leaks?

[fluteplayer09]

how do you check your flute to see if there any leaks? I have always had my flute checked out by my friend but I just recently got a new flute and I want to make sure it doesn't have any leaks. any tips would be greatly appreciated.

[flutepicc06]

It's very difficult to do this well, particularly without any personal contact between someone who knows what they're doing and yourself. There are a couple of different methods, though. Some people use a leak light, which is essentially just a long, tubular light that fits in the flute. Theoretically, any light leaking out from under closed keys would indicate a leak. However, some pads are translucent and will allow light to come through, even if no air leak is present. Then there are magnahelics. They test how well the pads are sealing, and come with tools to test the entire body of a flute, as well as just individual pads, but they are pretty costly for someone who just wants to check out their flute briefly. Finally, what is IMO the best way is using a feeler. Contructed of cigarette paper and a pipe cleaner (using a bit of stick shellac to connect the two), it's possible to make a feeler to let you find leaks. If the feeler has some resistance when you remove it from under the pad, the pad is sealing well there, but if it comes out easily, the pad is leaking. This technique is difficult to get the hang of, and even more difficult to learn without someone to help you in person. If you're worried about the flute, the best way to check it is just to take it to a repair tech. Any good tech should be able to let you know what's going on, and what kind of work (if any) the flute needs.

[ick27]

Feelers, leak lights, etc. are to help a repair-person fix leaks. If you just want to see if the flute is leaky or not, just play it. Try playing downwards from a C#, adding one key at a time. Press very gently, and close each key slowly. If a pad really seals, the notes will pop out one by one. If it's a bit leaky, the note won't come out immediately and you'll have to press down harder to get the note out. Make sure all your Bb connections are good by testing all three Bb fingerings and high F.

[flutepicc06]

Feelers, leak lights, etc. are to help a repair-person fix leaks. If you just want to see if the flute is leaky or not, just play it. Try playing downwards from a C#, adding one key at a time. Press very gently, and close each key slowly. If a pad really seals, the notes will pop out one by one. If it's a bit leaky, the note won't come out immediately and you'll have to press down harder to get the note out. Make sure all your Bb connections are good by testing all three Bb fingerings and high F.

This may or may not work, depending on how the flute was padded. Some lower level flutes are meant to be played with some finger pressure into the deal, as the pads are not installed particularly well, and are pretty squishy, so light finger pressure may show leaks that aren't there when you use normal (but not excessive) pressure. With a well padded flute, this absolutely can do the job, but it won't work every time. Even getting the light pressure thing down can be quite difficult if the player is used to having to force leaks closed. From the way I read the original post, I would guess Fluteplayer09 does not have a lot of experience checking flutes for playability. I think in this instance just taking it to a repair tech would be the best solution.

[briolette]

Gosh flutepic06, I need to construct a feeler. That's a good tip. In the past, I stuck Christmas lights down into my flute in a vain attempt at approximating a leak light. I play with somewhat forceful fingering, so it's hard for me to tell (and yes, I've bent keys before...very bad habit of mine).

[flutepicc06]

Feelers are very easy to construct, but their proper use is somewhat more challenging. If any one would care to hear it, I can provide an explanation of the construction and use of a feeler.

[briolette]

I'm certainly interested.

[flutepicc06]

It's a pretty simple process to make the feelers. All you really need is cigarette papers (non-gummed, of course), a pipe cleaner (or a piece of wood...Really anything that the cigarette paper can be attached to and will serve as a handle), and some stick shellac, as well as a way to melt the shellac (an alcohol lamp does nicely for this). First, cut a strip of cigarette paper roughly the same width as the pipe cleaner (no need to be too precise). Then, melt the stick shellac (I recommend using a pair of tongs to hold the shellac, as you do not want to get hot shellac on your skin....Owch!), and put just a drop or two on the end of the strip of cigarette paper. Then quickly press the pipe cleaner into the shellac (the shellac will cool pretty quickly, so work fast), and hold it for a few seconds to allow the shellac to set. You now have a feeler. Eventually you'll want to replace this feeler, so while you're at it, you might make a few more for future use. That's the easy part, unfortunately. The proper technique is difficult to learn so that you can perform it speedily and accurately (and probably harder to transmit over the internet, so if I say anything confusing, please feel free to question me on it). First you have to get the feeler under the pad, but you don't want to run it across the tonehole (i.e. it shouldn't stick out opposite sides of the keycup). Instead, actually allow the end of the cigarette paper to go down into the flute through the top of the tonehole (a small amount of shellac on the other end of the cigarette paper can act as a weight, making it easier to get the paper down into the tonehole). Using what Jon Landell calls "fairy fingers," very lightly depress the key (just until it barely touches the top of the tonehole), and pull on the feeler (I suggest holding the pipe cleaner as if it were a pencil for the most sensitivity and greatest speed). Don't pull the feeler all the way out, though. Just a short tug will let you know what you need to know, and you won't waste all that time threading the feeler back into the tonehole after every test. If there is some resistance when you pull on the feeler, the pad is sealing well, and there's no leak, but if it comes out without any resistance, then there's a leak there that could probably do with some attention. Obviously, this needs to be done all the way around the pad to be sure it's sealing along the entire tonehole. I like to start at the arm (what connects the key cup to the rods), just to give myself a definite starting place and make it easy to know when I've gone all the way around. If you were looking at fixing the leaks yourself, it also gives you a good way to remember where the leaks are, and something to align a mark you'd make on the pad with so that the pad went in in the same orientation every time. So that's the basics of finding leaks with a feeler. I hope that all made sense, but as I said, if something didn't, feel free to ask me about it.

[fluteplayer09]

thanks for the help. I asked my band director who mostly plays flute to take a look at it also and everything seems fine

[nii_neko]

My flute has a leak, so I sent it to a repare shop to get it repared, and my band director gave me an open-whole -- so im kinda happy it happened!