[pianotech] Creaky damper lift tray

[Tom Driscoll]

Barb,
   Last week I had a Kawai-Boston grand  with the machine screws that mount
the tray to the
alum. rail (nomenclature? ) working loose.The thing creaked and clicked like
crazy . I had to raise the upstops out of the way , remove the screws that
mount the back action to the rear  of the action cavity  and lift - rotate
the whole assembly as much as the damper wires would allow without bending.
Only then could I access the loose screws that mounted  the tray assembly .
     What I  thought  was gonna be a  pencil removal turned into an hours
work .
The other contributions from our crew are more likely causes but check out
those screws.

 Speaking of which --any design that has a screw  buried behind other
components and can't be tightened without such histrionics should be
rethought or at least  inserted with a drop of  loctite or other vibration
resistant material. .JMHO .
 Tom Driscoll


----- Original Message ----- 
Subject: [pianotech] Creaky damper lift tray


> Hello list,
>
> This is something I've run across a few times and just haven't found an
> easy, dependable solution.
>
> I have found on certain Asian grand pianos with the aluminium damper lift
> tray, the tray will creak at just the slightest lift. Of course, it's
> really amplified when the pedal is used to its full extent.  I've tried a
> variety of lubes and sprays to get way back there, but nothing I found
> really works.
>
> Has anyone else come across this, and if so, what was your cure for this
> noisy nuisance?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Barbara Nobbe, RPT