Where to oil for sticky register switches?

[byudzai]

Hi guys,

This is just a little thing, but I was wondering if anyone could guide me on where (or whether!) to put a drop of oil to smooth out these switches.

 

[Dingo40]

Byudzai,

You'll probably get the definitive answer from Paul De Bra  .

However, the conventional wisdom tends to be not to oil anything on the accordion, although there could be some kinds of specialty lubricant ( as exist for photographic equipment) :huh:

 

[byudzai]

Oh that's a good idea, maybe just a dab of teflon lubricant. but i'll wait for the Big Dogs to weigh in.

 

[debra]

As predicted my advice is to not oil anything in an accordion (or use any other lubricant). But there are exceptions. I recently disassembled (and reassembled) the keyboard on a Menghini which has metal key guides that do need to be lubricated to avoid squeaks and in an old Atlantic there are large round springs that squeak if not lubricated. When it comes to register mechanisms the first thing to do is to make sure that everything glides smoothly. If register switches are difficult to operate you have to find out where the problem is, because they should operate almost effortlessly, certainly the ones depicted by the OP. I have played a Crucianelli (and seen several others) with such register mechanism and it should work smoothly without effort. If it doesn't then something is bent out of shape somewhere.
In any case, you might possible want to lubricate the register sliders on the outside mechanism if absolutely necessarily (but keep in mind that dust will stick to the oil and in the future make the problem worse) but the register sliders inside, under the reed blocks should under no circumstances be lubricated. When disconnected from the mechanism these sliders should go back and forth without any effort. If they don't then either something was tightened too hard (so they don't have enough room) or they are not completely straight.

 

[oldbayan]

(...) If it doesn't then something is bent out of shape somewhere.

Indeed, many register switch systems I saw seem to use thin and flimsy components, and often the rods and pullers were made to be bendable for the purpose of adjusting! Mechanical stress from repeated use (and abuse) of the register keys often bend brackets and other components out of alignment. Lubrication will seldom fix anything.

 

[JIM D.]

These Crucianelli - Pan accordion models have a shift machine that are well built and rarely fail.
In it.s construction some 60 years ago a light grease was applied to the moving parts at the factory.
Over the years this lube has hardened and will slow the action of the assembly. I remove the assembly flush it out with WD-40 - wipe it dry and re-assemble. If the shifts are still stiff the next step is to disassemble the accordion and clean the slides. Removal and cleaning & straightening of the slides is difficult and you might want to take it to an accordion tech.