Here is a new pipe organ fubar for y'all to consider. For a while, I played for a Lutheran Church that had a very nice little 5 rank M.P. Moller Pipe Organ in the balcony of the church. The DC power source for the keying action was a generator which was coupled to the same electric motor shaft that operated the blower, nicely tucked away in the attic near the pipework. It was also a not too uncommon occurrence in this community for the electric power to the church (and the whole community too, I guess) to blink off and then back on for an instant at odd times. One Sunday, while in the midst of a rousing version of "Onward Christian Soldiers", such a "blink" occured. Nobody thought anything of this, and the hymn continued for a few more measures. After a few moments, however, the organ began decreasing in volume, the action started to become sluggish, and worse of all, the pitch of the organ started to go horribly flat, as though it was being starved for wind (there probably is nothing in the world that sounds as hideous as a pipe organ when it's running out of wind). As I looked down at the generator pilot light on the console and saw it growing dimmer by the moment, the congregation was looking up at me, wondering what the %^(%*% was going on with the organ.
In a moment I realized what was wrong, and reached over to push the "start" button on the power control switchbox next to the keydesk. I heard the familiar "clunk" when the motor starter contacts closed in the attic, and the organ regained it's wind and everything was again nice and normal for the rest of the service.
After the service, people asked me why that happened, and why it has happened previously with other people playing their organ. I explained to them that it has to do with a fluke in the wiring of the control switch (the telltale little box on the console with the "Start" and "Stop" buttons) and the motor starter in the attic. When the power blinks off, the contactor in the attic, which actually supplies the motor for the blower/generator with power, drops open, and when the power blinks back on, the contactor stays open until the "start" button on the console is pushed. In my case, the contactor opened, and the blower and generator continued to turn, gradually producing less wind and DC current as it began to slow down.
A few days later, A brief visit with a local electrician resulted in replacement of the old pushbutton switch with an ordinary toggle switch, which eliminated the problem.
It did give us a few humorous moments, though.
Mike
