PianoTech Archive

  • 1.  Weinbach upright

    Posted 08-22-2001 05:52 
    From Clyde Hollinger <cedel@supernet.com>

Friends,

Yesterday I went to fix the sustain pedal action and tune a 49" Weinbach
vertical piano model 124 serial 259872, made about 1995.

I had never heard of Weinbach.  In any case, the support for the sustain
dowel was different from the two methods I am familiar with.  The bottom
of the dowel had a pin in it, pretty standard.  But to hold the top in
position under the liftrod tongue, a small piece made of spring steel
and a little less than 4" long was attached to the keybed at one end and
the dowel at the other.  This piece had broken at a screw hole in the
keybed end.

The fix is easy.  Get a new spring and screw it in.  It's finding the
spring that may be time consuming and therefore expensive.  Three
questions:  What is the official name of this part?  What is the most
efficient way to obtain this part?  Thirdly, the client says this is the
third time this part has broken, and the piano is only six years old.
Has anyone else run into this problem, and has any kind of alteration
been successfully attempted?

Thanks,
Clyde Hollinger


  • 2.  Weinbach upright

    Posted 08-22-2001 08:37 
    From "Z! Reinhardt" <diskladame@provide.net>

Weinbach is a member of the Petrof family.  You might want to call Geneva
International (the distributor) in Wheeling IL and describe the spring to
them.  Their phone numbers are (800) 533 2388 and (847) 520 9970.  Sorry, I
don't remember the official name of that part, but I have had to replace a
couple of them about 5 years ago.

If this is the 3rd time the spring has broken, be sure to check the
alignment of the whole trapwork assembly from the brackets screwed into the
piano's floor on up.  About 5 out of 10 were so misaligned that the pedals
barely worked.  The sideways motion of some of the components (that should
have been moving straight up and down) made me think there was considerable
stress that shouldn't be there.  It wouldn't surprise me if that is why the
spring you mentioned broke so many times.

I have to confess, my rebuilding-surgery skills are perhaps minimal at best
and the corrective surgery I did was based on blunt see-where-it-wants-to-go
technology.  In other words, I would detach the pivoting blocks (for the
horizontal arm that ran between the pedal and the vertical dowel) and the
spring under the arm, and just play with the pieces to see where they worked
most comfortably without interfering with anything stationary (plate struts,
the assembly to the soft pedal, etc.).  Then I would fasten everything down
in this "comfort zone," check my work, and wait for the complaints to come
in.  So far so good ... and I have yet to be called back because something
broke again.

Good luck.

Z! Reinhardt  RPT
Ann Arbor  MI
diskladame@provide.net



    
                                                
    
					
                                                    

        
                                                
				
    
                                                
    
                                                    
                                                        
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  • 3.  Weinbach upright

    Posted 08-23-2001 05:39 
    From Clyde Hollinger <cedel@supernet.com>

Graeme,

Yes, I remember reading somewhere about doing this, but I have never done it.  I
would probably use a balance rail pin rather than a nail -- looks a little more
professional.  I also wasn't sure how hard the metal of the liftrod tongue is
and wasn't sure if I should go this route, but I will definitely keep it in mind
and we may end up doing it this way.  Thanks!

Regards, Clyde

Graeme Harvey wrote:

> Hello Clyde,
>
> The fix for these is simple, thats if you don't want to or can't easily get
> the replacement part.
> Remove broken remains, then drill a hole in top of dowel, fit a 4" nail and
> trim (shorten excess) down to size. Then drill and bush a hole in the lift
> rod arm (or what-ever-it's-called). This is permanent and works a treat.
> I used to work for a Weinbach dealer and we did this to all incoming models.
> The 124 is a nice sounding piano for the money.


  • 4.  Weinbach upright

    Posted 08-23-2001 08:32 
    From "John Ross" <piano.tech@ns.sympatico.ca>

Hi Clyde,
Remember to drill the hole in the liftrod tongue, large enough to take a
pedal rod pin bushing, Schaff carries the Yamaha one. It will stop any metal
to metal noise.
Regards,
John M. Ross
Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
piano.tech@ns.sympatico.ca

    
                                                
    
					
                                                    

        
                                                
				
    
                                                
    
                                                    
                                                        
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  • 5.  Weinbach upright

    Posted 08-23-2001 17:19 
    From "Graeme Harvey" <gharvey@netsource.co.nz>

Hello Clyde,

The fix for these is simple, thats if you don't want to or can't easily get
the replacement part.
Remove broken remains, then drill a hole in top of dowel, fit a 4" nail and
trim (shorten excess) down to size. Then drill and bush a hole in the lift
rod arm (or what-ever-it's-called). This is permanent and works a treat.
I used to work for a Weinbach dealer and we did this to all incoming models.
The 124 is a nice sounding piano for the money.


Regards,

Graeme Harvey
New Plymouth
New Zealand


>Yesterday I went to fix the sustain pedal action and tune a 49" Weinbach
>vertical piano model 124 serial 259872, made about 1995.

>I had never heard of Weinbach.  In any case, the support for the sustain
>dowel was different from the two methods I am familiar with.  The bottom
>of the dowel had a pin in it, pretty standard.  But to hold the top in
>position under the liftrod tongue, a small piece made of spring steel
>and a little less than 4" long was attached to the keybed at one end and
>the dowel at the other.  This piece had broken at a screw hole in the
>keybed end.

>The fix is easy.  Get a new spring and screw it in.  It's finding the
>spring that may be time consuming and therefore expensive.  Three
>questions:  What is the official name of this part?  What is the most
>efficient way to obtain this part?  Thirdly, the client says this is the
>third time this part has broken, and the piano is only six years old.

>Has anyone else run into this problem, and has any kind of alteration
>been successfully attempted?

>Thanks,
>Clyde Hollinger