So in the post about leaking bags, I saw mention of leaking valves as well. On my Daye set, I seem to have a slow back leak on both the bellows and the blowpipe valves. Is this normal? For example, if I inflate the bag and stop off the chanter stock with a cork, It will loose about half of it’s air under normal playing pressure back through the valves in about 30 seconds. The same holds true for the bellows. If I stop off the bellows outlet, and open them all the way, it takes about 30-45 seconds under light pressure for the bellows to deflate.
just curious if this was normal, or if there happened to be any tricks to working with the valves, to make them more efficient and air-tight. It seems to me that perhaps this is one area of piping that gets overlooked more than it should?
Well, yeah, the instant someone would like to pony up, and offer an $8,000 plus grant towards the “Buy Brian his Gallagher pipes when they’re due in a few short months” fund I’ll move on. Unfortunately, that isn’t going to happen, so for the forseeable future, I’m stuck with the Daye set.
I’m not completely unhappy with them, but just curious to know if the valves are a bigger issue than they might seem at first. Is this a common thing? Is it even a problem? Should I expect this with ANY set? Are there any valve ‘tweaks’ that can be done to make them more effective? That’s all I was askin’
Yeah, well, the gentleman interested in my Gallagher set was fortunate enough to run across another set in the mean time, so Seth’s work is still up for grabs if anyone’s interested.
I HATE it when insurance companies don’t follow through with their promised settlements! DANG!
Anyway, the bag, bellows and valves are all chrome tanned leather.
that seems ok to me . there are some things you can do to make them more airtight . "More better " One is to apply some beeswax to the leather non return valves . Another is to press down on the valves to make sure they are giving a good seal . . A small bit of air loss is ok . If it is major then you start to have probs cause you start to have pulled muscles and tuning probs ect …
tom .Too bad about the S. G. set . better luck next time . .
[ This Message was edited by: tok on 2003-02-22 16:14 ]
On my bellows valve, there is a small disc of plastic covering about the inner 3/4ths of the flapper itself (on the outside). I assume this is here to offer some rigidity and a better seal? Would a bit on the blowpipe valve offer such an advantage? It’s about the size of a penny I’d imagine. Would gluing a coin to the flapper make it too heavy, or perhaps too noisy when it closed? Anyone tried this before?
I had the same probs of leaking from the valves of my pipes and I’ve made silicon valves for bellow and intake valve …
Now I can sit on the bag and the bellow (attention kids : do not try this @ home) and it works perfectly … plus, I’m playing better (well less bad than before) since I do not have to struggle with the leaks…
I find the weight and quality of the valve leather to be important. I have a small amount of leather I have used on valves for years and they don’t leak. I have seen the silicone valves to be good too. The valve leather I am using came from the Wee Piper, Michael MacHarg, about 20 years ago. I don’t think it is chrome tanned. He could be a good source for valve leather. Using wax or oil on valves is not recommended. They are considered temporary measures at best, until you can make a good valve.
Ted
