A mild restoration

[Dave]

Hi everyone, this is my first post so please be gentle with me. I am the pianist in a C of E church. The pipe organ hasnt been used for many a year and I recently had a look to see if I could find out the main fault, which turned out to be a broken link between the regulator and the bellows. The organ isnt in bad condition but its evident that at some point people have walked around the interior with no care, and have squashed a number of the lead pipes across the floor. Firstly, is there a good method for unsquashing said piping, and secondly, while I understand it wouldnt please any purists, is there a detriment to the organs tone if these sections were replaced with rubber or pvc tubing?

[Pipeorganbuilder]

Welcome to the Forum Dave. Photos of the wind line would help a lot. Many times you can unscrew the wind line flanges and remove the air line. Then something as simple as a pressing around the damaged section can be snapped back somewhat round. Sounds crude but it will get you by. How about finding someone that does HVAC installs to help you replace the section of pipe? PVC pipe will work ok if you want go that way along with using some good quality flex pipe. Most organ builders today are using the PVC pipe. Give us some photos and we can better see what you are up against.

Michael

[Coenraads]

Are we talking about the tubing associated with a tubular pneumatic action here? Harrison & Harrison used this in the chapel organ in our local Cathedral. In that case there is little chance of unsquashing them and replacing them with PVC pipe may be the only option. In that organ we were sure to cover these tubes with a walk board as they are so easily flattened. As Michael points out, a picture would be very helpful so we can assess the damage. In any case, I would replace only the sections that are squashed by cutting them out and replacing them with some clear PVC tubing whose ID matches the OD of the lead tubing. If a friction fit is not sufficient to hold it in place, it might need to be glued although I'm at a loss as to what glue would work with PVC and lead. And remember to wear gloves when handling lead pipe or at least thoroughly wash your hands after handling it. This is not rocket science.

[Pipeorganbuilder]

I was thinking he was talking about air trunk wind lines going like from the regulators to the valve chest. Please add some photos so we know what you are talking about. Thanks.

Michael

[Coenraads]

I was confused too, but having seen this kind of damage in a Harrison&Harrison organ, and this being the United Kingdom, I wondered whether Dave might be talking about crushed tubular-pneumatic lines running to the offset pedal chests. We ended up removing all the crushed lead lines and installing electro-pneumatic valves instead. I then added reed switches to the pedals, scanned these with an Arduino, did the 8' and 16' duplexing and ran the output through a set of drivers. This has proven reliable but would be beyond the scope of what Dave can do. I see no harm in going with the clear PVC tubing. We'll have to wait for the photos from Dave.

[Dave]

Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately I didnt have email notifications turned on! I've uploaded photos of the worst piping and the pipes they feed (part of one of the pedal voices). They are 8mm OD and Ive sourced a 8mm ID lead coloured pvc pipe to go on them. Any suggestions for the best seal between lead and the pvc? Hot glue? A contact adhesive of some kind? Thanks again....

[Coenraads]

Eight millimeters OD makes it tubular pneumatic for sure. They don't look that bad. I've seen much worse. First of all, make sure that the pipes in question are really not working before attempting repairs. The air flow is small and to me it looks like it might still work. Secondly, have you tried some judicious squeezing of the sides of the tube? You might get lucky.

I'd avoid any type of glue if at all possible. A friction fit might be sufficient since the pressure is at most a few inches of water. If glue is needed I'd be tempted to try a cyanoacrylate glue which sticks to just about anything, including your skin.

It looks to me like someone attempted a glued repair at the point where the lead tubing enters the D on the chest. It looks to me like it was pulled loose when someone stepped on the tubes. Could a leak here be the problem?
And do get a vacuum in there. It will make the work much pleasanter. :) And finally, don't forget to build a walk board over the tubes.
Good luck with the repairs.

[Dave]

Thanks for that. Yes those few tubes arent responding at all. I'm taking my time with this and will be doing a lot of careful cleaning before anything else. Then lots of careful listening for leaks....

[Coenraads]

The Wikipedia entry on tubular-pneumatic action makes interesting reading.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tubular-pneumatic_action

To listen for a leak, stick a piece of flexible tubing in one ear and then "sniff" around with the other end until you hear the unmistakable hiss of a leak.

Assuming that the action is likely of the "exhaust "variety, then there will always be wind in these lines and you should be able to detect any leaks without actually depressing any keys. When a key is pressed, the air in the tube is released (exhausted) to atmosphere and any hissing should stop.

A squashed line will prevent the organ wind from reaching the valve under the pipe causing the pipe to cipher since it is the wind pressure in the line that keeps the valve closed.
Happy sleuthing.

