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I recently came into possession of some Ultra-pure Professional Valve Oil and want to switch to it, but I am currently using Alisyn on my euph. I was wondering if I would have to clean out my horn before I switch. Both are synthetic, but I know that I had to clean it out when I switched from Blue Juice to Alisyn and am not sure if it's mandatory when switching between 2 synthetics. Thank you for any input.

I agree with Joe about most tubas needing a good cleaning. In the past, I have combined valve oils with poor success though. So my motto is, "when in doubt, clean it out!"

Your horn will thank you!

I recently tried Ultra Pure on my euph, switching from Yamaha synthetic -- I just oiled and played a bit (10-15 minutes), then oiled again...repeating a few times to flush the old out.

No problems at all.

Ultimately I switched back to Yamaha synthetic because the valve feel was better with Yamaha and the Ultra pure seemed a little thin (isn't it target marketed to trumpet players?). Used the same process to change back with no problems, no gunk buildup, nada.

But I do get my euph professionally cleaned about every 6-8 months.

Yet I have never tried Alisyn.

Yeah, it's targeted at trumpet players, but all the other oils I've used seem to thick on my valves, so I'm making the switch. Also, I had my horn professionally cleaned about 3 months ago and regularly clean out my valves, so I'm not worried about any residue, thank you so much.

Ultra pure works really well, but I have a few beefs with it.

1. it discolored the rubber valve spring dampers in my bessons
2. it caused the plastic valve guides in my newer besson to swell, creating a bad sticking problem which went away when I changed to another brand.
3. for me, the bottle and applicator were impossible to use without getting the stuff all over my hands and clothes.

With the piston horns (mainly Yamaha F's and Hirsbrunner euph), I have been trying the Hetman's light oil. I am not convinced that it is any better or worse than the kerosene-based products. BUT once you move to a synthetic, you have to get the valves TOTALLY cleaned before mixing the petroleum product with the synthetic. I hear there are some synths that can be mixed with petrols, but I am not convinced. On the rotors, I use anything with a needle dropper on them. I have no idea what I'm using, I just get stuff and squirt it on. Except for my Hirsbrunner, the other rotors seem pretty happy with whatever I drop in there.

bloke wrote:- I've never had trouble putting anything sold as "valve oil" on top of any other oil sold as "valve oil" (regardless of formulation).
- Others claim to have a great deal of trouble.
- Most tubas that are brought in to me for repairs (and not for cleaning) are in dire need of cleaning.

+1. Yup...Right on the money Joe.