Disklavier

It was an electrical fire that destroyed a 42-inch flat screen tv and many  
old video tapes. there was lots of smoke; the piano was in another room 
about 25  feet away and it is covered with heavy black, stinky soot. I will 
look inside it  tomorrow.
 
Thanks  
 
In a message dated 12/11/2014 5:40:06 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
disklavier@yahoogroups.com writes:

 
 
 
i do not know your piano specifically but every solenoid piano i have ever  
seen does have some circuitry in the piano. 

i did not mention in my  first post that there is a wide range of possible 
damage from minor annoying  odor to serious corrosion and electronic damage. 
it all depends on how much  smoke there was, what was in the smoke and how 
far it got into the  piano.

what kind of fire was it, how severe, how close to the piano  etc? the fire 
i had burnd some plastic which can create very corrosive and  toxic 
deposits on and in everything exposed.


On 12/11/2014 12:50 PM, _clays91740@..._ (mailto:clays91740@...)  
[disklavier]  wrote:



Dear Spencer,
 
Thank you for taking your time to provide me with so much excellent  
information.  Are there circuit boards inside the piano itself as well  as the 
wagon and DSR-1?
 
Clay
 
 
In a message dated 12/11/2014 11:51:36 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, 
_disklavier@yahoogroups.com_ (mailto:disklavier@yahoogroups.com)   writes:

 
i have not had experience with a piano in a house fire but did have a  
workshop fire and a lot of equipment exposed to smoke that has  similarities to 
the stuff in an electronically controlled piano.  

not much burned in the fire, but there was a little plastic that  did burn 
. it made stinky soot that covered everything. Servicemaster  cleaned 
everything but i had to do the electronics. i had a cnc milling  machine and other 
stuff that insurance would not pay much for so i took  all the electronics 
apart and cleaned that stuff myself. i doubt that  anyone other than a very 
expensive "professional;" would have taken the  care to do it right. 
everything still works. there are smoke stains on  somw metal parts that are 
impossible to remove and wood stuff fared even  worse.

A DKV will have all the aspects of the worst stuff to try to  save in my 
workshop and i think you will not be happy with the results  which will 
probably cost a fortune. probably better to scrap it if you can  convince the 
insurance company to pay much of anything for it. get some  advise as to how to 
deal with the insurance company. most likely they will  depreciate a 1992 
piano to almost nothing. if you have an actual  replacement cost policy you 
may do well but there are all sorts of  exclusions and the company will likely 
to try their best to avoid paying  much.

if you are going to try to save the piano yourself, at  minimum you would 
need to examine all circuit boards and clean them.  except for certain 
components that may hold water forever, you can  actually wash most of this stuff 
in appropriate detergeants as long as you  do not connect power to anything 
until you know it is completely dry. i  have a vacuum oven so i could dry 
slowly under vacuum. all connectors  including socketed chips should be 
removed and lubricated with a contact  cleaner/lube that contains polphenyl ether. 
felt parts might have to be  replaced. wooden cabinet parts can probably be 
cleaned well enough,  without damage that they won't smell too much. action 
parts are going to  be hopeless if they got much of a dose of smoke.
wound strings could  probably be cleaned but replacement is probably a 
better option.  

ozone does an amazing job of neutralizing smoke odors. a  "professional" 
would tent the piano and apply ozone for hours or days as  needed. as more 
smoke odor comes out of wooden and other porous parts this  will need to be 
repeated. i elected to not have the drywall and insulation  removed and 
replaced in my workshop and 2 years later there is still a  lingering smell. i made 
an ozone generator (really easy, you can find  plans online) and run it 
occasionally if the smoke odor is especially bad.  just a few hours helps. 
ozone is very corrosive to metal parts especially  steel and iron so you have to 
limit its use. there are also miracle  products that "neutralize" odors and 
some are very effective but they  leave their own very strong odor for a 
while.  i like XO which is a  little difficult to find but Amazon probably has 
it. Vets use it to  neutralize anal sac contents when they squeeze your 
dog's sacs so it can  neutralize anything :)



On 12/11/2014 6:39 AM, _clays91740@..._ (mailto:clays91740@...)   
[disklavier] wrote:



Hello  Group,
 
My DG-1 (wagon grand) and DSR-1 were exposed to very heavy smoke  and soot 
in a fire at my home.  I'm not sure if it still works or  not.  I'm 
wondering if any one on the list has had any experience  with any like this.
 
I purchased the piano new in 1992 and really want to keep  it.  I 
appreciate any information available.
 
Clay Shelton
Petersburg,  VA 



-- 



Best regards, Spencer Chase

67550-Bell Springs Rd.

Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only.

Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only.

_Spencer@..._ (mailto:Spencer@spencerserolls.com) 

_http://www.spencerserolls.com_ (http://www.spencerserolls.com/) 

(425) 791-0309






-- 



Best regards, Spencer Chase

67550-Bell Springs Rd.

Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only.

Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only.

_Spencer@..._ (mailto:Spencer@...) 

_http://www.spencerserolls.com_ (http://www.spencerserolls.com/) 

(425) 791-0309