King 2341 sticky first valve

[jamsav]

Gave the horn a bath, putting it back together , the lead pipe set screw didn't line up perfectly, maybe a 1/16" off, a little pressing and squeezing and I could have put the screw in place, however, anxious to see if the clean horn responded differently, I didn't fuss with it and instead started playing.
No obvious difference in sound, but , my always sticky first valve now moves freely.
I have no intention of resetting the screw, it is clear to me that the pull was causing the first valve issue-

[bigbob]

Hi JIM, what did you use to clean your horn Did you use any chems? If so what kind? Do you fill the whole horn with water and scrub? Jim have you had your horn chem cleaned at a shop? My horn is raw brass will chems ruin the patina?I set up an appointment with the local music shop up the street He wants to test a slide before he cleans the whole instrument..do you feel it will change the beauty of the horn?? any advise will be greatly appreciated!!....By the way I'm hoping you and your family have a great holiday!! your friend in music......................................BB

[Dan Schultz]

I got tired of those pesky "sticking King 2341 #1 pistons" and just started replacing all of them with King baritone horn pistons.

I think Conn/Selmer already tried that. They sent out some of the new 2341 tubas with waaaaay too much clearance between the pistons and casings.

[jamsav]

I see so many of these horns with bad 1st valves it's ridiculous. Somebody here (I think joe) said it's because the looseness of the removable lead pipe puts torque on the 1st valve casing. Sounds like it needs to be braced better

This is exactly my point. The set screw for the lead pipe to bugle placed so much tension in the lead pipe connection to the first valve that it caused the valve to stick.
I had my local repair guru move the set screw holder on the lead pipe ever so slightly , just enough to take some of the torque off of the first valve casing , and voila, the valve moves freely !
The design folks at Selmer/King need to take a peek at this

[iiipopes]

I see so many of these horns with bad 1st valves it's ridiculous. Somebody here (I think joe) said it's because the looseness of the removable lead pipe puts torque on the 1st valve casing. Sounds like it needs to be braced better

This is exactly my point. The set screw for the lead pipe to bugle placed so much tension in the lead pipe connection to the first valve that it caused the valve to stick. I had my local repair guru move the set screw holder on the lead pipe ever so slightly , just enough to take some of the torque off of the first valve casing , and voila, the valve moves freely! The design folks at Selmer/King need to take a peek at this

Oh, that is so good...I just had to repeat it...Go, Jim!