.  It can clean parts, soften glue, humidify, etc. When I saw them
at the store, I emailed all in my chapter to see if anyone else wanted one.
I bought two more, but I haven't talked to them about it much.   Eureka also
had a handheld model (care to comment Paul M.?), which sold (heavily
discounted) for about $50, lots of attachments, holds a little less water,
and which might be more efficient for the tech who's just doing keys and
keytops, and not interested in its other household cleaning capabilities.
The problem with the floor model like mine is that during use when you are
not shooting steam, some steam will condense in the long tube, so that you
must make sure your first shot is into a can to collect the initial burst of
water. Still, every tech should have one.
Ken Jankura RPT
Fayetteville PA


----- Original Message -----
From: "Clyde Hollinger" <cedel@supernet.com>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, December 16, 2002 7:42 AM
Subject: Re: Steam Blaster


> But that's sort of like comparing apples with oranges, John.  The system I
> referred to looks somewhat like a small canister vacuum cleaner, with a
hose
> and fully portable.  I would hope to use it for double-duty, for key
bushings,
> if the output isn't too strong for that, and also general household
cleaning.
> What you are suggesting should work fine for key bushings and the cost is
much,
> much less, but there's no much else you can do with it.
>
> Seems to me I saw a steamer in a PTG convention exhibit hall, and as I
recall
> it was well over $125, maybe even in the $200-$300 range; I'm not sure
anymore
>
> Regards,
> Clyde
>
> John Musselwhite wrote:
>
> > For $125 it better be, plus a lot of other things!
> >
> > If you're looking for something cheaper, I was at a pawnbrokers and for
$5
> > bought a small Proctor Silex K1050 tea kettle with a sliding whistle.
Slide
> > the whistle plate back and you have a jet of steam coming out of the
flat
> > top that's perfect for key bushings. You can see it at proctorsilex.com
by
> > selecting "kettles and hot pots".
>
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