Magnet Valves
for player pianos and organs
drawings by Richard Vance and Horst Mohr
photos courtesy Ed Gaida & Robbie Rhodes
Magnet valve for Ampico reproducing piano built by Walter Tenten, utilizing
an
inexpensive ($2) 12-volt automobile relay designed for printed circuit
board mounting.
The brass nozzle (with leather valve facing) is clamped to the printed
cicuit card
so that it can be adjusted to align with the relay armature.
Chest magnet valve (OSI-Reisner HE, 90 ohms)
Width 5 cm, depth 2 cm, height of magnet above mounting
surface 5 cm, total height 7 cm. The version for player piano
has a tube inserted into the magnet cap (the knurled aluminum
piece at the bottom) which extends down 13 mm (0.5 inch).
Weight 48 grams (1.71 ounce).
Reisner magnet-operated pouch valve for organ pipe chest. A small
spring inside
the pouch holds the felt pad to the hole below the pipe. The
pouch collapses into the
"clam shell" when the magnet valve opens and exhausts the pouch chamber
to atmosphere.
This type of magnet valve operates faster than the direct action magnet
valve (below).
Weight 118 grams (4.21 ounces).
Chest magnet valve for suction (OSI catalog)
Magnet valve from Kilgen organ
Magnet valve from Kilgen organ
Direct action magnet valve (OSI-Reisner 5528.12, 90 ohms)
Width 6 cm, height 4.5 cm, depth 1.6 cm
The pad diameter shown is 22.2 mm (0.875 inch).
Weight 51 grams (1.82 ounce).
Direct action magnet valve by Wicks, differing from the Reisner design
in the return spring arrangement.
Willy van der Reijden uses surplus 24-volt relays to pull the
valves of his MIDI-controlled Frati-Hymnia
orchestrion.
Special magnet valve for the Welte-Mignon pneumatic action stack under
the piano,
controlled by the "Musicalle" remote 8-roll carousel changer offered
in 1928 by the
Welte-Mignon Corporation. The carousel changer was probably built
by the
National Automatic Music Co. of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The special
magnet
valve might be a Welte-Mignon product designed especially for this
system. The
steel armature disc has a facing of thin leather on one side and a
piece of green
"billiard table" cloth on the other side. A rim of thin copper
or brass surrounds the
disc. The U-shaped pole piece with coils is pressed into a brass
plate which is
secured to a similar, permanently attached, brass plate so that the
valve can be
easily opened for cleaning. Several of these valves are need
for a restoration,
see Dave Krall's article in 130601
MMDigest.