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For oiling rotory valves I have heard to put it down the lead pipe, down the tuning slides, and put it behind the valve caps. What is the "correct" way to oil valves....or is it one of those preference things?
Also, I am currently using a mix of fat cat tuning slide grease and hetmans light slide oil on my tuning slides. It works well on some of my slides...but not all of them. some of my slides are tighter then others, nothing too tight though...and the 4th valve slide is extremely loose and I have trouble keeping it out where I like it. Any advice?

http://www.tubanews.com/articles/contentid-24.html

Very in depth. I can't vouch for what he does, but it sounds good.

Here...try THIS link. Much easier.

A most excellent article. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks! Only thing that worries me is I am afraid I wouldn't put the rotors back in correctly. I don't wanna dig into something I can't handle

I don't know why people are so afraid to disassemble rotors. They're very simple mechanisms. If you use reasonable care when removing them from their casings (don't strike them with a hard object such as a steel hammer) you should have no difficulty. Pouring oil down the leadpipe or the tuning slides only results in having oil in your horn. The rotating "bearing" surfaces on a rotary valve don't even come in contact with the airstream. That's why you can go for such long periods of time without oiling a rotary valve whereas a piston valve needs almost daily lubication. Good luck. My advice is to have someone with experience in this area guide you through this process the first time. Good Luck!

Don't remove the rotors yourself if you're not comfortable with it. It's not necessary to do so very often anyway.

These articles don't talk about removing the rotors, just the bottom cap and slides. A couple of drops of rotor oil on the bearing in the center under the bottom cap and in the little space at the top of the valve should help a lot. To get the oil into the space at the top you need a needle oiler, which is just a little oil bottle with a long thin metal tube on top, like this:



Matt Walters suggested that I put a few drops of regular valve oil down the leadpipe each time I play when I bought a rotary valve tuba from him. That and oiling the bearings and joints of the lever arms should keep it playing well for a long time.

again....thanks for all of the help!

I took the rotor off of my trombone's f attachment, and didn't have any problems... I don't see how tuba can be that different

I will say, don't put valve oil down tuning slides.
Grease will break down from the oil. The grease will gradually run to the valve and you'll get gummy slow action.