Best way to oil rotary valves?

[Lars Trawen]

Check out Meinl-Weston's maintenance advice:
http://www.meinl-weston.com/maintenance.htm
Regards,
Lars

[CJ Krause]

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[Rick Denney]

...Bloke confirmed my idea that there is more than one way to get to the valve!

He suggests oiling through the leadpipe, which is even easier than pulling the main tuning slide and going through the valves in the opposite direction like I inquired. Not to mention the added "protection" of the lead pipe itself. I like that idea. Tony says it isn't necessary to oil the rotors at all, theoretically. Hmmmm... I suppose, but I doubt it can hurt anything.

Mr. Bloke, Is there any trick to getting the oil to all 4 valves if I go in through the lead pipe? Such as, putting the oil in with valve 1 open and 2 depressed to get it to the body of 2 etc. I suppose I could oil 1&2 from the lead pipe and 3 & 4 from the backside by pulling the main tuning slide. Sorry if I'm boring you guys but I'm an engineering type and I tend to be WAY to detail oriented when it comes to maintaining mechanisms.

Brushing the teeth and rinsing the mouth good prior to playing is excellent. That rule has always been enforced in my family. Only exception : beer tent gigs! TGIF!

If you run oil into the first valve through the leadpipe, it will find its way to the other three. No special technique is required. Just dump the oil, turn the horn so that it runs around to the first valve, and then riff the valves a few times to distribute it. More will be distributed as you play.

Tony is theoretically correct that a properly fitted rotary valve should not touch the casing, and any liquid (including saliva) will provide the needed seal. I would suggest, however, that "stuff" builds up on the rotors if they are allowed to dry frequently. Oil keeps them moist so that those desposits don't form. I owned a newish VMI clone that would get stuck valves if I didn't play it for a few days, and when I removed the valves, I found white calcium deposits. Rotary valves require skills to remove, so prevention is better than the cure. Playing every day helps with this problem also.

I bought a bottle of rotary valve oil from Baltimore Brass a while back that has a nice needle oiler in the cap. This makes it easy to put the oil on the rotor bearings. It takes about a minute to oil everything.

Don't put valve oil through the tuning slides: It will dissolve the slide grease, which will then be deposited on the valves, gunking them up. The leadpipe is the best place, but not with the mouthpiece in place. You don't want that oil where your lips will be.

Rick "also an engineer" Denney

[Chen]

http://www.meinl-weston.com/maintenance.htm

[Chuck(G)]

The result of the tightness in my slides is that nothing likes to stick to them. I will apply slide grease to them, and after pushing the slides in, there is almost nothing on the valves (I understand that some of it will come off, but I have never lost this much before). I want to put valve oil on them, to see if it makes them move quicker (and lasts longer) but am slightly afraid because it's not 'right'. I worry mostly about the oil's lower viscosity compared to grease.

A favorite of some folks is STP Oil Treatment. Technically, a "viscosity enhancer", it stays on slides pretty well. If you've got some really tight slides, you might want to try the STP "new engine formula". Just a drop on each slide should do it.

OTOH, a drop of a good oil should form a nice continuous film just like grease. It may not last as long, but that shouldn't be a problem, since you're oiling your valves every day or so, aren't you?

[Rick Denney]

The Meinl-Weston site, already mentioned, is useless now as it contains no information about slides.

As to the oil stuff, I'll look into it after my grease runs out. On the other hand, who seriously oils their valves every day? I'll be going through so much ... you can't be serious?

I put a drop of oil on the front bearings of my rotary tubas nearly every time I pick them up to play. The front bearings take the vast majority of the stress. I do the rear bearings once in a while--say once a month oro so for instruments I play reasonably often. I also squirt valve oil down the leadpipe reasonably often, but on my rotary tubas, the rotors are so well oxidized at this point that the buildup that has caused problems on new rotors seems not to affect them.

On the other hand, I pull out and apply fresh oil to every piston on my piston tubas nearly every time I play the instrument and sometimes during a session. That takes longer than oiling the rotaries.

Rick "who never wants to need a valve job" Denney

[Rick Denney]

This I can see doing, but I won't do the whole job every time. As mentioned, it would take far too much oil, and it would also impede on my practise time.

Now for my last maintenance concern (for the moment): what about skin oils degrading the lacquer on my instrument? I wipe my horn off after every time I play it (and if somewhat-hard stuff builds up on the valve paddles, often part-way through playig). Is there a special cleaner that I can use to preserve the lacquer on the paddles (besides the oft-mentioned Pledge?)

How long does it take to unscrew the back caps and put a drop of oil there? I don't think one needs to do it every day, but I hardly think the time required would impede practice time, unless your practice sessions are like mine (i.e. five minutes long). I still spend more time oiling pistons.

It's pretty difficult to keep from wearing through non-epoxy lacquer on valve paddles, just because of the constant friction. You might try clear nail polish, frequently applied, but don't remove it with nail-polish remover.

Rick "who has never worried about bare spots" Denney

[Tubaryan12]

http://www.stusmusic.com/icrotor.html

Thanks guys for posting this link. Having owned or played piston instruments all my life I was oiling the rotors every time I played . Needless to say I was about to go crazy wondering why the valves were getting slower and slower.

Nice idea for the coins Bloke. I used pennies instead (I like the copper look better).Tails up for better grip. Super glue or an epoxy will work just as well for those of us who dont want to solder and not hard to remove with a stiff blade.

(See kids, using the search does work )