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Hohner Atlantic IV Bellows Removal

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Tomj731

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Does anyone know how to remove the bellows on an Atlantic IV. There are no bellows pins. There are two small levers under the grille but I don’t want to force anything. Also I need to source bellow tape as it is worn at the top of the bellows at the corners. I’m in the UK. if anyone can point me to a supplier for Hohner tape I’d be grateful.
 
Hiya,
I believe it's the same as a Lucia IV:

Those two levers point outwards nomally (locked position). Rotate them to point inwards (unlocked) and the treble can be tilted upwards at the front. At about 30 to 45 degrees you will be able to lift the back of the treble up and remove it. Replacement is a straight reversal - back in place first, tilt down, check the latches have caught. Be careful not to damage valves on the locating pins at the back.

Removing the bass I haven't done yet, but I think it's bolts under the bass cover.

Charlie at http://www.cgmmusical.co.uk/CGM_Musical_Services/Welcome.html does bellows tape including Hohner. He replies to email really fast so probably ask him what to use. I can say the glue he supplies works fine.
 
As Glug said, the two levers do the trick. Mind you the treble side then *tilts* upwards (hinges on the opposite side), it does not lift straight upwards like on most accordions. The Morino M series uses a similar method for opening (levers positioned a bit differently, but same method).

I had an Atlantic IV N in the past and these hinged levers were a source of air loss that I never managed to "close" fully.
 
Thanks a million guys. I’m looking forward to restoring this old Atlantic. It’s basically in good condition, just a couple of stuck reeds and the bellows tape.
 
I recently replaced all the bellows tape on my Hohner Virtuola III, got the tape and glue from Strings and Boxes in Germany.

 
Thanks a million guys. I’m looking forward to restoring this old Atlantic. It’s basically in good condition, just a couple of stuck reeds and the bellows tape.
It probably could use also new bellows gasket tape if it has not been replaced recently. It's one of the most common problems with older accordions. (It results in air loss.)
 
As Glug said, the two levers do the trick. Mind you the treble side then *tilts* upwards (hinges on the opposite side), it does not lift straight upwards like on most accordions. The Morino M series uses a similar method for opening (levers positioned a bit differently, but same method).

I had an Atlantic IV N in the past and these hinged levers were a source of air loss that I never managed to "close" fully.

My Lucia leaks a bit here. The Atlantic I have had those levers removed at some point and screws installed instead which screw directly into the bellows - this works well but I would hate to overtighten and strip a screw on day! Or maybe on this model those screws are from the factory...either way...the bass side is also affixed with screws so cant help but wonder if it came from the factory that way.
 
My Lucia leaks a bit here. The Atlantic I have had those levers removed at some point and screws installed instead which screw directly into the bellows - this works well but I would hate to overtighten and strip a screw on day! Or maybe on this model those screws are from the factory...either way...the bass side is also affixed with screws so cant help but wonder if it came from the factory that way.
As far as I know there were never any Atlantics with factory-installed screws instead of the levers.
Accordion makers have traditionally used bellow pins on accordions, but that's when the case is made out of wood. Bellow pins won't work on a metal body. I have seen screws used (there are 2 screws in my Pigini bass accordion, besides 6 bellow pins) but in most cases where bellow pins were not used and no levers either the manufacturers have used bolts, washers and nuts. This is the case on all (large) Russian bayans and also on the (old) Pigini Sirius bayan (which is a copy of a Russian bayan, but with Italian mechanics and reeds). On an Atlantic, with metal body, a solution with bolts and nuts would make more sense than using screws.
 
Here's what I did: replace the 60 year old grommets with some new neoprene sheet

levers.2.jpg

I used a leather hole punch to make the lever a very tight fit.
There's some Fabri-Tac gluing the neoprene to the metal or acting as a filler, but gasket sealant would probably work better.

As far as I can tell (soap test) there is now no air leak.
 
Well, just had to go back and look. I haven't actually taken the screws out of the bottom but am pretty sure they are the same screws all around. I gave up after I dropped one of the smaller treble cover screws into the key area where it has now become lodged in a location unknown to me:LOL:, and where it will also likely stay (hopefully). Maybe this will learn me to leave the ancient screws alone unless absolutely necessary.

Whomever did it did a nice job, they actually used metal inserts on the bellows side so they are basically nut and bolt.
 

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Well, just had to go back and look. I haven't actually taken the screws out of the bottom but am pretty sure they are the same screws all around. I gave up after I dropped one of the smaller treble cover screws into the key area where it has now become lodged in a location unknown to me:LOL:, and where it will also likely stay (hopefully). Maybe this will learn me to leave the ancient screws alone unless absolutely necessary.

Whomever did it did a nice job, they actually used metal inserts on the bellows side so they are basically nut and bolt.
That makes more sense! Screws are a bad idea and bolts and nuts are a good idea to replace levers (in this case) or bellow pins (in other accordions). Something like these inserts or otherwise gluing nuts in place is needed as you cannot "grab" the nuts and hold them in place while inserting or removing the bolts.
 
How did you remove the bass end from the bellows. I have mine apart at the moment - I've removed the bass end cover and the metal plate that goes over the buttons. There are 4 screws through the bass end which I have removed. This allows me to left up the side opposite the buttons slightly, but the side with the buttons seems quite solidly fixed still.
 
There are 4 screws through the bass end
There isn't... there's actually 5 screws. The 5th one is hidden by the bass mechanism rods and is down a hole too. It's just right of centre of the middle coupler (approx. where the red arrow is pointing in the picture below).

Screen Shot 2020-10-27 at 17.28.56.jpg
 
That's very good to know! (Especially that 5th screw.) So far I managed to do what I needed to do without removing the bellows from the bass side (you can do a lot reaching down through the bellows) but you never know when this removal may be needed.
 
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