Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Liquid lubricant causing squeaks in action....?

A piano tech applied a light yellow colored lubricant (looks like oil but I'm sure it is not as I touched it) on a sticking key. The key unstuck just fine. For good measure, he also applied it to some of the felt parts in the action. This made the action much lighter and faster.

Well, some of the keys developed a squeak - pretty pronounced. I think this is where the wood part hits the felt part of the wippen. (Or is it the wippen hitting a felt surface as it goes up? Not sure of my terminology....)

Anyone know what is the liquid used? Does it evaporate? Any other comments are welcome.

Thanks,
F

Whoa!
I'd get another tech in there to hopefully salvage your action.

Hi FH,

Sorry to hear of your squeaking issues... I'd call the tech and ask them what they used and if it may have caused the squeaking as a side-affect of the lub job. I'm not familiar with a yellow, sticky type lub for piano actions.

Apparently, it worked to an extent to loosen up the friction in the action. Now he needs to fix the squeaks...

Good luck.

Rick

Thanks everyone. The lube was not sticky.

I called and asked - it is Prolube by Protek. Is this OK? And how do I 'unsqueak'? It's a lot of keys squeaking, not just one...

Thanks,
F

Sorry, I misread your post... I see now that you described the keys as sticky and not the lube.

That sounds like a legitimate piano action lube product. I’m thinking that loosening up the sluggish action parts may have caused the squeakiness… I still think it is worth asking the tech to come back and address that issue.

Like Steve Jackson said, it may be worth finding another competent tech to take a look at it. I doubt if it is a major problem… kind of like fixing one thing in order to be able to recognize another.

Good luck.

Rick

Thanks Rickster. Glad to hear it is not an alarming issue. Our piano was playing perfectly except for the one stuck key. Now, it has many squeaks after the prolube - I think prolube on felt is making the felt higher friction rather than lower friction. A bit disturbing and I hope it can be reversed though given that it is a liquid lube going into the felt, I doubt it.

Would love to hear any more comments.

Thanks,
F

Call the original tech back. Give him a chance to explain and/or fix. It is not uncommon for something else to arise from a treatment. That does not necessarily mean the return trip will be free, but give him/her a chance to address it. Prolube is a very professional product.