I think that the customer who had your pads is me, Alistair fitted them before Christmas and I have been working with them since. If you would like to message me I will give you my thoughts. Regards. Ian
Update:
Ian has been benefitting from my volunteered "factory support" after we made contact.
The technician, who I had sat down with a year or more ago to advise how my pads are installed, had made a few mistakes.
I've approached this pragmatically, trying to rule out as many of these issues so that another tech, or DIY installer indeed, is somewhat protected by my further revisions:
YAS-62:
All good, but no threadlocker on any of the small pad screws and nuts. Some were coming loose.
This happened with the original prototype passarounds and I contacted Loctite for a suitable threadlocker. I then applied their recommended Loctite 243 to the Jupiter prototype nuts and this stopped any loosening as well as encapsulating the BZP steel screw for secondary corrosion protection. Ian will use this threadlocker to secure his nuts.
REMEDY: Once all pads have been height adjusted and the horn regulated, threadlock the pad nuts in place. Loctite 290 wicking threadlocker can also be used without the need for disassembly of pads.
MkVI tenor:
1/ Oddly, all key cups were installed angled steeply forward so that the front of a closed cup was below the tonehole line and the rear above it. This caused the bottom stack D key a particular problem. Ian described a "click or ding" as he released the D key.
Putting two and two together I remotely worked out this had been caused by the tech's odd key cup angle. Ian's DIY skills allowed him to adjust the lower stack keys so that the cup faces were largely parallel to their tone holes and the issue went away.
The pads had been recessed too deeply in the cups without enough height adjustment.
This is what Ian sent me:
View: https://youtu.be/Kl-HJjM8NVI
...and after his adjustment, with the backing disc just showing under the cup edge... perfect!...
REMEDY: Install keys correctly with cups roughly parallel to tone holes.
2/ One palm key magnet had been glued in off-centre to its key cup. This caused the pad's backing disc to hit the cup edge so it couldn't self-level correctly. I'd previously noticed myself that although a 0.25mm thin brass shim is used around the cup edge to ensure proper centering, if the shim was removed before the adhesive had set the magnet might slide if the cup wasn't horizontal.
REMEDY: Check magnets are centered in cups. NB. Magnets now have 3M self-adhesive, instant grab, backing so no sliding is possible.
3/ One nylon shim washer had been incorrectly placed adjacent to the magnet's countersunk socket. The diameter of the washer interfered with the magnet causing the pad not to self-level. The washer was refitted away from the magnet and the issue was resolved.
REMEDY: Check nothing interferes with the magnet's socket. NB. The nylon washers have since been replaced by smaller diameter stainless washers which don't interfere wherever placed.
4/ A rusty screw, as under (rust migrated to stainless washer). New screw and washer sent to Ian.
The screws have to be steel for magnetic attraction. BZP coated. The lack of threadlocker hasn't protected the screw from moisture in a player's breath.
Installed with blue threadlocker 243 it should look like this after prolonged use. Note the threadlocker wicks through the nut to protect the "dry" side of the pad too:
REMEDY: Apply threadlocker per YAS-62 above. Rust may still be an issue, as with other steel parts (springs, pivot screws, rods, etc). Replacement screws available if needed.
NB. I double checked all pad screws (protected by Loctite 243 as shown above) on the well used Jupiter prototype and all were clean and rust free.
Ian's general comments were the low notes are easier and his horns sound better than with the previous, fairly new, Pisoni pads. Overall he's pleased with my system but not the installation.
He preferred my offer of help to travelling a long distance back to the retailer's tech to sort the various issues. He will not post his horns.
This "end user" feedback is invaluable in devising a (better) training regime for techs and DIY'ers alike, as well as testing an owner's view of the pads, and overcoming the installation issues.
In summary, I am happy that the system works perfectly IF installed correctly.
It does worry me that, so far, I'm the only one who can install them with no issues but I accept entirely that I need to do more to ensure, as best as I can, that others can follow instructions which are good enough to allow them to do the same.
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