Patching anything in a player piano often does more harm than good.
An Aeolian air motor would take more effort to patch than rebuilding
the entire motor.
The motors were originally built with thin pouch leather reinforcements
and thin flexible pouch leather on each hinge area, with no motor cloth
under it. Knowing the motor is original and unrestored, I would assume
all leather has deteriorated and is the cause of major leakage.
Unfortunately, some of the areas that are leaking are inaccessible
unless the motor is completely disassembled. There are rubber gaskets
between the sections that can be destroyed if the motor is disassembled
by a hobbyist. I suggest having the motor rebuilt by someone with
extensive experience with Aeolian air motors.
Bruce Clark
[ A friendly and experienced player tech showed me the tricks when he
[ rebuilt my Pianola air motor and governor and he assured me I could
[ do the job myself in the future. He was right! -- Robbie
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