moth damage

[Annie Grieshop]

Gregor,

Moth eggs are not black.  You're likely seeing "frass" (larval excrement),
which is very small, like ground pepper.  By the time you see frass, the
larvae have already done their damage and probably flown away as adults.

Annie Grieshop

> -----Original Message-----
> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org]On
> Behalf Of Gregor _
> Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 10:31 AM
> To: pianotech at ptg.org
> Subject: moth damage
>
>
> Often you see in old pianos cankered felts and a lot of very small black
> globules on the damaged felt. That´s done by moths, that´s clear.
> But how do
> you deal with that problem? When it´s an old piano and a compete
> rebuilding
> should be done, just replace the felts and it´s okay. But
> yesterday I tuned
> an 8 years old Fiebiger upright and some felts were damaged. No
> problem to
> fix the symptoms, but how to prevent further damage? My idea was to blow
> away the black globules with a compressor. Then I asked myself what these
> globules might be: moth shit or moth eggs? If it were eggs it
> might be bad
> to blow them under other action felts where they could continue
> to damage.
> Another topic: should I do that in my workshop where other pianos
> could be
> damaged????? If it were only moth excrement it should be okay to
> clean the
> action with a compressor.
>
> How to make shure that no new damage will be done? Kill the unborn moth
> before they eclose out of the eggs? And how to do that?
>
> Gregor
>
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