Hi friends,  Nathan Bello wrote that he was having some problems
with his newly restored Ampico A system when the system was in the
reproducing mode.  A couple of suggestion might be for him to check
the tubing that goes from the tracker bar to the expression primary
valves to make certain that it is tubed correctly.

Another thought is that there is a small pneumatic on the top of the
spool box on many Ampico A's.  If the pneumatic is not collapsed and
covering the two nipples which stick up from the cut-out block, that
may have a negative effect on reproduction.  If there is any binding
on the rod that extends from the movable board into the expression
unit, that would also have a negative effect on reproduction.  Or if
the collars on the rod are set improperly, that might restrict the
travel on the rod/movable board.

Concerning the loss of vacuum when the sustain pneumatic is activated,
if there is a hissing sound, then definitely there is some loss of
vacuum.  Do the stack equalizers open up when the sustain pneumatic
is activated?  How about the pump equalizer pneumatic?

If any of the above occurs, the valve travel may be too great.  If
I remember correctly, that had double valve on it.  One of them may
be bad.  Just a couple of ideas to check on.

Best wishes,  Mike Walter