Hot weather oils

olaness · Post by **olaness** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 6:43 pm

A friend of mine has over the last few years helped set up a brass band in a little village somewhere in Africa with donated instruments, music and transport via charitable donations and trained the conductor himself. Everything is going really well, with one little glitch. They seem to be going through valve oil at an astonishing rate. This would not normally be a problem, but where they are, the cost of valve oil is astronomical compared to their income. He was hypothesising that the hot temperatures made the oil evaporate really quickly.

Has anyone here got any experience with this? And are there any valve oils specially designed for hot conditions? Preferrably cheap ones, as you can imagine.

Ola

Dean E · Post by **Dean E** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 1:42 am

Alan Baer wrote: . . . .
[Y]ou may want to consider this...
The synthetic oils are really nice, esp. with the problem valves. But most oils are too thin. I will use either Hetman OR I will use lamp oil. (once you find and oil that works, don't mix and match, stay with what works..) THEN... I apply (1) one, one, that's one drop of Mobil one 5W30 synthetic motor oil to the piston, AFTER spreading the valve oil on the piston. Don't try to mix them. This will increase the surface tension of the oil. The piston rides or hydroplanes on the oil. Give it just a bit more strength for supporting the piston. . . .
Good luck,
Alan Baer

Mr. Baer suggests two bulk products that may be worth trying (I assume that Hetman's would be too costly). (1) lamp oil, and (2) synthetic motor oil. Follow his method of applying.