How can I fix a button peg that suddenly won’t stay in its hole?

[daviseri]

I had a button that would catch sometimes, so I opened up the instrument to look at the mechanics.

 

(See picture). 

 

I found that the small end of the peg was not sitting in the hole anymore and was moving around so that it catches the edge of the hole.  

Now- I don’t believe the button is any shorter than it used to be..  

So why does it suddenly not fit into the hole?  

Does it have to do with the felt that wraps around the metal lever that goes through the button to operate the pad?

Did the lever move to a higher position so that the end of the button peg can’t reach the hole?

 

Thoughts?  

Anybody ever deal with this?

 

Best,

Eric

Edited December 13, 2018 by daviseri

[JimR]

Can you move the button so that the 'peg' fits correctly? Does it stay?

[Geoff Wooff]

All the buttons look  quite high, with the  pegs  getting close to  exiting  their  location holes.  Could it be  that  your concertina has had  ne  Pads  recently  and  with some settling of things the pads  have  flattened  a little ?  This would  allow  the   buttons to rise.  

 

You might cure this  in several ways;  the simplest  is to  un glue  the  pad from the end of the  lever  and add  a  small piece of  cardboard, leather  etc .  between the lever end  and  the pad.  Other ways , like bending levers,  are more complex.

 

The other thing  to look at is  the lever  pivot  post.... has it come  out  ( lifted  up)  of its  hole, even slightly ?

[david robertson]

Hopefully, new pads would be thicker than original ones, so the button would be lowered, not raised. But the pivot post is the most likely culprit... either excessive wear, or coming loose and rising from the base board. If so, pull it out, apply a little dab of glue, and tap it back into place.

[Theo]

The pads may be old and compressed.  Quick fix as Geoff suggests above.  If the pads are old it may be beneficial in the longer term  to replace all the pads.