Plastic Elbow Replacement (For Spinet Pianos)

Plastic Elbow Replacement

Many spinet pianos manufactured during the 1950’s and 1960’s  were outfitted with plastic parts which after decades of use begin to weaken and break.  One of the most common of plastic parts to fail is what’s known as an elbow-an integral part of many spinets.

If the elbows in your spinet are beginning to break, I would suggest having a professional piano technician install a complete set of high-quality snap-on drop lifter elbows to fix the problem for once and for all.

The reason the elbows begin to break in the first place is when the spinets were manufactured in the 1950’s plastic parts were just beginning to make their way into many small pianos.  The benefit of long-term observation of the durability of plastics was not yet available, and certain characteristics of the plastic formulations being used at the time would not be realized for years to come. The quality of the plastic just wasn't as good as the plastics today.  One problem with these older plastics is the chemical which was put into the mixture of the plastic to solidify the part would eventually harden the plastic to the point of brittleness.  Elbows are subjected to continuous stress every time the piano is played. Breakage begins to occur when a set of elbows have turned brittle with age.

So should you replace just the broken plastic elbow?  My advise is even if only a few elbows are broken, you should replace the entire set.   More elbows will break over time and you will have to have your piano fixed over and over again.  Imagine you purchased an automobile with a set of bald tires. One tire blows out and must be replaced.  Would it be wise to replace the other three at the same time?  Certainly it would, because the other three would be near the end of their useful life as well. Whether the remaining bald tires would fail or not would not be the question, only when. The original elbows which still remain these spinets will continue to break if they are not replaced.  Only by the installation of a new set of elbows may the problem be fixed on a permanent basis.  

The first step in installing new elbows is to break each elbow off close to the wooden wippen, the part in the lower area of the piano action which the elbow connects to.  The old elbows were connected to the wippen with a brass pin, which the new snap-on plastic elbows will be connected to.  Before that may be done, however, the remaining portion of the old elbow must be carefully broken away and removed from the wippen.  This is a delicate step and one that calls for an experienced hand.  If too much pressure is applied in breaking away the remnants of the old elbows, the thin wooden wings on either side of the slot in the wippen may be easily broken.  If this happens, it greatly compounds the amount of work which needs to be done.  Fixing broken wippens is a more serious problem, often requiring the removal of the action from the piano.  This is a repair that needs to be done by an experienced piano technician.  

After the remnants of the old plastic elbows are broken away from the lifter wires, the new Snap-On elbows are individually screwed onto the threaded lifter wires to an exact depth.  The lifter wires with the new elbows attached are then re-installed in the piano.  Working from underneath the key bed, the buttons are positioned in the slot at the back of the keys, and the new elbows are firmly snapped into place on the brass center pins of the wippens.  

Once the lifter wires with attached elbows have been installed, adjustments will need to be made to the amount of ‘lost motion’ that each is now given to prevent hammers from either bubbling or from blocking up against the springs.  With new elbows installed, and regulation buttons adjusted, all hammers are ready to fire.

If you have an older spinet piano that is starting to have problems with the plastic elbows breaking, please give us a call at 801-701-0113 or visit us at brighamlarsonpianos.com.  Our piano technicians can fix the problem once and for all.  We also do other piano repairs and tunings and offer trade-in’s if you would like to upgrade the upright or grand piano you already have! Maintaining your piano with properly done repair work will help you to enjoy playing your instrument for years to come!
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