I suggest contacting Tom Strange at the Sigal Museum in Greenville SC. He is the Director but also does restoration and conservation work and has a background in corrosion engineering. Instruments that have been exposed directly or indirectly can have invisible damage from toxic gasses and the burning of various materials in a fire. Soot is visible evidence the smoke reached the piano. I have serviced a number of pianos that had been treated for smoke and fire but there always seemed to be lingering odors in them. The felt on the hammers, dampers, keys and elsewhere act as sponges but wood also absorbs odor. I think ozone has a place in treating fire exposed property but I am not sure about its use in pianos. If it does affect glue basically you are screwed because so much of a piano has glue joints, glued felts .
As far as using ozone to treat mold I never heard of that especially in pianos. When I encounter mold in pianos it is a red flag and I avoid it until it is tested or properly identified.
I have seen pianos with deadly black mold growing on the keys and in the action. In those instances I have told owners or insurance companies to hire a mold specialist to bag the piano and destroy it/take to a haz waste & materials site. Getting odors out is only one aspect of mold treatment- the cause need to be found and dealt with.
As a piano technician I would thoroughly document my findings , refer the work out to mold/fire experts . I do not think there is a way to guarantee there will be no future problems or that ozone will fix everything. Proceed with caution
------------------------------
James Kelly
Owner- Fur Elise Piano Service
Pawleys Island SC
843-325-4357
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 03-16-2021 11:52
From: William Shull
Subject: Ozone treatment
I hope that the more experienced who have worked with smoke abatement to respond. Two separate insurance jobs have come in that have damage.
1. One, a 10 year old Asian built grand in near new condition, has some direct smoke residue, with soot on the keytops, but had a cover mostly in place, so the interior belly shows no smoke. Soot on bench top, spotty on arms where cover didn't touch, but under the soundboard is clean. The building was a total loss.
2. The other, a 100 year old grand in original condition, shows
no visual evidence of smoke but has a very strong odor. The question is, how much smoke exposure is enough to require component replacement (strings, tuning pins, action parts). If one cannot see the residue with the naked eye, but the smell is overwhelming, is that presentation the basis for ozone plus teardown and parts replacement?
And in referring to Jim Fariss' quote of Dave Swartz, is the use of ozone treatment harmful with pianos in any case, unless parts with metal, cloth and buckskin/leather are replaced?
The way I read Dave's statement, both of the pianos must have complete teardown and parts replacement. But I would like to know your views and experience.
Because the old posts in this thread didn't get included I'm copying two of them below.
Regards,
Bill
Posted 08-08-2020 11:09
ReplyOptions Dropdown
DO NOT - DO NOT - DO NOT use an ozone generator on an assembled piano. Here is an excerpt from David Swartz of CORY care products that specializes in smoke damage restoration:
"Ozone works by oxidation known to be corrosive and will adversely affect piano strings, plate, metal parts, paint rubber parts (grommets) & moisture content=bleaching. Ozone has proven to be effective in the removal of smoke odors in natural substances (i.e. porous materials) such as soft woods, paper, felt, etc. Should the piano be in a rebuild state (i.e. plate, action, strings, etc. removed), one may find the ozone generator a useful tool."
My suggestion would be to contact the Pianoforte Tuners' Association and inquire who specializes in piano smoke & fire restoration.
------------------------------
Jim Fariss, RPT
PTG Secretary/Treasurer
(719) 425-8845
Sec@PTG.org
------------------------------
DO NOT - DO NOT - DO NOT use an ozone generator on an assembled piano. Here is an excerpt from David Swartz of CORY care products that specializes in smoke damage restoration:
"Ozone works by oxidation known to be corrosive and will adversely affect piano strings, plate, metal parts, paint rubber parts (grommets) & moisture content=bleaching. Ozone has proven to be effective in the removal of smoke odors in natural substances (i.e. porous materials) such as soft woods, paper, felt, etc. Should the piano be in a rebuild state (i.e. plate, action, strings, etc. removed), one may find the ozone generator a useful tool."
Posted 08-09-2020 12:23
ReplyOptions Dropdown
I recently used an ozone generator on a 1860s melodian and an 1810 square piano prior to full restoration. I was a bit nervous about it, but after some research I decided it would likely be safe. A friend uses one in his business to rid houses of mold and bacteria and he said that it would be safe to use. Both instruments had terrible mold issues. I figured that the ozone generator would be the only way to safely work on these instruments and get rid of the smell. I bagged them in plastic and ran the ozone machine for several hours. I was amazed at its ability to get rid of the mold smell! Nothing I have ever tried could remove these old musty smells nearly as good as the ozone. I did not notice any corrosion on the metal parts at all. However, there was some old rubber in the melodian that seemed to have been slightly damaged. Also, I have read that it may have a negative effect on leather and possibly hide glue. I planned to replace all the leather so I wasn't too worried. Afterwards it seemed that there was very minimal effect if any that I could notice to the leather or the glue joints. At this point I would still only recommend ozone treatment prior to full restorations, or in cases where a valuable piano has serious mold issues. Also be careful NOT to breathe ozone. I recommend doing the procedure outside, and if done inside stay out of the room for several hours after the machine is done running.
------------------------------
Jason Leininger
Pittsburgh PA
412-874-6992
------------------------------
Original Message