adjusting sealed back tuners...

UkerDanno

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Is there a way to tighten sealed back tuners? A guy at our club got a new uke and one seems to slip? Not sure if that's the problem, but he says it won't stay in tune and it seems to turn more freely than the others...

They look like this...
s-l1600.jpg
 
He can try the screws that hold the knob. Also, the round plate that covers the gears can be carefully pride out.


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 9 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 34)

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If what Mike suggests doesn’t work, your friend might want to consider swapping them for open gears. I bought an Ohana And after about a month, one of the sealed tuners got hinky. I replaced them with basic Grover open geared tuners (about $25). Presto.
 
Thanks guys for the suggestions. My thought was to change the tuners, I actually have a set I'll offer him. Those Grovers are great tuners and not expensive at all.
 
I like the open back Grover solution. You could always find and buy a full set to match set screw hole if you liked.
 
Since this is a new ukulele, in addition to the screw on the tuner button I would check that the gland nut (the hexagonal piece surrounding the tuner post) is snug. They are not always tightened properly at the factory. If there is looseness here the tuner can move in the hole in the headstock affecting tuning stability. Be careful not to overtighten as it is easy to strip out the threads if too much force is applied.
 
If his attempt at tightening doesn't help, he should make sure the tuner is actually being pulled back buy the string tension.

I had an odd situation recently. The librarian asked me to replace a broken string on one of their loaners. The tuner was turning with no tension at all, so I didn't think I'd be able to tighten the string. To my surprise, as I continued to turn the knob, the string tightened, and the tuner remained tight. I think the pull of the string on the tuner mechanism kept it under tension.
 
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