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Topic: Ouch----Out-of-Storage Steel is Gummed Up |
Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 24 May 2013 2:52 pm |
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My beautiful Carter has been unused in its case for over 4 years. Someone wanted to come over tomorrow and demo a Carter so I set it up and found that the changer is so stiff that I killed any thought of playing it. It's like someone poured molasses into the works (not in appearance, just in performance). Lowers work ok but raises don't want to move and don't want to return. I'm pretty sure I'll do damage if I mess with the pedals any more, in this condition.
The guitar is a U-12 with a lot of pulls and I am not eager to totally unrod it. Is the changer treatable without removing it, you think? It's a lacquer body so I can't quite immerse the whole thing in a dip tank (joking, sort of).
I feel bad--this guitar and I went through a lot. I feel like I dropped the ball & let it down.
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Ray Anderson
From:
Jenkins, Kentucky USA
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Posted 24 May 2013 3:41 pm
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| 3n1 or light machine oil should loosen it up, certainly can't harm it. Apply and work the peddles and levers . |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 24 May 2013 3:50 pm
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| Yeah, that's what I'll be doing but it's most likely not lack of lubricant but a bunch of gunked up old lube (Tri-flow) that's the problem and I'm thinking that it needs to be flushed. I can imagine that I might need to tear it apart and soak the changer in naphtha. But it's worth trying oil first. |
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Carl Kilmer
From:
East Central, Illinois
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Posted 24 May 2013 3:50 pm
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I've seen others use lighter fluid to free a gummed up changer.
I thick they put a rag under the changer and washed ai out with
fluid. As you put the fluid on, you want to work all the pedals
to loosen the gum and it will run out the bottom onto the rag.
NEVER USE ANYTHING LIKE WD-40. After you clean it, let it dry
real good, and then lube it and it should be in good shape again.
_________________
aka "Lucky Kay"--Custom built Rittenberry SD10 3X5, Walker S/S, NV-112, and Hilton Pedal |
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Dick Sexton
From:
Greenville, Ohio
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 24 May 2013 4:08 pm
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| Thanks, Carl. Yes. Naphtha==lighter fluid and I believe it is what I need to do. I'm trying to avoid it because I live in an apartment and the fumes will be a problem. It is ironic because I deal with naphtha every day at work. Unfortunately 'take your steel to work day' won't come around for a few months. |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 24 May 2013 4:09 pm
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| Ah---thanks, Dick. That thread'll keep me busy for a bit. |
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Bob Hickish
From:
Port Ludlow, Washington, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 24 May 2013 4:18 pm
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Jon
There is a product called “ Marvel Mistry Oil “ Im sure your local auto parts store will have it -- It wont damage any part of you guitar -- i’v used it to free piston rings & I’m sure if you lubed your changer with it tonight by tomorrow it will work just fine . |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 24 May 2013 4:27 pm
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| I googled it and found that one of its ingredients is.....lard! Man. Bacon. Is there anything it can't do? |
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Paul Sutherland
From:
Placerville, California
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Posted 24 May 2013 4:48 pm
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| Another option for melting gunk is carburetor cleaner. It is pretty toxic stuff, so it presents all the problems of lighter fluid. I'm not sure which is best. Take your steel to the parking lot and pretend you're working on the car. Just don't get any on the lacquer finish. |
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Ray Anderson
From:
Jenkins, Kentucky USA
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Posted 24 May 2013 4:56 pm
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I don't know what the big deal is with WD 40, the main ingredient is fish oil and was formulated for the military. We used a less diluted form of it in the Navy to protect mechanisms from salt spray and mist. This would disapate moisture while suppling a lasting lubricant. Google it and see.  |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 24 May 2013 5:16 pm
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Talk to John Widgren pronto. You need a compressor and a place to blast engine cleaning stuff through the changer. Even better remove and soak then clean the changer like a carborator. It is a big messy job if you want to do it right. It's not difficult but might not be a Brooklyn apartment sorta situation.
_________________
Bob |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 24 May 2013 5:35 pm
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The good news is that there is no urgency so I can do this in my own time.
