How to Repair a Clarinet with Leaking Keys

How to Repair a Clarinet with Leaking Keys

Why is your clarinet no longer on a song? It may be an air leak that is producing all those disconcerting (no pun intended) squeaks or simpler problems like a string that needs to be replaced or slack tenons. If you can detect the cause of a snag, you can yourself easily fix these, that is, if you know how to and are armed with the requisite clarinet supplies. So, here are a few handy troubleshooting pointers to spare you the trouble of scouting for specialized clarinet repair service men, besides giving you the satisfaction of completing a do-it-yourself project successfully.

A Simple Action

Leaks are the most common problems that may sprout in wood wind instruments like clarinets. In a clarinet, a leak is the most likely suspect when there is squeaking and the lower tones do not come out perfectly. If you suspect a leaking key, then the hardest thing is actually to spot it. Try by blowing into the bore, first gently and then in powerful gusts, with all your fingers closing the keys as when playing lower tones. Blowing very strongly into the bore will let air out of the leak and you should hear it escaping.

Clarinet Key Oil used with Repairing Clarinet Keys

Trial and Error

A leaky key can be due to several reasons—a loose screw, maladjusted heights of keys or the pads over the tone hole, or a spring with inadequate power that cannot close the key properly. While it is easy to poke and probe around the works of the clarinet to tighten a loose screw or adjust the height of the keys or the pad, you will need to work a little harder and exercise more caution to fix a weakened spring. But if the clarinet has played the spoilsport just at the most inopportune moment when you do not have the time to sound the distress call to a repair specialist, you can check if the problem with the clarinet can be fixed by loosening the screws that join the hub or the axis and oiling them. If it works, then you have saved the day! Springs are the one of the most fragile of all clarinet parts and it is best to leave the work of increasing the power of spring to a specialist.

Straightening the Key

A clarinet key can also leak if it is bent and thus prevents the pad from sitting properly on the tone hole. If your clarinet has leather pads, you can try and fix the problem by moistening it and pressing the key firmly on the hole. This should work if the key had bent only a little. Else, you will need to re-bend the bent key, which is a tricky task and left best to a specialist.

Proper Maintenance

You now know how to repair a clarinet with leaky keys but you should also keep in mind that a stitch in time saves nine! So, remember to oil the corks of the clarinet joints regularly.