Wren 2 button sticking - advice please.

[Geoff Windle]

Hi folks

I've been playing my wren 2 that I got for Christmas and been very pleased with it so far - seems very good for the money [£350] to me. Have just hit my first problem - the first button on the C row right hand side has started sticking -or rather clicking! peering through the holes on the side it looks like the lever isn't staying in place and is getting snagged by an adjacent lever. I can wiggle the buttons and free it up but it goes back after a few presses. Any advice? I'm reluctant to take the end off without knowing what I'm doing!

Many Thanks

Geoff

[Squeezebox Of Delights]

Hi Geoff,

I have a Wren 2 which I play as my only playable concertina. I swapped it on gumtree a while ago in return for a piano accordion which I had been keeping at school and not using very much. On receiving the concertina, I was very pleased with the tone and build quality, but I found that a few of the buttons were sticky. They would stay down for a few seconds then either:

• slowly slide back up;
• pop up unexpectedly with a *click*;
• just stay down.

I took it apart, and promptly discovered that the buttons are stuck to the thingies that slide into the rods by a tacky grey sort of glue which had seeped out around the edges and was causing the buttons to stick to the sides of their holes. It was fairly easy to scrape off the excess and now the issue is fixed. Could this be the problem with your concertina?

Thanks,

Oskar

Edited March 5, 2020 by Squeezebox Of Delights

[Squeezebox Of Delights]

Oh and it is pretty simple to take the ends off. Remove the screws and then when the end is separate to the bellows just pop the bit of wood with the reed blocks out of the end. You should end up with 3 pieces: a large hollow end piece, a hexagonal piece of wood with reeds on one side and buttons on the other, and the rest of the concertina. Putting it back together is the same but in reverse. Make sure all the buttons are in the correct holes and that you are putting the screws back in in the right order.

Edited March 5, 2020 by Squeezebox Of Delights

[KKallweit]

I too am having a slight button stick issue with my wren.  ( Though I do have to agree with Geoff, it really is delightful for the price point and I have learned quite a lot on it already!

The  left E/F button and  A/G have begin to stick..  of course they are the buttons I've been using the most too... If I/ we open it up to see what could be wrong, is there any pieces that Geoff and I need to be aware of that might potentially like " pop" out of place? Or is everything relatively secured down inside?

I have a feeling that once I open it up I'll be able to tell why it's sticking, but, like Geoff, I too am anxious to open it, not  knowing 100% what to expect I suppose. 

[Geoff Windle]

Thanks for the advice Oskar - I will have a look for what you describe when i get the courage to take the end off!

 

I think though from fiddling with the buttons and peering through the grille that its actually the levers which are sticking rather than the buttons themselves in the holes. There seems to be some lateral movement of some levers if I move the buttons side to side, and the levers of the RHS C and G row top buttons get too close I think and interfere with each other.

 

Does anyone know if I can fix levers that are loose like that?

Many Thanks

Geoff

 

 

[Squeezebox Of Delights]

Hi,
Here are three photos (I am having trouble uploading any more) of taking apart the Wren 2, it is very simple and everything should be stuck in place rather securely, so there shouldn’t be any danger of bits falling off! Just mind that you put the screws back in the right order - for some silly reason they appear to be different lengths...? The bit of wood with the reeds and action on may require a bit of wriggling to get it out of the end, as the foam gasket sometimes gets stuck to it. Getting the buttons back into the holes can be a bit fiddly too, but it’s nothing some patience can’t handle.

Thanks,

Oskar

[Geoff Windle]

Wow thanks Oskar that's brilliant - I feel much more confident now about opening up the little critter! i will try and remember which screw went where!

Many thanks

Geoff

[Don Taylor]

This looks very similar to a Stagi action.  Those little strips/bushings of brown tubing are probably the root of your problems. 

 

If the rubber has perished then you need to replace them, preferably with something better than rubber.  Almost any tubing of a suitable diameter will do.

 

The job of theses little rubber bushings is just to hold the button up and away from the lever and to keep it stable.  When the rubber perishes then the button wobbles and eventually might even disappear inside the end of the concertina.

 

See: https://www.concertina.net/gs_stagirepair.html

 

I do not think that the Aerotrend "Blue Line" silicone tubing that George mentions is available anymore, but modelling shops have similar products. 

 

I think even the tubing inside soap dispensers has been used successfully.

 

 

[Geoff Windle]

Thanks Don will check out the rubbery bits when I get inside.

cheers

Geoff