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[Wookieplays]

Hello all,

Im quite new to the Melodeon and have had a slightly elderly German Pokerwork copy for a few months and two of the springs under the treble keys have given up and broken and now fallen out. The keys all pivot on a single metal rod, and I can see where the spring should go but cant work out how it should be fixed in place. Has anyone got any advise on the correct method of replacing them or Is this a job for a professional only?

Many thanks

Paul

[Lester]

Paul - welcome to mel.net

Assuming it is very like a pokerwork - Replacing the spring is no difficult if you are confident but does require a fairly major strip down of your box. You need to take the treble end off the bellows, remove the grill, remove the fingerboard, disconnect all the springs to take the tension off the pallets, remove the treble mechanism, withdraw the hindge rod, replace the broken springs, then as it says in Hayes car manuals replacement is the reverse of the dismantling.

If this does not daunt you I will try to post some pictures when I have something better than an iPad to work with.

[Theo]

Lester,  I suspect the mechanism is differen, especially if it is a klingenthal box. The op's reference to springs under the keys makes me think this too.   With these boxes it's a real pain to replace a spring.  The axle rod has to be pulled out, which can be difficult, and has to be pushed back after the new spring is in.  Pushing the rod back can be almost impossible and it us often necessary to replace the brass axle rod with steel.

[Wookieplays]

Hello Lester and Theo,

Many thanks for your input and welcome, I ve looked at i again and heres a pic that might clarify I suspected this would be a pain as
the pallet ,fingerboard and mechanism all seem to be as one piece and I cant see how you can take the keys out without basically taking all of it apart.

Are there any temporary fixes you guys can think off?
Many thanks Again

Paul

[Lester]

Only goes to show that Theo knows more than me 

All my advice is sound but totally inapplicable to you box 

[Wookieplays]

Many thanks for the detail Lester, Im sure it will be relevant in the future as I plan to get a pokerwork Looks like I ll be buying one sooner than I thourght. :-)

[Jim]

I have one of these with this problem. I had Theo look at it last year and he wasn't able to (economically) fix it.

However it was rather tricky to play like this (the buttons actually became stiffer when the springs failed)  and this is my only box so I didn't want to destroy the keyboard by attempting to remove and replace the axle rod.

My fix was to:
* make a little hooky thing out of stiff wire and use it to hook the broken springs out.
* hook elastic bands over the ends of the affected levers (I used the little ones you get to hold jam pot lids on).
* using a pencil to hold the elastic band in the correct tension, clamp the bands between the keyboard and the box (see pic).



It has been like this for about 9 months with no problems. I think another button will soon need the same treatment.

[Wookieplays]

Hey there Jim,

Nice idea, I did think about trying to adapt some springs so the could just slit in and not need to be pushed into the leaver but I found that they kept on getting stuck so I ll give your idea a go, The old springs are out now so its just a case of trying to add some bands,

Excellent, Many thanks

Paul

[diatonix]

I've encountered the same problem with this box and similar ones. Fortunately I had lots of spare springs, so the only issue was to get them under (and into!) the wooden levers. The existing small holes were of no use, obviously, as the  remains of the broken original springs were still stuck in them. I drilled  tiny new holes (Ø 0,6mm or so) at an appropriate angle through the bottom of the keyboard and into the levers. With a suitable slender pair of pliers I managed then to attach the new springs.  The almost invisible holes in the keyboard are easily disguised.

[Theo]

Good example of thinking outside the box!

[Wookieplays]

Hello Guys,

Nice to know Im not the only one who feaced this. I actually have managed to replace the springs by removing the rod very carefully (and slowly) I clamped the keyboard in a bench with lots of padding around it and teased out the rod with some pliers, I tried only moving past one key first and putting it back to get the feel. On this particular box it went quite easily so I decided to go for it.

I then had to break the glue on the buttons so I could take out the whole key as I could get at the spring.

Once out I was able to remove the old broken pieces with a needle and tweezers and then gently tap in some new ones.

These ones were out of a scrapped piano accordian and had to be trimmed and bent to match the space.

The most tricky bit was getting the rod back in but taking it slowly under a strong light it went in well.

After re glueing the buttons it seems to play well, the springs are a bit stiffer than the originals but should stretch in and at least now the buttons dont get stuck under the board as they used to.

Many thanks to everyone.

Paul

[dahlberg]

I have one of these DDR boxes aswell,same problem. Probably the stupidmost construction ever. I cant understand why they started to build bad boxes instead of the near good pre-war ones?

Anyway,my solution was similar to Jims,steel wire (låstråd,dont know the english word) some small nails and rubberbands. Works good but needs adjustment once a year.

[Wookieplays]

I suspect it was simple to put together the first time but replacing by everyday folks wasnt expected. I found the biggest issue was getting the spring in straight and the right length, My first attempt failed as the replacement twisted and bent (whilst I was playing out) Second attempt seems to be more successful, but the rod seems more inclined to shift posisition and bend so the keys move, Maybe converting to a normal Pokerwork keyboard is the best option for the long term. or just buying a whole one:-)

Paul

[Theo]

Maybe converting to a normal Pokerwork keyboard is the best option for the long term. or just buying a whole one:-)

Paul

That might not be as simple as it seems.

A simple improvement is to replace the brass axle rod with steel piano wire, at least you then have a good chance of removing the rod without breaking off the end and replacing the rod without bending it.

[Wookieplays]

Thank you Theo, Is piano wire easy to get hold of?

Paul