Pianotech

I recently visited a 2-year old upright piano at a school.  The complaint was that the sustain pedal didn't work.  I found that the plastic piece at the top of the lift rod was broken - it is a pin and plug molded as one piece.  The pin was broken off.  I fixed it by drilling it out and gluing in a balance rail pin, which matched the diameter of the original well. 

I replaced the rod, which involved tilting the action back, and then discovered that exactly the same thing had happened to the bass sustain rod.  The photo shows one that I had fixed and the second one with the plastic pin broken off.

I assumed that this was a manufacturing problem and sent an invoice to the store for it to be covered by warranty.  But now I am wondering if this could result from abuse.  Would it be possible for someone to work the pedals so quickly or slam them down that it would stress this part enough to break it?  It seems unlikely since almost all the force involved is exerted by the horizontal surface of this piece.  The lateral force against the pin is small - it's just there to keep the dowel centered.  But perhaps I'm jumping to a conclusion that isn't certain.

Has anyone else encountered this problem?

I recently visited a 2-year old upright piano at a school.  The complaint was that the sustain pedal didn't work.  I found that the plastic piece at the top of the lift rod was broken - it is a pin and plug molded as one piece.  The pin was broken off.  I fixed it by drilling it out and gluing in a balance rail pin, which matched the diameter of the original well. 

I replaced the rod, which involved tilting the action back, and then discovered that exactly the same thing had happened to the bass sustain rod.  The photo shows one that I had fixed and the second one with the plastic pin broken off.

I assumed that this was a manufacturing problem and sent an invoice to the store for it to be covered by warranty.  But now I am wondering if this could result from abuse.  Would it be possible for someone to work the pedals so quickly or slam them down that it would stress this part enough to break it?  It seems unlikely since almost all the force involved is exerted by the horizontal surface of this piece.  The lateral force against the pin is small - it's just there to keep the dowel centered.  But perhaps I'm jumping to a conclusion that isn't certain.

Has anyone else encountered this problem?

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Loren Kelley
Tacoma WA
253-376-4545
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I recently visited a 2-year old upright piano at a school.  The complaint was that the sustain pedal didn't work.  I found that the plastic piece at the top of the lift rod was broken - it is a pin and plug molded as one piece.  The pin was broken off.  I fixed it by drilling it out and gluing in a balance rail pin, which matched the diameter of the original well. 

I replaced the rod, which involved tilting the action back, and then discovered that exactly the same thing had happened to the bass sustain rod.  The photo shows one that I had fixed and the second one with the plastic pin broken off.

I assumed that this was a manufacturing problem and sent an invoice to the store for it to be covered by warranty.  But now I am wondering if this could result from abuse.  Would it be possible for someone to work the pedals so quickly or slam them down that it would stress this part enough to break it?  It seems unlikely since almost all the force involved is exerted by the horizontal surface of this piece.  The lateral force against the pin is small - it's just there to keep the dowel centered.  But perhaps I'm jumping to a conclusion that isn't certain.

Has anyone else encountered this problem?

I recently visited a 2-year old upright piano at a school.  The complaint was that the sustain pedal didn't work.  I found that the plastic piece at the top of the lift rod was broken - it is a pin and plug molded as one piece.  The pin was broken off.  I fixed it by drilling it out and gluing in a balance rail pin, which matched the diameter of the original well. 

I replaced the rod, which involved tilting the action back, and then discovered that exactly the same thing had happened to the bass sustain rod.  The photo shows one that I had fixed and the second one with the plastic pin broken off.

I assumed that this was a manufacturing problem and sent an invoice to the store for it to be covered by warranty.  But now I am wondering if this could result from abuse.  Would it be possible for someone to work the pedals so quickly or slam them down that it would stress this part enough to break it?  It seems unlikely since almost all the force involved is exerted by the horizontal surface of this piece.  The lateral force against the pin is small - it's just there to keep the dowel centered.  But perhaps I'm jumping to a conclusion that isn't certain.

Has anyone else encountered this problem?

While I don't fix them on site. I just make wooden ones. I keep dowels in supply, cut them to length and put appropriate size pins in. Very simple and can be done very quickly.

Were you authorized to send the bill to the dealer?

Good question Jon.  I didn't contact the store before doing the work, and realized I should have.  It slipped my mind that day.  They said I should have gotten authorization first but they know me and Kawai approved it after the fact.  So I noted it for future reference. 

But there's another store I have done a lot of work for that finds it's too much trouble for things like this and they get annoyed when I call for approval for little fixes.  They trust me to judge whether something like this would be covered by warranty.  This makes sense for them especially if it involves an initial visit to assess the problem without doing the work at that time.  If I have to return later there is an additional service call fee.  If it's clear on inspection that it's a manufacturing defect, they save money by relying on my judgment. 

Ron's observations are very useful and make it clear why the upper pin is more likely to break.  But the main reason it broke is that it's a single piece of plastic, which simply can't have the same strength as a metal pin.  Yet another example of something being cheaper on the front end but a source of potential trouble down the line.

I have a collection of old wooden pedal rods salvaged from pianos destined for the hereafter. 

I recently visited a 2-year old upright piano at a school.  The complaint was that the sustain pedal didn't work.  I found that the plastic piece at the top of the lift rod was broken - it is a pin and plug molded as one piece.  The pin was broken off.  I fixed it by drilling it out and gluing in a balance rail pin, which matched the diameter of the original well. 

I replaced the rod, which involved tilting the action back, and then discovered that exactly the same thing had happened to the bass sustain rod.  The photo shows one that I had fixed and the second one with the plastic pin broken off.

I assumed that this was a manufacturing problem and sent an invoice to the store for it to be covered by warranty.  But now I am wondering if this could result from abuse.  Would it be possible for someone to work the pedals so quickly or slam them down that it would stress this part enough to break it?  It seems unlikely since almost all the force involved is exerted by the horizontal surface of this piece.  The lateral force against the pin is small - it's just there to keep the dowel centered.  But perhaps I'm jumping to a conclusion that isn't certain.

Has anyone else encountered this problem?

Warranties do not cover bad design.

For one of these which got very heavy use (i.e., "gospel damage") I just replaced the whole thing with a wooden dowel with pins at both ends. A lesser "fix" had failed under repeated assaults. Like using action cloth strips to quiet metal against metal where the pins go through (instead of horrible perishable rubber grommets), or action cloth to line the saddles for the hammer springs (instead of teflon spray, which give s slippery surface but doesn't absorb sound), the traditional way works for six or seven decades without giving any problems.