I just came across an older P22 that had low torque on the pins. Being summer here, they seemed to tune OK, but it was obvious that some of the notes in the bass had slipped. This most likely happened in the winter when things get looser. I bid this job higher to accommodate it coming onto the shop, where I could put a heat lamp over the pinblock for a couple of days to really dry things out. It would also mean no nasty fumes in my client's house. Also the piano needs a set of spring loops and key bushings so I'd already need the action in the shop. I'm curious if others have used a heat lamp prior to the CA treatment? Ryan On Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 5:57 AM, Mike Spalding <mike.spalding1 at verizon.net>wrote: > Hi Paul, > > Humidity definitely affects how the CA juicing will work out. High > humidity swells the block and bushings, allowing less penetration of the CA. > On top of that, the humidity will cure the CA more quickly. Conversely, in > low humidity the bushings and block shrink away from the pins, admitting > more CA, and the CA will cure more slowly, giving it more time to penetrate. > When I first started using CA on pinblocks, I scheduled the work for the > summer, so that we could have windows open for ventilation. I had a rash of > failures that required re-application in the winter when things dried out > and loosened up. Now I only do it in the winter when the humidity is > lowest, and haven't any failures. Bushed pins are much more critical - it's > harder to get the CA past the bushing and into the pinblock, so for sure you > want to do those in the winter. > > Mike Spalding > Fredonia, Wisconsin > > > On 8/24/2010 6:35 AM, paul bruesch wrote: > >> I have an appt this morning to CA a pinblock, but it just occurred to me >> that perhaps August might not be the best time, or perhaps it IS the best >> time, due to the humidity in the air. The pinblock will already be as tight >> as it's going to be, so the CA will have to do less "work", but might it >> also be less able to wick down the pin deeper into the block for the same >> reason? >> >> Has anyone observed different effectiveness by doing it in the summer vs >> in the drier periods of the year? >> >> Thanks, >> Paul Bruesch >> Stillwater, MN >> > -- Ryan Sowers, RPT Puget Sound Chapter Olympia, WA www.pianova.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100824/cc34c3b7/attachment.htm>
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