Re: Air button stuck on Hohner D40 concertina...

On 2008-03-02, David Haardt <haardtnet@xxxxxx> wrote:
On 1 Mrz., 20:16, "DoN. Nichols" <dnich...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
[long and helpful reply]

Wow. That was an impressive and very helpful reply. Thanks a lot, DoN!

Unfortunately I'm a bit stuck. When I remove the two screws whose
function I was not able to guess (see http://haardt.net/concertina2.jpg
, top and bottom screws), nothing happens. I found a web site which
nicely shows how a Bastari (thank you for pointing out the apparent
parallels!) looks from the inside, see http://www.concertina.net/kc_bastari.html
, and from this web site it seems as if the board that holds the reed
block and the action should come out, leaving an empty cover:
http://www.concertina.net/images_kc_bastari/s_detail.jpg

That appears to be a very close match.

However, I
cannot even see where the "border" between this board and the cover
is.

Looking at your photo in detail (zooming in), I see hints of it
looking at the corner nearest the camera. The corner seems to be
pokeing through the gum rubber. And looking at the photo which you
indicated on the concertina.net page it seems that the parting line goes
right through the holes for the enbox screws attachment to the bellows
frame.

As you can see on my photo, the rubber foam seems to cover the
area where the two parts should separate. This foam appears to be
glued onto both edges.

Can you peel up the foam? It should be replaced anyway. If you
can feel the parting line through the foam, use an X-acto knife to cut
through the foam to free the parts to separate.

I tried to hold the reed block with one hand
and the concertina handle with the other, trying to gently pull the
two parts apart, but I did not have immediate success and was rather
afraid to break something ;-) It would be great to hear from somebody
who has successfully taken a D40 apart in order to know whether the
two parts should indeed separate in that way.

It certainly looks as though that is where it parts -- hidden
under the foam, as there is noplace else visible. The other likely
places on other instruments are half-way up the sidewall (common for
English-made instruments), and the end plate itself (which appears to
have been what happened on the real Bastari in the web photos.

Miraculously, the stuck air button unstuck while I did that. I think a
broken spring is the most likely problem since there is absolutely no
resistance when I push or pull the air button.

Does it move the lever and open/close the air valve? If not, it
may have just slipped off the lever. The photos of the rubber tubing
around the base of the buttons on the concertina.net page shows examples
of the buttons with the slots for the levers to pass through.

Now I just have to
figure out how to access its workings...

Part the foam rubber (don't use too much Force, Luke. :-)


Good Luck,
DoN.

--
Email: <dnichols@xxxxxxxxxxx> | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---
.

Loading