From Thomas Henden, Norway.

I have an old WEBER PIANOLA PIANO, with an Aeolian
player action in it, but it is probably wearing out, as it won't play
good any longer.

The notes has poor repetitioning, and the player action
refuses to play at all, or the notes "shiver" if I don't pump very
hard. It is difficult to distinguish between soft and loud playing,
as the notes either sounds very loud, or not at all.
I' ve cleaned out the bleeds several times, and this was
helpful in the beginning, but this doesn't help anymore as it seems
that the pouches and vents or what it is inside won't work correctly.

However, all the notes play, and the stacks seems relatively
airtight, and I don=B4t have to pump very fast to start the windmotor,
which is easy to regulate, so it won't change its speed with varying
pumping tempo.

The most of the bellows are relatively airtight, especially the wind
motor, and doesn't need any replacement for some years yet.
However, of some reason, I don't manage to regulate the wind
motor to go as fast as it should, referring to the scale.

May I eventually repair some small holes in the small bellows with
some kind of rubber glue without making them stiff?

Is it possible to replace only the vents and pouches  in the stack
without removing/destroying the small player bellows or anything
else?

(I'm not very good at handwork and don' t want to risk anything
by removing the bellows yet.I realize that it needs a little extra
skill, to cut out, and glue together those tiny little bellows)

How to I regulate the Themodist, so it will work correctly?
Is the way to check whether it works correctly or not, to close the
bellow, and check if only the themodist notes sounds?

Is there any information on the net about how to regulate the
hammer mechanics?

I have replaced all the tubes, as the old ones had gone totally stiff,
and began to crack, and there is no cracks or damages to the
sound board, however it is difficult to tune it up to 440 KHz,
but it stays very stable about 1/2 to 1 note below, and is sinking
very evenly. From I bought it some years ago, and got it tuned to
now, it sank from 1/2 note below to a little more than 1 note below,
and the most of the period it appeared "new -tuned".

As I' m a 25 year old student from Norway, I don't afford very major
repairs on the piano, but would like to do something  before it won't
work at all, eg. by replacing the pouches and vents.

I'll be thankful for any suggestions, especially taken in mind that
there is difficult to get spare parts to such pianos in Norway.

Sincerely Thomas Henden

Thomas.Henden@stud.hf.hioslo.no