Pianotech

I worked on a Steinway studio upright today, about 20 years old, with 6 broken strings (12 wires) in the highest 15 notes. The owner is not clear on the service history. The strings all broke at the hitch pins.

Any estimate on the cause? A couple observations: (a) The previous tuner had left the pitch in the upper 2 octaves a lot high relative to A440. (b) The piano has a Dampp Chaser (with huidifier) installed just below the upper two octaves. Could a combination of rust (from too much moisture) and too much tension have done it in? A picture is attached (I had trouble trying to put it inline).

Regards, Norman

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Norman Brickman
Potomac Piano Service
Potomac, Maryland
potomacpiano@verizon.net
https://potomacpiano.com
(301) 983.9321
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All the wire is badly corroded. Maybe they used an unapproved anti-mildew additive which accelerated the rust. The piano needs to be restrung. Use only the mildew product from DC.

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Regards,

Jon Page
mailto:jonpage@comcast.net
http://www.pianocapecod.com
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Hi Norman,

Wow, that's a lot of rust! I'm surprised you were able to tune it without more strings breaking. I hate it when I get a piano like that. 

As Jon said, your best bet moving forward is restringing, at a very minimum just the strings that have broken (I wouldn't try splicing them), preferably the whole thing. As to why it happened, I don't think anyone knows for certain. I have a theory that it probably wasn't the Dampp-Chaser, unless whoever installed it forgot to install the baffle, which helps distribute the humidity so this doesn't happen. If the baffle was installed properly, I'd look for excessive environmental humidity. Was the piano in a house next to the ocean or lake, or in a basement? Things like that. 

Hope this helps!

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Benjamin Sanchez, RPT
Piano Technician / Artisan
(256) 947-9999
www.professional-piano-services.com
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Norman, you can't really judge how that section of the piano had been tuned as the breaking strings skew the tuning sharp. Even one string breaking will change its neighbors by several cents.
It's not likely the strings broke all at once, this probably happened over a period of years meaning the piano has been sitting idle. At minimum you'd want to restring that section. The problem is rust is contagious, the new wires will start to corrode in pretty short order if you do a partial job.

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Steven Rosenthal RPT
Honolulu HI
(808) 521-7129
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-30-2022 18:37
From: Benjamin Sanchez
Subject: A Cluster Of Broken Strings

Hi Norman,

Wow, that's a lot of rust! I'm surprised you were able to tune it without more strings breaking. I hate it when I get a piano like that. 

As Jon said, your best bet moving forward is restringing, at a very minimum just the strings that have broken (I wouldn't try splicing them), preferably the whole thing. As to why it happened, I don't think anyone knows for certain. I have a theory that it probably wasn't the Dampp-Chaser, unless whoever installed it forgot to install the baffle, which helps distribute the humidity so this doesn't happen. If the baffle was installed properly, I'd look for excessive environmental humidity. Was the piano in a house next to the ocean or lake, or in a basement? Things like that. 

Hope this helps!

------------------------------
Benjamin Sanchez, RPT
Piano Technician / Artisan
(256) 947-9999
www.professional-piano-services.com
------------------------------

While you're at it, restringing wise. The counter bearing ridge above the pressure bar needs to be taken down. That's what makes the 1098's so awful to tune.

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Regards,

Jon Page
mailto:jonpage@comcast.net
http://www.pianocapecod.com
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Jon --

> The counter bearing ridge above the pressure bar needs to be taken down. That's what makes the 1098's so awful to tune.

Could you please explain this in a bit more detail? I don't understand "taken down". If this is something that could be done to any problematic 1098 to make tuning easier that would be a great thing to know. 

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Geoff Sykes, RPT
Los Angeles CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-30-2022 21:43
From: Jon Page
Subject: A Cluster Of Broken Strings

While you're at it, restringing wise. The counter bearing ridge above the pressure bar needs to be taken down. That's what makes the 1098's so awful to tune.

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Regards,

Jon Page
mailto:jonpage@comcast.net
http://www.pianocapecod.com
------------------------------

I suspect there are some harsh environmental reasons why there is so much corrosion on the strings. Check the date on the Dampp Chaser humidistat to see when it was installed. High tension on the strings and lack of or improper installation of the baffle over the water tank could have been a factor . The two pieces of braiding/felt also could have attracted moisture from the air. The dehumidifiers may also be undertpowered and not up for the task. Restringing is the best option but the surroundings/environment need to be studied. If humidity is above 50 % even with the dampp chaser rust/corrosion will eventually return despite having a damp chaser. A customer here had a Chickering grand located in an historical home near the river that was a total rust bucket. It was restrung but a year later it was rusting all over again. Check out the pictures in the piano life saver booklet

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James Kelly
Owner- Fur Elise Piano Service
Pawleys Island SC
(843) 325-4357
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It could also have been a case where the DC was installed after the strings were already rusty.

