Hole in bracing

[iiipopes]

What Dan said. The first gig after I got a souzy up and running was a Memorial day gig where the mode of dress for the band was white shirt and black pants. I still have the black pants. The shirt went into the trash the moment I got home from condensation leaking around the somewhat worn valves and out the bottom valve caps, taking all 75+ years of accumulated green gunk with it right onto the shirt. And this was after a complete cleaning, inside and out, including soaking to get the gunk out and drying the horn in the days before taking it to the gig.

Do you have any "airy" or "stuffy" notes that might also be an indicator of how bad the leak is?

[Dan Schultz]

I still wouldn't rule out water somehow getting out of the area where your waterkey is and running around the bottom bow into your lap. It could be a loose solder joint where the outer slide tube joins the dogleg. Or... the brace between the outter slide tube and the bottom bow looks a little funky and could have a split behind it. There is a very quick way to check for leaks in that area... pull out your main tuning slide and reinsert just the end that fits into the outer tube coming off where the waterkey is. Put a wine bottle cork or some other form of stopper into the open end of the tuning slide. Blow into the mouthpiece receiver and look for leaks. A little sudsy water might help spot a leak. While you're at it, you can perform the same test of all of your tuning circuits by removing the tunings slides in a similar manner and pushing the individual finger paddles down.

[NDSPTuba]

pretty simple test to know for sure if water is running out of the bottow bow. Hold it upright ( preferably not in your lap ) and pure a cup or 2 of water in the bell. If it comes dribbling out of that hole, well then you know for sure that is definately where the water is coming from.