Accordion plays note without pressing any buttons

[alext21]

Hello all, I know next to nothing about accordions but recently a found my Moms accordion in our attic. It means a lot to her (she had bought it in the Soviet Union where it cost a month of wages), but unfortunately it is broken as it plays a sound when pushing and pulling without pressing any keys or buttons. I dont really understand the anatomy of accordions, but I have a pretty basic understanding of how it works. I was hoping someone could identify what is causing it to do so and how to prevent it from happening again.
It would mean a lot to her if I fixed it so any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Dingo40]

Welcome Alex !
The problem you describe happens quite often.
I'm sure you'll have several members explaining what it could be and how to fix it .
In the meantime, it would be helpful if your could narrow down the location of where it comes from: left or right side, which button or key seems affected.

 

[debra]

On the treble side possible causes can be a bent "arm" of one note or a dislodged pallet.
On the bass side possible causes can be a misaligned piston, a jumped pin, or a dislodged pallet.
Other things are possible too but these are most common.

 

[alext21]

Welcome Alex !
The problem you describe happens quite often.
I'm sure you'll have several members explaining what it could be and how to fix it .
In the meantime, it would be helpful if your could narrow down the location of where it comes from: left or right side, which button or key seems affected.

Hey thanks for the warm welcome, I had previously fixed the same problem on the bass side by moving the rod that was attached to the reed. It was fine for a while until it started happening again, but this time it sounds like its on the keyboard side.

 

[debra]

Hey thanks for the warm welcome, I had previously fixed the same problem on the bass side by moving the rod that was attached to the reed. It was fine for a while until it started happening again, but this time it sounds like its on the keyboard side.

On the keyboard side it should be easier to fix. Remove the grille, and first check whether any of the pallets is misaligned (shifted left or right). If not, then open the bellows (pull), and close it while gently pushing on the offending key's pallet. If the note stops you have found the one that leaks. Check (by pushing gently on one end of the pallet) which end of the pallet is leaking. That tells you how the angle of the pallet is wrong. If the pallet base is attached to the metal arm using wax you can readjust the pallet base by heating the wax to soften it. (The recommended way to do this is with a hairdryer after covering the pallets of the adjacent notes to keep just the one exposed to the heat.) If it's not done with wax then you have to bend the arm a bit. There are special tools called "torciferri" for this but pliers may also do the job.

 

[Gonk]

The reedblocks look like Weltmeister (plastic) and if so, the pallets are likely to be held on with little rubber "shoes," mounted to flat aluminum pallets. The rubber shoes tend to degrade. Hopefully yours is simply misaligned.

 

[debra]

The reedblocks look like Weltmeister (plastic) and if so, the pallets are likely to be held on with little rubber "shoes," mounted to flat aluminum pallets. The rubber shoes tend to degrade. Hopefully yours is simply misaligned.

I recently worked on a Weltmeister that looked just like this inside (except for having 4 voices and thus 4 reed blocks on the treble side). These soft plastic reed blocks are absolute rubbish and the wax used to hold the reed plates onto the reed blocks isn't working very well as a glue as it does not really stick well to the plastic. This was among the worst accordions I ever encountered.

 

[clark]

On the treble side possible causes can be a bent "arm" of one note or a dislodged pallet.
On the bass side possible causes can be a misaligned piston, a jumped pin, or a dislodged pallet.
Other things are possible too but these are most common.

What is a pallet?

 

[debra]

What is a pallet?

The pallet is what is at the end of the key arm that acts as a valve to open and close the holes leading to the reed blocks inside, when you press a key.
In technical terms the term "pallet" is often used to refer to just the wooden or metal part and not the attached felt+leather (sometimes called "pallet felt"). I most often just use the term "pallet" to refer to the assembly of wooden or metal base + felt+leather.

 

[clark]

The pallet is what is at the end of the key arm that acts as a valve to open and close the holes leading to the reed blocks inside, when you press a key.
In technical terms the term "pallet" is often used to refer to just the wooden or metal part and not the attached felt+leather (sometimes called "pallet felt"). I most often just use the term "pallet" to refer to the assembly of wooden or metal base + felt+leather.

Very helpful, thank you!

 

[isorry123]

Clark if you take a look at this top right “pallet” you will notice that the reed holes are visible. This can cause a note to play even though no key is being pushed. Easiest fix is:
1) remove and reglue/wax the pallet to the key arm
2) bend the key arm

keys and pallets seem to warp and move over time, especially on the edges of the board. Worth checking to see if the drift is something related to loose keys maybe - I have this old accordion and the keys just feel loose

I find just regluing the pallet is easier than fiddling around bending the key… for glue - the traditional way is to use wax. If you don’t have wax, just use low temp hot glue. For for pallet in the picture, since there is very little clearance on the pattern to shift/reglue, I will probably end up bending bars.

 

[clark]

Clark if you take a look at this top right “pallet” you will notice that the reed holes are visible. This can cause a note to play even though no key is being pushed. Easiest fix is:
1) remove and reglue/wax the pallet to the key arm
2) bend the key arm

keys and pallets seem to warp and move over time, especially on the edges of the board. Worth checking to see if the drift is something related to loose keys maybe - I have this old accordion and the keys just feel loose

I find just regluing the pallet is easier than fiddling around bending the key… for glue - the traditional way is to use wax. If you don’t have wax, just use low temp hot glue. For for pallet in the picture, since there is very little clearance on the pattern to shift/reglue, I will probably end up bending bars.

 

[clark]

Thank you so much! Great picture and explanation, so helpful.

 

[32251]

Which side of the accordion is the sound coming from…the bass or the keyboard side?

 

[Ffingers]

Clark if you take a look at this top right “pallet” you will notice that the reed holes are visible. This can cause a note to play even though no key is being pushed. Easiest fix is:
1) remove and reglue/wax the pallet to the key arm
2) bend the key arm

keys and pallets seem to warp and move over time, especially on the edges of the board. Worth checking to see if the drift is something related to loose keys maybe - I have this old accordion and the keys just feel loose

I find just regluing the pallet is easier than fiddling around bending the key… for glue - the traditional way is to use wax. If you don’t have wax, just use low temp hot glue. For for pallet in the picture, since there is very little clearance on the pattern to shift/reglue, I will probably end up bending bars.

Great photo of horrible workmanship, that one

 

[isorry123]

Great photo of horrible workmanship, that one

She’s 90 years old hopefully we all look half as decent at that age