Cleaning chromatics
I have a Hohner Super 64X that needs cleaning. The slide is sluggish and there are a number of wind savers that are sticking. Could I soak the parts in distilled water? (My tap water is very hard and I don't want it risk it leaving mineral deposits when it dries). I also have an ultrasonic cleaner. Would using the ultrasonic cleaner harm the harmonica or windsavers in any way?
You may have covered this in detail and I didn't find it, if so, just link me to that discussion.
Thank you.
Exactly what I needed to know.
Hi Joshua, please report back to the membership about your results.
Your HARPSMITH, Kinya
I took off the mouthpiece and the cover plates. The harmonica is a Super64X and I cleaned the cover plates by hand because I'm not sure what the matt black surface is on them and didn't want to risk it in the ultrasonic cleaner. I left the reed plates attached to the comb, thinking that in that position all the windsavers would be exposed, but less likely to be damaged in handling. I soaked it for about 10 minutes in my not very powerful Harbor Freight ultrasonic cleaner. I used warm, body temperature, distilled water and while I hadn't planned to add any type of cleaner, I found that, with the reed plates assembled there were many areas where large bubbles of air adhered to the surfaces of the pieces, so I added a few drops of dish washing liquid to see if it would break up the surface tension. That seemed to work very well and the bubbles and air pockets dispersed.
As far as I can tell it did no damage at all to the windsavers. That had been my major concern.
When I clean it again I will use the ultrasonic cleaner, but I'd be tempted to fully disassemble the harmonica, mostly because it takes an assemble harp a very long time to dry out, and I could be more certain that both sides of the reed plates were cleaned equally. I suspect that any risk of windsaver damage is less than the damage I'd risk using other methods of cleaning them. (I'm a bit clumsy).
It took a heck of a long time to dry out, even after it appeared to be dry. Perhaps the water that gets between the windsavers is slow to evaporate. Not having a heating pad, I finally wrapped it up in a towel with a liter bottle of hot water. I came back an hour or so later and it plays like a dream. Nothing sticking, I can play very softly with no sticking or buzzing. All the other surfaces shed any visible build up, the goldplated mouthpiece looks like new and is quiet, fast and smooth - a significant improvement.
AWESOME! Well done Joshua
Your HARPSMITH, Kinya
Hi Joshua, I learned from Rick Epping that when he was at the Hohner USA service center, he and Cissy would routinely soak the chromatic harmonicas in the Ultrasonic tank for approximately 8 minutes.
Initially surprised to hear this, I asked if they were concerned with stripping off the windsavers. Rick explained there were the occassional loose windsavers that were ready to come off anyway, and they would simply glue a new windsaver in its place.
This gave me the confidence to try this on a few chromatic harmonicas that I had on the bench. The results were terrific. The 8 minute ultrasonic bath cleaned away the harmonicoccus residue from all the components. The instruments played like new.
GOING DEEPER
Your HARPSMITH, Kinya