Foam Job Complete

[bsquared]

I posted on fb but wanted to share that I had my 1964 A-122 de-foamed yesterday. The organ has lived in New England its entire life in one home since 1964 (until I picked it up last fall). It was well taken care of. The foam was dried and brittle but had attached itself to the wiring area and had started to eat through 3 wires in total. It basically disintegrated as it was pulled off. It was all cleaned off the back of the manual and the areas around the wires and looks great now. So, a perfect example of a northern tier organ, 54 years old, perfectly kept and the foam was causing damage to the wires, even though it was thankfully minor. Well worth the effort and money. Attached a couple of pictures.

[Roger Memphis]

Good job, Bsquared !
You're fortunate that it didn't do more damage... apparently, you caught it in time.
Did you replace it with felt or just leave it open?
Roger Memphis

[bsquared]

We just left it as is. No felt replacement. It still is mind boggling to me that Hammond would use this stuff without giving any thought to the implications down the road. Stuff is nasty. But hey, now that it is over with, all that's left now is to "PLAY".

[bourniplus]

Well done! I just took a look to make sure, and my A100 has rivets. (So no foam.)

It still is mind boggling to me that Hammond would use this stuff without giving any thought to the implications down the road. Stuff is nasty.

Other companies did this, for example I've seen a spinet piano (probably from the same era) that had foam on the hammer rest rail instead of felt. It was dried up and mostly crumbled, causing many keys to malfunction. Not a pretty sight. I can only guess the reason was for cutting costs.

[bsquared]

Well done! I just took a look to make sure, and my A100 has rivets. (So no foam.)



Other companies did this, for example I've seen a spinet piano (probably from the same era) that had foam on the hammer rest rail instead of felt. It was dried up and mostly crumbled, causing many keys to malfunction. Not a pretty sight. I can only guess the reason was for cutting costs.

Glad you are foam free. I have no doubt it was cost cutting for them, however, it became a cost additive for the organ buyer. Oh well, can't change that now. Still impressed that a musical instrument made by a watchmaker is still running strong and so widely used 70-80 years later.

[PGR]

Nice job Bsquared on the foam removal and luck too. I am about four weeks from doing the same job on my B3 it happens to be a 65 and I know it has the foam issue. I have one note which is not working on one key only - checked by a local tech so Iam sure it is correct. But need to get in there really soon to get it removed and then I can get on with the rest of the repair I will be asking for advice when I get to that nasty job. stay tuned.

[bsquared]

I will be glad pass along anything that may help you. For starters, as reluctant as I was at first, I'm so glad I went in ad would do it again without hesitation. Are you doing the work yourself or hiring a tech? I'll say this, The gentleman who did mine had everything desoldered and the manuals out of the organ in 25 minutes.Pretty impressive. But he has years of experience building chops and putting manuals in and out. Well worth the $ having someone do this in my mind.