Hi, on April 23rd Gordon Ramsey wrote about Nickelodeon Piano Co. of
Huntsville, Alabama, and asked if any are still working. Well, we have
one in BC, Canada, that works very well, except for a couple of odd
things.

The vacuum pump has a pair of the plastic unit valves on the top. They
are not connected to anything, but if their tubes are closed they open,
spilling vacuum to air and thus reducing the vacuum level somewhat.
Are the valves something to do with the high vacuum (holes 15 for low
vacuum and 87 for high) or something else?

It has an odd fault: if a perforation arrives at hole 87 it changes
to re-roll, which is rather annoying. Re-roll [in the Style "O" roll]
is supposed to be the last hole to the right of 88, designated "B" in
Reblitz and Bowers' "Treasures of Mechanical Music". Does anyone have
a tubing diagram for these things?

It has to be said that, apart from those queries, it plays very well.
The unit valves have leather pouches, which is a good thing! The drive
motor is electric with a variable resistor with a knob to alter the Tempo,
so it must be a fairly late example.

Thanks in the hope that Gordon or someone can make a suggestion...

David Evans
British Columbia, Canada