plate gonna break?

[Joe And Penny Goss]

Hi David,
Just a guess but are the plate screws tight in the wood?
I think that this piano has a serious problem and should not be further
raised in pitch.
How is the owners home owner's insurance?
Joe Goss
imatunr@srvinet.com
www.mothergoosetools.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Nereson" <dnereson@dimensional.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2002 11:44 PM
Subject: plate gonna break?


>     Tried to tune a 1964 Wurlitzer spinet today that I've tuned many
times,
> but the treble just wouldn't hold.  Tuning pin torque was good -- not even
> marginally loose.   A4 was only a couple beats flat, so I did a pitch
raise,
> overshooting by a beat or so.  Then started over to fine tune and the
treble
> was still way flat.  So I pitch raised just the treble, then went back to
> fine tune and the treble was still way flat.  So I raised it again,
> overpulling more than usual. Still way flat. Raised it again. Still quite
> flat. In the middle of this 4th (!!) treble pitch raise, I remembered that
> the last time a piano behaved like this, a strut was giving way and the
> plate broke.  So now I'm getting nervous and looking for signs of the
plate
> pulling away from the back, or the pinblock separating, and I'm inspecting
> the plate for any hairline cracks.  Nothing apparent.  But I'm afraid to
go
> on.  The middle of the piano is staying in tune, but after 4 or 5 pitch
> raises in the treble, it's still not holding.  Again, pin torque is good.
>     So I give up and tell the owner I'm having a hard time with it and
leery
> of going on for fear something might be giving way.  He then informs me
that
> a few days ago the washing machine overflowed, flooding that area of the
> house quite seriously.  But they started mopping up within 20 minutes,
then
> called some outfit (plumbers?), who brought in a heavy duty commercial
> dehumidifier, which had been running now for three days (mainly to dry out
> the carpet, I guess).
>     Well, OK, maybe that's why the weird behavior.  The last two times I
> tuned it were both in the summer, and this is winter, so it's normal that
it
> would be somewhat flat, and the big dehumidifier should make it go even
> flatter.  But it should make the whole piano go flat, and by quite a bit,
> not just 2 beats.  And it shouldn't cause the treble section to not hold
> pitch even after 4 or 5 pitch raises.  I don't know what to do now.  I'm
> afraid to raise it any more.  I could just tune it to a lower pitch -- the
> owner doesn't absolutely need it at A 440.
>     Is there any way to detect (besides X-ray) if there's a crack in the
> plate that's not visually apparent?  I tried tapping lightly around the
> plate with a small hammer, like brakemen on trains used to do to detect
> cracked wheels, but discovered of course that the plate doesn't ring like
> steel -- I knew that, but in wary, cautious, nervous moments, you try
> anything that might give you some information.
>      We chose to wait a week or two until the house climate is back to
> normal, then see what the pitch of the piano does.  But what would you do?
> Go ahead and raise it and if it breaks, it breaks?  Tune it to a lower
> pitch?  Tell him the plate might be ready to crack and he should buy
another
> piano?  Quit the business & leave town so you don't have to deal with it?
>
>  --David Nereson, RPT, Denver
>