A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

On my glorious new flame guitar (see https://aguitarforum.net/viewtopic.php?p=53826#p53826), the low E tuner is flat out seized. It won't turn at all, which is a disappointment given they are Schallers. The rest are all fine.

Any advice on how to un-stick things? My current plan of attack is to pull the tuner, remove the knob (ouch!) And push the...uh....shaft...out and..uh...lubricate it...

Man, this sounds worse the more I type it.

If that doesn't work, I might be buying a set of Gotohs.

We, NO THANKS TO ANY OF YOU GUYS (kidding), success!

I pulled the tune off the guitar and tried to turn it -- this was easier than when it was on the guitar. Then I pulled the tuning key off to check the washers/bushings. I tired to push the shaft through the tuner, but no luck. So, I thought, the shaft moves in that housing....maybe I can do something there. I touched the tuner to the ceramic portion of the LED bulb over my work bench as it gets warm. I put the tuning key back on and started twisting. Movement. Did it again. More movement, and some beigeish crud coming out of where the shaft and tuner body meet.

So, I reached for the guitar world's great cure-all: 3-in-1 Oil!

I put a drop in alongside the shaft, and kept twisting back and forth. That got things moving better. A little more light-bulb heat and another drop. Better still. Repeat the process one more time. Better again, and no more beigeish crud.

So, I finish off with a couple of drops of my trusty Teflon lube and reinstalled the tuner. It now spins normally in both directions. Woot!

When I get a chance, the big test will be to restring the beast and set it up. If that works, I should be golden.

Glad you got it fixed.

Good job getting this repaired. Heating it up was a smart move.

Well?

Glad to hear you got that working! I'm guessing that there was some kind of lubricant that dried up over time? I see that Schaller says

All sealed tuners are lubricated with Schaller special grease for lifetime maintenance-free service

but nothing in life is perfect...

glasshand wrote: ↑Tue Jul 09, 2024 11:41 am Glad to hear you got that working! I'm guessing that there was some kind of lubricant that dried up over time? I see that Schaller says

All sealed tuners are lubricated with Schaller special grease for lifetime maintenance-free service

but nothing in life is perfect...

Yeah, the lifetime of the tuner....

It's like the lifetime transmission fluid -- works great until the transmission dies just out of warranty.