I have little doubt that doing this right will involve more than my apartment can handle and the lacquer finish means that changer removal is a better idea than a flush (as much as I don't want to have to tear down and reassemble the undercarriage). If I do remove the changer, then I can do the soaking myself. But if I have a change of heart, John W is option #1, for sure. |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 24 May 2013 5:44 pm
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Ray, it doesn't supply a lasting lubricant, it's not meant to. Its oils are fairly volatile, drying to a gummy gunk.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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mike nolan
From:
Forest Hills, NY USA
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Posted 24 May 2013 5:44 pm
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Jon,
I'm around all weekend out in Forest Hills. I have a garage and a driveway, plus most everything needed for PSG work. Stop by, if you want. |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 24 May 2013 5:53 pm
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| Hey Mike. Thanks. No, not this weekend. If I want to try to set something up with you in the future, I'll get in touch. Garage & a driveway. Damn. |
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Jerry Fessenden
From:
Vermont, USA
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Posted 24 May 2013 5:58 pm out of storage
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| Are you sure the problem is the changer? Or, could it be the shafts . If the body has changed because of low humidity, then the shafts may be jammed ,,, another thing is the changer could also be jammed because of shrinkage across the wood grain . I've seen this on several different brands of steels. A humidifier can prevent lots of problems .. Steels can have similar things that great acoustic guitars can have, shrinkage! A light oil for trumpets ,etc can be a good lube. Just some thoughts . JF |
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Scott Duckworth
From:
Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies
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Posted 24 May 2013 6:11 pm
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I would caution against carb cleaner, while it cleans, it can act like a high power paint stripper also!
_________________
Amateur Radio Operator NA4IT (Extra)
http://www.qsl.net/na4it
I may, in fact, be nuts. However, I am screwed onto the right bolt... Jesus! |
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mike nolan
From:
Forest Hills, NY USA
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Posted 24 May 2013 6:14 pm
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Yeah, Jon.... I said driveway, and I said garage....
All of Y'all non NYC cats can't really grasp the significance....  |
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Billy Carr
From:
Seminary, Mississippi, USA (deceased)
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Posted 24 May 2013 6:24 pm psg
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| Last changer I ungunked, I used lighter fluid. Then flushed it with Rem Oil. |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 24 May 2013 6:27 pm
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Ha, Mike.
Hi Jerry. Coincidence---the last few years I've been exclusively playing an old Sho-Bud 12 I picked up and rehabbed. But last month I started getting back into the guitar you built me and it's like rediscovering an old friend. First thing I had to do was to unbind a couple of shafts and get the lateral play right. I know that drill. Same deal with the Carter back when it was my main axe. No, that's not it. Jammed changer? That's a new one. But considering the ample shaft play, the wood doesn't seem to be the issue here.
One thing I can admit---I am guilty of over-oiling steels. I can probably get away with it with steels i play a lot. But to put one up for a few years with a lot of oil (and dirt)......seems like a likely culprit. |
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Jack Ritter
From:
Enid, Oklahoma, USA
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Posted 25 May 2013 5:34 am
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I have used lighter fluid for years and it flushes out any dust or goop very well and flashes off quickly and leaves no residue. Then it is ready for singer sewing machine oil or 3 in 1. I just take my Zum out under the deck on my patio, lay an olde towell or rags down on the floor under the changers and squeeze the lighter fluid on top across the changers and let it wash downward and let the drippings fall onto the towell . Cleans the changers quickly and works well for me. Jack
_________________
Zum D10 8x5,rev pre-amp, TC M300, Split 12, n-112, IZZY, Hilton vp, Geo L, BJS Hughey, Live Steel |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 25 May 2013 9:24 am
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But a big jug of name-brand "naptha" is a good deal cheaper than a bunch of little cans of lighter fluid. I dunno - do they have hardware stores in New York City? Seems like a weird place, no driveways.... where do you hose down the kids?  |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 25 May 2013 9:45 am
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I've got a 55 gal drum of naphtha at work so that's no problem.
But the lack of driveway thing does scratch at the origin story of Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall and the Bowery Boys. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 25 May 2013 10:10 am
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| You don't need gallons or quarts of naptha (lighter fluid). Just a little dripped into the changer (an ounce or two) while you are working all the pedals and levers it is all that's required. Once they're free, a light oiling every 6 months to a year will keep everything moving freely. IMHO, all that "flushing" does is wash dirt and grit into places it wouldn't normally get. |
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