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MMD > Archives > February 1999 > 1999.02.23 > 10Prev  Next


Rewind Solutions for Electric Turbine Kits
By Andy Taylor

> When the re-roll hole opens, the pneumatic does not have enough
> power to pull the transmission into rewind.

Hi, all that means is that you did a good job with the player.  About
six years ago I sold a Baldwin Monarch to a fellow in Columbus Indiana.
This thing was _tight_ -- so tight that the suction motor had to be
turned down to a growl.

Since the piano was plugged in the wall all the time, I installed a
small solenoid to pull the transmission into rewind.  This was operated
with a set of contacts on the #1 pneumatic.

Over time the little solenoid burned out.  The owner bought one of
those PPCo pneumatics and installed it.  The piano had _exactly_ the
same problems as that your Autopiano had.  I had to drive up there and
install a new solenoid, and remove the pneumatic; it required more
suction to work than the stack did!

I wouldn't use the solenoid from PPCo, though; it's too big.  You want
to shift the piano into rewind, not yank the transmission loose from
the spoolbox!  <chuckle>

Pianos powered by suction boxes sometimes have a bad habit of rewinding
the roll too fast.  Some of them have a pallet valve or microswitch
that senses rewind position, to slow the motor.  Although this system
works, I never use it.

In a really tight player, once it goes into rewind, the wind motor
sometimes has trouble with stalling, especially with a multi-tune roll.
Once it does start, or if the suction is turned up, it rewinds the roll
too fast.  That means the gear ratio is wrong.

I always change the rewind gear on the _upper_ roll chuck to a larger
one, adding more chain.  This affects rewind speed only and does not
affect play at all.  The roll rewinds slower and, due to the reduced
gear ratio, the motor won't stall.

Hope this helps.

Andy Taylor
Tempola Music Rolls


(Message sent Tue 23 Feb 1999, 16:30:23 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.)

Key Words in Subject:  Electric, Kits, Rewind, Solutions, Turbine

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