Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum clicking sound on the low register -- Kawai RX3

Our one month old Kawai RX-3 just developed a clicking sound problem on the lower keys. A very cloud and clear click sound will produced after each key is released. The sound feels like a contact sound by wood parts. The sound is very annoying. I am going to call the dealer tomorrow, but just wondering if somebody with the knowledge can shed some light of the possible cause for this.

I'm not sure if your piano has an adjustable hammer rebound rail, but if so the stop nut is loose. Very simple fix. Or there is a foriegn object in the action cavity.

Thank you so much Dale. Glad to hear that it probably is just a minor and easy to fix problem.

I know little about piano since this is the first acoustic piano I bought, so I do not know if it has an adjustable hammer rebound rail. The video in the link below was posted to demonstrate the click sound:
http://video.yahoo.com/watch/7178491/18699485

I wonder if I could fix the problem myself without waiting several days for a technician to come. I saw the technician inspecting a piano last time when I was shopping for a piano, and have figured out how to take the action out .

Thanks again...

That's something very easy and simple to fix. If you can do so, try removing the fallboard and you may find the cause of that noise right behind it.

The RX-3 does have a stop rail, and the nuts can work loose. You can actually get to some of them from between the strings with a flashlight and a standard screwdriver with a long, thin shaft.

If you look inside between the strings, near the hammer heads, you'll see the hammer shanks resting just above a green felt strip. That strip has 5 nuts holding it firmly in place. They can loosen up over time and are easily tightened.

But my recommendation is that you wait for the technician and schedule your free tuning at the same time.

It could even be a pencil.

Yes you might be able to, BUT,,,,,you may also break a couple of hammer shanks in the process. Among techs we always say that there are those who have broken hammer shanks when pulling grand actions.... and those that will break some one day.

I had the same click in the higher part of the piano and it was like the gentlemen said---a loose nut holding the hammer rest rail. Nice that it probably is an easy fix!

Pencil?

Thanks all the the help. The fall board on the Kawai is easy to lift, and there is no pencil found on the action. I will call the dealer to send a technician here. I think it must be the rebound rail as people pointed out. I will report back.

(update)Following Dave Stahl's instruction, I found out it is the loosen stop rail. I can see the stop rail rocking after a key is hit. I fixed it using a screw driver in less than 2 minutes . Thanks a lot, Dave.

This forum rocks!

Cinstance,

That will be $125.00 please....

Funny how a small noise like that can be a real irritant. Glad you were able to make it go away!

Yeah, the same $125 that Dave just lost in a parking lot. Now you'll be even Dave!

I have virtually the same problem on a 3 month old RX3, BUT, the clicking sound only happens after I've used the soft pedal, and then only for a few intermittent key rebounds. It's then ok until I use the soft pedal again. I'll check the stop screws, but why would it only happen after using the soft pedal?

RX have the key frame that raise on the extremity when the climate gets dry (heaters, during winter)

A good source of clicking noises on the extreme keys.

it can be regulated, or avoided, the piano have anything for that.

But a tendency is never very good, that mean that there is some inner stress in the keyframe.

PS indeed the rest rail can be the cause of noise on return of the hammer.

Have you had your after sales, in-home service yet? Call the dealer and ask him to send a technician out.
Out here in cyber-land, we can speculate all day long about what might be making a click, but we can't fix it, and you probably wouldn't be able to either. It is best to get someone to look at it and fix it.

By the way, I just see that you posted one year ago that you have a 2 month old RX3. Now your RX3 is 3 months old. I'm not so good with math - can you clarify?

Be sure to mention that you had this problem to your tech. The nuts sometimes work their way down as they rattle so that simply tightening the top one may have altered the clearances. Usually not much of a problem if caught early.

Looks like you have a stalker, Chris. Spooky.

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I did post a year ago re. the same piano, but I've had this problem since it was about 3 months old - sorry to confuse.

Have checked every nut I can find, and re-talced the key bearing points on the action... and a quick play just now suggests it's gone (or significantly diminished) for the moment. Will let you know if the problem reappears.

After buying the piano, the dealer paid for a local tuning, but I haven't been offered a tech visit. Will contact the dealer and ask (but I'm fairly sure what the response will be!).

Thanks again.

like many grands but more frankly on the RX, when the room is dry the extremities of the front rail under the keys warps up a little.
If not kept tight enough(not too much) on the keybed by the checkblocks, the keys wil knock under a strong enough impact.

The tone also is less good during the winter months.

That seem to be a "secret" , while i dont see the reason why. A good argument to control the air moisture me think

The pressure is regulated with differnt means, on RX a screw . when tight it have to be checked as too tight will raise the front lip and make the UC pedal hard to move.

Some technicians know how to check the block pressure. This I will keep for myself at the moment .

After much investigation, have now identified that the clicking I'm getting is nothing to do with the hammer rail. The "click" is more of a creak as the whole action moves very slightly back to its starting position after using the UC pedal. The hammer returns are enough to cause that ver slight movement. I've verified this by ever so gently pressing the UC pedal so the action moves infinitesimally, and the same creak is generated.

As far as I can see, the only potentially offending contact points are about 7 brass domed nuts on the bottom of the action that contact the cabinet floor, the right hand edge of the action compressing the spring attached to the right hand edge of the cabinet, the UC rod cut out in the action, and 3 short felted strips at the rear of the action.

I intend to put some Vaseline on the spring face and use talc on the other contact points, Is this a sensible way to go? .... Or has anyone any experience of this that might help identify the offending contact points?

Well, first of all you really still have no idea where the creak is coming from. Do not just put Vaseline or Talcum powder all over the place just because....or you will create a bigger mess than anything else. And when the technician finally does come over and has to clean up all that Vaseline and stuff, guess who's going pay for? You are.

You mean to tell me that you still have not had a technician come out to look at this thing? Have you had it tuned since delivery or inthe past six months? You started this thread way back in March 2010. The problem should've been resolved a long long time ago.

The way you are describing the creaking sound, my first guess would be that the technician needs to remove the action, then clean the key bed and then lubricate the key bed and no Vaseline on the keybed!!!

It could be many more things than what I just described in the paragraph above. Call a good Piano Technician. Have them come out to fix the problem.