Ah silly me! had it wired wrong....works well and very bright, found a bit of light showing on the f keycup with normal pressure, squeeze a bit harder and it disappears, and a bit on bottom b, again it disappears if I squeeze everso slightly more than normal. am wondering now do I or don't I have two leaks....but looking at the bigger picture, does it effect my playing? hmm not really so I guess all is well in Skaville....
Now the fun starts.
Diagnostic tools are heaps of fun. I've got one for my Beemer...plugs into a test socket under the dash and lets me connect a laptop to it. Tells me all sorts of things...few of which make any sense at all.
So, you've got a couple of pads showing chinks of light.
The first question is "Where does the light come from?". If it comes from the rear of the pad (where the cup arm joins the cup) then it might mean that the pad has shrunk a little - a thinner-than-spec pad will show a leak at the rear. If it's coming out of the front then it could mean the pad has 'blown' - expanded due to moisture.
Leaks from the sides usually mean a shrunken pad...or a warped tone hole/key cup.
When it comes to the bell key pads it's often the case that some impact damage is at the root of any leak - perhaps the bell has taken a slight knock in the case. This often shows up by both the B and Bb pads showing light from the front of the pads. Slightly more rare is light showing at the rear - which may mean the bell has had a knock in the opposite direction. It's rarer because the bell always seems inclined to go one way rather than the other.
Fixes, then.
If you have regulation adjusters on the stacks (small screws set into the Aux. bars that runs along the back of the key stacks) you might be able to improve the sealing of the F pad by backing out the corresponding screw a tad...but you'll need to keep an eye on how well the Aux.F pad closes (and the G# when using the bell notes).
If this works it might leave you with a spot of double-action on the F key which will need to be tidied up.
Not much you can do about the bell key leaks, unless you want to get into bending keys or shifting pillars - and there's also the option of resetting the pads (heat, flames, fire, burns, pool of molten brass etc.).
Or...with the aid of a flat, blunt piece of wood (old reed, suitably cut) it might be possible to poke the sides of the pad adjacent to the leak to 'fluff up' the felt core a little. Some care is needed in order to avoid piercing the leather. If you're very careful you might even be able to get away with using a small screwdriver...provided the blade isn't sharp. Don't use it as a poker though..it's more a case of inserting the tip between the edge of the pad and the key cup and then using the flat of the tip to push the pad or (gently) lever it up.
Might not completely fix it, but might improve it a bit.
One final point...now that you have a leak light, never rely on it for the final diagnosis. Always defer to the feeler method - it gives a much better sense of what's going on.
Cheers,
Steve
(was looking for a can of worms emoticon but couldn't find one)!
