What is the yellow glue?

[Yffisch]

I had some problems with my A key on my small Hohner Nova 2 48, and I found out that the valve had fallen off which it has done quite a lot before. I was using super glue to glue it back, but I glued the wrong side of the valve and when I was going to remove it, everything just broke and I got super glue on the reed and everything (I feel ashamed and clumsy, yes). So now I bent the whole reed plate loose from that yellow stuff and I will order a new one.
What I wonder is - what is that yellow stuff? Where can I order it? It felt like dry honey and was kind of soft. I can send you a picture if needed.

 

[Glug]

Its a special wax used just for fixing reed plates in accordions.

See http://accordionrevival.com/Home.php for how to fix stuff.
The wax can be bought several places, for example http://www.cgmmusical.co.uk/CGM_Musical_Services/Reed_Wax_Nails.html (Scotland but good postal service).

Ive rewaxed individual reed plates using a soldering iron and its not too tricky.

edit: ... and Fabri-Tac is a good choice for gluing the valves on.

edit2: ... You may well be able to clean that reed and reuse it, much easier to clean with it out of the accordion.

 

[Yffisch]

Thanks for your quick reply and for your links and advice!
I was considering cleaning up that reed plate by scratching off the glue, but when one of the reeds were glued I scratched it loose and then it changed the tone to another tone and I got angry and just used a metal piece scraping the reed very hard until the tone came back. And they sound quite the same now on both sides, but I lost my valve and I would at least need a new valve. I tried building my own valve from paper, but it was a bit of a mess because of all that glue. I feel that €7 is quite fine for a new one with valves, as long as it's the same.
Hohner spare parts shop had valves, for €1.5, but the shipping was €19!!! It's like sending air to me for €19. Quite a robbery if you ask me!

 

[Dingo40]

Yffisch,
I don’t know how far you live from an accordion technician, but your story reminds me of the reason why I now never look inside an accordion: because it’s very easy to break something and turn a simple job into an expensive one.
The fact is, doing repairs, whether car or accordion, will cost you: whether in time, money or vexation. In any case, unless mechanically gifted, the result is likely to bear only a superficial resemblance to the original , in form or function!
The fact is, lessons cost money and, if you need lessons for a relatively rare job, you’re better off spending the money in having a real craftsman doing it.
If you’re stuck without expert help, then good luck: there’s lots to learn!

 

[Yffisch]

Thanks for your reply! I'm not "that" far away from a professional. Takes around 1-2 hours to get there. However, I know what the problem is and I've fixed the same problem before, it was just that I put the valve on the wrong side with super glue...which messed up that reed plate a bit.
The thing is that I want to learn more so this was just good for me That accordion is just my travel accordion and I don't care about it that much since it's kind of small and sound a bit ugly. But very good when travelling, that's why I want to fix it. I guess I will just buy a new reed plate and put it back in it's place where the old one was and put some wax there.

 

[Dingo40]

I understand. It’s good to learn new skill. All good!

 

[Yffisch]

Do you think normal 100% bee wax would work as well?

 

[Glug]

The accordion wax has resin added, don't use normal wax.

 

[Yffisch]

The accordion wax has resin added, don't use normal wax.

Ok, thanks! Will buy accordion wax then.

 

[jollyrogeraccordions]

In an emergency and as a temp fix candle/paraffin wax is better than beeswax. Although I have seen a whole set of reeds put in with candle wax. Not a recommendation, but it does work ok.

 

[Yffisch]

I can give you an update that yesterday I got all my spare components that I ordered from Hohner spare parts shop, and I ordered accordion wax from another accordion shop. It was basically just plug-n-play. I inserted my new reed plate, blew in the hole to check if it sounded good. "Melted" down some wax with a hair dryer and smudged it out above and at the top of the reed plate. As good as new now! The new reed plate may be 1-2hz out of tune compared with my old onces since I see that people have scratched the reeds with a metal tool to fine tune it, but it sounds good enough for my travel accordion Thanks a lot for your help.