[aeolian pat]

I would love to see more pictures please, and please include the stop list. Looks like a large 16 open metal.... i don't think anyone made an 8' that large.
Regards Pat.

[Coenraads]

Ditto that including a console pic. And who is the builder?
Just curious.
John

[Dave]

As requested here's some photos. Its built by Abbott and Smith of Leeds, believed to be in 1913 when the church was built, though the earliest known photo, believed to be of the churchs consecration DOESNT feature the fascade pipes, though the angle of the photo doesnt allow for seeing if the console was in place. There were upgrades made in 1938 for the 25th anniversary but it isnt clear whether the whole of the choir department was added at this point or just the swell box. The fact that the the choir couplers are in an entirely different location to the others suggests to me that the whole department was new at this point. Again, we have little history of work done, but the Swell bellows are certainly newer than other sections judging from the rectangular metal wind conduits where others are wooden. Its not very pretty, and its currently in quite a sad state. I counted yesterday and there are 67 faults, ranging from weak or non functional individual pipes, to random behaviour from all the couplers, and the choir department sometimes doesnt work at all. Lots to do, once I've cleaned everything first (100 years of dust from a coal mine nearby if nothing else). We also have a day booked at the local archives office as they have listed boxs of paperwork from the local stately home whose owner commissioned the church, and lists such things as the architects plans for the building. I'm hoping there'll be a quote or invoice from the organ builders, or at least a mention of its cost

[Dave]

[Dave]

Pedal	Keys 30 1 Open Diapason 16 2 Bourdon 16 3 Bass Flute 8
Choir	Keys 58 Enclosed 4 Viol De Gamba 8 5 Harmonic Flute 4 6 Gemshorn 4 7 Clarionet 8
Great	Keys 58 8 Large Open Diapason 8 9 Small Open Diapason 8 10 Stopped Diapason 8 11 Dulciana 8 12 Clarabella 8 13 Prinicipal 4 14 Tromba 8
Swell	Keys 58 Enclosed 15 Lieblich Bourdon 16 16 Open Diapason 8 17 Lieblich Gedackt 8 18 Voix Angelica 8 19 Voix Celestes 8 20 Principal 4 21 Mixture III 22 Cornopean 8 23 Oboe 8 24 Tremulant

Console

• Console type En fenêtre Stop type Drawstop Label type Plastic Label font Roman Pedalboard Radiating concave Couplers
  • Swell to Pedal
  • Swell to Great
  • Swell to Choir
  • Swell octave to Great
  • Swell suboctave to Great
  • Swell octave
  • Swell suboctave
  • Choir to Great
  • Choir to Pedal
  • Great to Pedal

Details

• 3 Comp pedals to Great - Non adjustable
• 3 Comp pedals to Swell - Non adjustable
• Balanced Swell pedal
• Balanced Choir pedal

[aeolian pat]

Very nice, thank you.
Pat

[Coenraads]

Thanks for this. Tubular pneumatic and all those 8' stops and couplers, this is very much an instrument of its time. It is a time capsule that seems to have escaped being "updated". Besides the tubular pneumatics for the offset chests, what action does the rest of the organ use? Electro-pneumatic or tracker?

Nice to see someone taking an interest in this organ. BTW, has the blower been oiled in recent memory and is it quiet and running smoothly. Be careful of the moving parts and get permission to take a look. Call in an electrician if something is not right.

Begin with a good cleaning of the instrument and the pipes. Then after a tuning, reassess the condition of the organ and what needs to be done. Some repairs (e.g., detached linkages, leaking wind lines) are easily repaired. But for a releathering, expert help will be needed.

[Dave]

Thanks, the stops of the grand and swell are tracker, with everything else tubular pneumatic. Only the blower and the light bulb are electric. Having a look at the blower and its blades is high on my list. All the main bellows look in good condition to me, but i suspect some of the individual valves will need repair. I understand many of the faults and their causes but the major one that confuses me so far is this - in a soundchest (large wind box under a whole department of pipes, sorry for terminology again...), if I know that the key works i.e. said note works on most stops, and I know that the stop works i.e. most notes work on that voice, what can cause 1 note on one stop to not work?

[Coenraads]

Dirt? Pipe out of position? Damaged/missing pipe?
When you find a dead note, have someone play that note and lift the pipe. If you hear a good air flow coming out of the toe hole, then the pipe needs a close inspection.
If there is no air flow for some reason, make sure the toe hole is clear of debris.

[myorgan]

Be very careful if you're looking at the blower and blades. From an earlier post on the Forum, someone mentioned they are carefully balanced and aligned, so other than a cursory cleaning it is my understanding they should be left alone.

Michael