How to look after a Elka Artist 606 please

[Tonygos]

I have a Elka Artist 606 sitting in the corner of the living room, had it for year's now and my brother had it before me and wanted to sale so I paid him £80, unfortunately I don't play, (can't play) but I turn it on now and then to make sure all is well.
My question is, what is the best way to keep it in good order apart from playing them, and what can go wrong with them, things to look out for. many thanks. Tony

[tobeycat2007]

Sure other members with reply also but get things started, main problem is they are over 30 years old and originate from italy, sadly italian organs does have good reputation for reliability. Keeping them in use will help but sooner/later something will probably fail and is usually terminal on organ like this.

[seamaster]

If it works, learn to play and enjoy it — it's a nice little organ, that.

[andyg]

[QUOTE=tobeycat2007;275939]sadly italian organs does have good reputation for reliability. /QUOTE]
For the sake of clarity for a new member, let's state that the word 'not' should be inserted before 'have'.

Electrolytic caps are likely to fail after this amount of time - depends on their quality, but with an Italian instrument, that's not likely to be high. They weren't expected to last this long. Key and switch contacts can tarnish, but regular use can help. Sitting doing nothing is not good for an organ, so please learn to play and then play it! The leslie speaker's bearings may well rumble or squeak, dismantling and stuffing with silicone grease can help.

If you get a major component failure, then that's probably it. The organ's true market value is probably rather less than the £80 you paid, so don't pay out for any repairs. Keeping old organs going is a labour of love these days.

[tobeycat2007]

Sorry forgot to put "not" in the post, must keep off the beer !!

[Tonygos]

Thank you all for coming back, will try and look after the old girl the best I can, and am sure like you say, playing it would be better, I would love to be able to play, but sadly that will never be, I have for many years always loved the organ music. all the best Tony.