Cleaning up the B3

[PGR]

Hi Guys,

So Im starting to get into the B3 and clean it up - its really dirty. I'm starting to make my way down to remove the foam - eventually. My first stop was to cleanup the keys and under the key bed and while there I planned to replace the key felts before I reinstalled the cleaned and polished the keys. I thought the keys were held in like the they are in the a100..... with the spring bolted over top of the two dimples ? There is something blocking the access to the bottom of the key springs that I did not expect and I can't even see the bottom of the spring Over top of the back of the spring there is a felt dust strip that is even with the top edge of the spring. I was attempting to find an explosion of parts or direction of disassembly but have not been successful with this either.


OK guys can I clean up the keys while the keys are still in the organ like I did with the A100 or is it remove the key boards first and then proceed.?

If I can do it while in the organ....what do I need to do to get to the nut at the bottom of the spring?

From the pic you can see the felt along the back of the spring

[geoelectro]

That felt (which is a pain) is mounted to a metal bar that is screwed to each end of the manuals. The screw is right behind the long bolt you remove to separate the manuals. One on each end. You cannot remove it, but relocate it to access the key channel screws.

Geo

[Bobmann]

Hi Guys,

So Im starting to get into the B3 and clean it up - its really dirty. I'm starting to make my way down to remove the foam - eventually. My first stop was to cleanup the keys and under the key bed and while there I planned to replace the key felts before I reinstalled the cleaned and polished the keys. I thought the keys were held in like the they are in the a100..... with the spring bolted over top of the two dimples ? There is something blocking the access to the bottom of the key springs that I did not expect and I can't even see the bottom of the spring Over top of the back of the spring there is a felt dust strip that is even with the top edge of the spring. I was attempting to find an explosion of parts or direction of disassembly but have not been successful with this either.


OK guys can I clean up the keys while the keys are still in the organ like I did with the A100 or is it remove the key boards first and then proceed.?

If I can do it while in the organ....what do I need to do to get to the nut at the bottom of the spring? [ATTACH=CONFIG]29261[/ATTACH]

From the pic you can see the felt along the back of the spring

It is possible to unscrew that bar that holds the felt with the keyboards in place, but as Geo said it is a PIA on steroids.

Even after you get the bar unfastened, the key screws are hard to get to because you can't lift that black metal switch base high enough to get your hand in there to use an open end wrench, and the key screws on the preset side are hidden by the preset panel so you can't get to them from the back.

IMHO, you will save time (and aggravation) in the long run by sliding the keyboards out. It is a lot easier to work on when it is on the bench, and at the same time you can take the switch boxes apart and clean the whiskers out, clean the drawbars, and clean the bussbars while you are in there. After all that you will probably not have to touch it for another 40 years.

If you have not seen it, look at this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnwO0m7eEpg
While this is obviously not a B3, everything is the same except that the A100 has better access due to the removable top.

Bob

[Tim_at_Jonas]

If you take the keyboards out, put unfolded cereal boxes between the manuals and the cabinet to prevent scratching the cabinet.