Wim

Sent from my iPhone


Original Message:
Sent: 11/30/2022 11:46:00 PM
From: James Kelly
Subject: RE: A Cluster Of Broken Strings

I suspect there are some harsh environmental reasons why there is so much corrosion on the strings. Check the date on the Dampp Chaser humidistat to see when it was installed. High tension on the strings and lack of or improper installation of the baffle over the water tank could have been a factor . The two pieces of braiding/felt also could have attracted moisture from the air. The dehumidifiers may also be undertpowered and not up for the task. Restringing is the best option but the surroundings/environment need to be studied. If humidity is above 50 % even with the dampp chaser rust/corrosion will eventually return despite having a damp chaser. A customer here had a Chickering grand located in an historical home near the river that was a total rust bucket. It was restrung but a year later it was rusting all over again. Check out the pictures in the piano life saver booklet

------------------------------
James Kelly
Owner- Fur Elise Piano Service
Pawleys Island SC
(843) 325-4357
------------------------------

Thank you to all for all the good feedback.  You have definitely given me more to think about and steps to consider for the future.  Sounds like I was a little too optimistic with the customer than I should have been.

Sorry -- one other observation that I should have mentioned(!):  The house sits one-tenth of a mile from the Potomac River, a major river in these parts.

Regards, Norman

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Norman Brickman
Potomac Piano Service
Potomac, Maryland
potomacpiano@verizon.net
https://potomacpiano.com
(301) 983.9321
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 12-01-2022 09:39
From: Wim Blees
Subject: A Cluster Of Broken Strings

It could also have been a case where the DC was installed after the strings were already rusty.

Wim

Sent from my iPhone



Original Message:
Sent: 11/30/2022 11:46:00 PM
From: James Kelly
Subject: RE: A Cluster Of Broken Strings

I suspect there are some harsh environmental reasons why there is so much corrosion on the strings. Check the date on the Dampp Chaser humidistat to see when it was installed. High tension on the strings and lack of or improper installation of the baffle over the water tank could have been a factor . The two pieces of braiding/felt also could have attracted moisture from the air. The dehumidifiers may also be undertpowered and not up for the task. Restringing is the best option but the surroundings/environment need to be studied. If humidity is above 50 % even with the dampp chaser rust/corrosion will eventually return despite having a damp chaser. A customer here had a Chickering grand located in an historical home near the river that was a total rust bucket. It was restrung but a year later it was rusting all over again. Check out the pictures in the piano life saver booklet

------------------------------
James Kelly
Owner- Fur Elise Piano Service
Pawleys Island SC
(843) 325-4357
------------------------------

Norm,

During the time I lived in your area I noticed that many older homes had suboptimal A/C operation, basically circulating cool MOIST air.  VERY difficult for a DC system to successfully control. Added to that is the neglect factor for years (assuming that the system was "taking care of it"). I found this to be a consistent pattern there. 

Peter Grey Piano Doctor

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Peter Grey
Stratham NH
(603) 686-2395
pianodoctor57@gmail.com
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-01-2022 13:56
From: Norman Brickman
Subject: A Cluster Of Broken Strings

Thank you to all for all the good feedback.  You have definitely given me more to think about and steps to consider for the future.  Sounds like I was a little too optimistic with the customer than I should have been.

Sorry -- one other observation that I should have mentioned(!):  The house sits one-tenth of a mile from the Potomac River, a major river in these parts.

Regards, Norman

------------------------------
Norman Brickman
Potomac Piano Service
Potomac, Maryland
potomacpiano@verizon.net
https://potomacpiano.com
(301) 983.9321
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 12-01-2022 09:39
From: Wim Blees
Subject: A Cluster Of Broken Strings

It could also have been a case where the DC was installed after the strings were already rusty.

Wim

Sent from my iPhone



Original Message:
Sent: 11/30/2022 11:46:00 PM
From: James Kelly
Subject: RE: A Cluster Of Broken Strings

I suspect there are some harsh environmental reasons why there is so much corrosion on the strings. Check the date on the Dampp Chaser humidistat to see when it was installed. High tension on the strings and lack of or improper installation of the baffle over the water tank could have been a factor . The two pieces of braiding/felt also could have attracted moisture from the air. The dehumidifiers may also be undertpowered and not up for the task. Restringing is the best option but the surroundings/environment need to be studied. If humidity is above 50 % even with the dampp chaser rust/corrosion will eventually return despite having a damp chaser. A customer here had a Chickering grand located in an historical home near the river that was a total rust bucket. It was restrung but a year later it was rusting all over again. Check out the pictures in the piano life saver booklet

------------------------------
James Kelly
Owner- Fur Elise Piano Service
Pawleys Island SC
(843) 325-4357