[pianotech] Regulation mystery

Andrew Anderson anrebe at gmail.com
Sun Oct 24 13:45:43 MDT 2010


Yammies, esp. U-1, are infamous for this.  Lost motion is necessary  
for them, more if it is dry.

Andrew Anderson

On Oct 24, 2010, at 3:02 AM, David Lawson wrote:

> I regularly service about twenty pianos at a Conservatorium, both  
> uprights and grands. The uprights are mostly Yamaha U1 models about  
> 15 to twenty years old, with a couple of Kawai KS models also. I  
> regulate the lost motion on these instruments so that the capstan  
> holds the wippen so there is no lost motion, however, it is not  
> holding the hammer off the rest. I have just finished the regular  
> maintenance of these this week, and discovered that all but one had  
> increased the height of the capstans to hold the hammers off the  
> hammerest by about 1/4 inch or 6cm. My first reaction was that  
> someone had been at them, turning up the capstan. However, this is  
> not possible as I am the only tech. who attends to these pianos.
> So, my question is this: Would the sudden change from drought,(about  
> ten years) to very wet conditions, have brought on this amazing  
> change? I find it difficult to believe that this much change could  
> be brought about by humidity. Let's face it, the metal pin holding  
> the capstan is tight into the rear of the key, which would surely  
> not increase the height by this much with humidity! I checked the  
> back touch on the key-frame, and it seems quite normal.The only  
> piano that did not have this happen to it, had an additional heater  
> in that room, which may give us a clue.
> Your thoughts please.
> David Lawson Wangaratta Australia

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