damper spring

[Fred Williams]

A few days ago I was playing and discovered that the damper spring for
E flat in the third octave had come off. I am not a piano tech. so
this was disturbing. I watched football for a few days screwing up my
courage and finally today took the mechanism out. It took me about a
half hour to find the spring twisted back inside the mechanism and I
don't think I have any tools to reach it and the little fulcrum around
which it is supposed to be twisted seems to be broken, which is why the
spring probably flipped out in the first place.
I guess I should just call a qualified tech and get it fixed, but I am
fairly mechanical, I just have no idea how this thing is built.
How would you people proceed if faced with this problem?
The piano was just reconditioned about two months ago. Before I moved
to a new city. So getting it back to those people, who are likely not
the problem, (they were good people), is out of the question.

[ragtimebill]

Post by Fred Williams
A few days ago I was playing and discovered that the damper spring for
E flat in the third octave had come off. I am not a piano tech. so
this was disturbing. I watched football for a few days screwing up my
courage and finally today took the mechanism out. It took me about a
half hour to find the spring twisted back inside the mechanism and I
don't think I have any tools to reach it and the little fulcrum around
which it is supposed to be twisted seems to be broken, which is why the
spring probably flipped out in the first place.
I guess I should just call a qualified tech and get it fixed, but I am
fairly mechanical, I just have no idea how this thing is built.
How would you people proceed if faced with this problem?
The piano was just reconditioned about two months ago. Before I moved
to a new city. So getting it back to those people, who are likely not
the problem, (they were good people), is out of the question.
--
Regards,
Fred
(remove FFFF from my email address to email me)

How would *I* fix it, Fred? If I couldn't get the original damper
spring bent back into place with the proper tension I would pull it out
by the roots and install a repair damper spring. This is one that has
a curly hook on the bottom, you back out the damper flange screw and
slip the new spring in, aligning it as you tighten the screw and make
sure the tension on the damper is appropriate.

-Bill

[Fred Williams]

Post by ragtimebill

Post by Fred Williams
A few days ago I was playing and discovered that the damper spring for
E flat in the third octave had come off. I am not a piano tech. so
this was disturbing. I watched football for a few days screwing up my
courage and finally today took the mechanism out. It took me about a
half hour to find the spring twisted back inside the mechanism and I
don't think I have any tools to reach it and the little fulcrum
around which it is supposed to be twisted seems to be broken, which
is why the spring probably flipped out in the first place.
I guess I should just call a qualified tech and get it fixed, but I am
fairly mechanical, I just have no idea how this thing is built.
How would you people proceed if faced with this problem?
The piano was just reconditioned about two months ago.
Before I moved
to a new city. So getting it back to those people, who are likely
not the problem, (they were good people), is out of the question.
--
Regards,
Fred
(remove FFFF from my email address to email me)

How would *I* fix it, Fred? If I couldn't get the original damper
spring bent back into place with the proper tension I would pull it out
by the roots and install a repair damper spring. This is one that has
a curly hook on the bottom, you back out the damper flange screw and
slip the new spring in, aligning it as you tighten the screw and make
sure the tension on the damper is appropriate.
-Bill

Thanks. I did manage to find the original spring fallen down inside
the works. Next I took the damper right off the mechanism so I could
work on it. The spring was loose and free of the mechanism. It winds
around a pin several times, as I'm sure you know, and the pin was
completely missing. I never found it. Now I managed to make a new pin
from a finishing nail that was in my toolbox. I had to grind one end
smaller to make it fit. The problem I had was how to hold the spring
in place while inserting the pin to hold it. It took several hours and
a number of times the spring took flight and I'm glad I didn't loose an
eye. It took time also to find the thing and it would fly some
distance and it was almost invisible on the carpet. I did finally get
it back together clamping down on the spring with a pair of pliers
while gingerly pushing the pin through the tiny hole. It's not a task
that I want to have to do often.