Playing near the ocean?

[TahoeJoe]

Hello!

I live in San Diego quite near the ocean, and I really want to start playing outside, such as at a park etc.. Currently my accordion has a smidge of reed rusting that I will be cleaning off when I re-wax and tune it, and I would like to delay future re-rusting as much as possible. I know that salt and water in sea spray carried by the wind is a no-no with accordions that you care about. Since I'm not experienced with this, how far from the coast should I be if I am playing outside to be safe? and what kinds of precautions can I take? And once I clean my reeds, is there any way to prevent rust besides using desiccants?
Joe

 

[Dingo40]

how far from the coast should I be if I am playing outside to be safe?

Welcome Joe!
About 50 miles should be almost enough
Check out how quickly the roof gutters rust out in your area for a hint.

 

[Pipemajor]

Check out how quickly the roof gutters rust out in your area for a hint.

I'm 20 miles from the sea and my plastic roof gutters have no sign of rusting at all

 

[Alan Sharkis]

That’s why some people I’ve run into bought Rolands — to use at gigs near the ocean.

 

[RTW]

I believe Castelfidardo Italy ( home of accordion making) is about 50 miles from the sea?

Regards,
RTW

 

[debra]

Welcome Joe!
About 50 miles should be almost enough
Check out how quickly the roof gutters rust out in your area for a hint.

That is actually not a joke. When you buy stainless steel garden ornaments or lights, you get absolutely no warranty against rust with 50 miles from the sea. And accordion reeds are just plain steel, not stainless. I have seen horrible rust on reeds in accordions from people who lived by the sea.

 

[debra]

I believe Castelfidardo Italy ( home of accordion making) is about 50 miles from the sea?

Regards,
RTW

Castelfidardo is maybe just 10 miles from the sea. Maybe even a bit less, especially when you go down the hill from the center of town (towards where several accordion and reed factories are...)

 

[Ffingers]

I'm 20 miles from the sea and my plastic roof gutters have no sign of rusting at all

But do they get brittle in the tropical sun?

 

[JKJ]

The map I checked seems to show Castelfidardo about 5 miles west of the Adriatic Sea. But what about the prevailing wind direction and the amount of salt thrown into the air by wind and wave action?

Many times when I’ve been to California, strong westerly winds from the Pacific whipped up crashing waves which put enough salt in the air I could smell it a LONG way inland. But every visit was a week or less - perhaps if I lived there I might get used to it and not smell it, but I’m guessing it would still be there. Maybe some seasons are better (less windy) than others.

How to protect your accordion when you go out: borrow a friend’s accordion!!

 

[RTW]

Appreciate that someone did the homework on distance of Castelfidardo to the sea. Its hard to understand how the Accordion Manufacturing Capital of the World got away with making flawless accordions so close to the sea, though?

 

[Dingo40]

They sell more accordions that way!

 

[Ventura]

ummm.. Castlefi is on a mountain/big hill

it's not an ocean, it's the Adriatic Sea.. not so crashy and scary..
more like friendly and swim across the bay to school every morning
if you are a kid living around one of the many low citta's
like Camerano, Recanati, that hug the curves of the coastrline

Venice is up the coast further, the Port of Ancona immediately close by..

 

[Ffingers]

Have a look at this met. data from the region - less than 30 inches annual rainfall:

Marche climate: weather by month, temperature, rain - Climates to Travel

Climate information for Marche (Italy) - weather averages in Celsius and Fahrenheit, millimeters and inches. With tips on the best time to visit.

www.climatestotravel.com

Dry snow from the NorthEast in WInter and warm dry SouthWesterly winds in Summer.

 

[Ffingers]

When I'm playing near the ocean I always wear a lifejacket - you never know when a king wave will come along

 

[Ventura]

always use an old cordovox or elka when playing on the water
as it can double as a botanka in a hurricane

 

[debra]

ummm.. Castlefi is on a mountain/big hill

it's not an ocean, it's the Adriatic Sea.. not so crashy and scary..
more like friendly and swim across the bay to school every morning
if you are a kid living around one of the many low citta's
like Camerano, Recanati, that hug the curves of the coastrline

Venice is up the coast further, the Port of Ancona immediately close by..

Indeed the Adriatic Sea is quite different from say the Pacific Ocean.
As for Castelfidardo being on a mountain/big hill... that is true for the center of the town where some workshops are, but the large factories of for instance Bugari and Pigini are down from the hill, almost at sea level, and so are the main reed factories. So the mountain doesn't really help.
That said, when I was in Castelfidardo the air didn't really feel like it was near the sea. Globally the air currents move more from west to east than the other way around, so wind is not coming from the sea towards Castelfidardo that often. Of course I'm not that versed in meteorology and global weather patterns, so I could be completely wrong...

 

[Squeezebox Of Delights]

have seen horrible rust on reeds in accordions from people who lived by the sea.

Oops...

(Honestly though, this instrument is pretty nasty inside anyway, and it needs a full rewax/valve/tune before it's a properly playable instrument. For now though, it's a great little box to chuck in a backpack and take to the beach)

 

[isorry123]

Bit nervous myself, I live along the east coast. Probably going to just toss in a few desiccant packets into the bag and hope for the best. The only other thing I can think of is take it apart once a week and wipe down the reeds before the rust builds up.

Consider that Italy, Ireland, wherever, pirates, sailors, they all lived and travelled along the water with accordions & concertinas. Were they all just horribly rusted ?

 

[Ventura]

if you drop a piece of rocksalt in your concrete carport or garage,
nevertheless the morning after it rains, you might notice that spot
is damp even though the rain could not reach it directly

the salt has an affinity for moisture, and wants to react with it..
actually it wants to saturate
(there is a finite level salt to water ratio, which is what we use
to enable the recharge reservoir for "soft" water conditioners
and winter road spray tanks)

oxidation/rust occurs most intensely at the point where moisture
and air and material meet.. (this is why your metal clothesline posts
in the back yard suddenly become thin at the base, where it goes
into the soil, and snaps off one fine day)

so when the sun is out and the humidity is low there is little in the air
to drop a layer of sodium dust towards your accordion.. (excepting if you are
playing a gig at Bonneville) so play your acoustic

if the air is humid and full of spray and saturated and moist, you should
be able to taste it and smell it, so play your Roland

storage is critical of course, that the environment inside the accordion case
should not be affected by surrounding conditions when stored.. to my mind, while
a soft case is nice for mobility, a well made fitted lid hard case offers much more
protection from the environment as well as protection from hard knocks

 

[isorry123]

Just had a thought - on the submarine we would attach zinc bars to our steel structures. The zinc bars would corrode before the steel, being more attractive to the sea water.

Allegedly.

I wonder if you could take a sacrificial metal, like raw iron, and attach it to the inside of the accordion case? Or or maybe just tape a few desiccant bags inside of the accordion itself.

And then just wipe the salt weekly when you change out the desiccant