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I had a Joy Key installed on my tuba a couple days ago. The water key had been removed by the previous owner, and I didn't really have a problem with pulling the tuning slide (that's how I empty my horn, by pulling a LOT of slides) but found it physically a bit more awkward than I intended, plus the tendency to get it slightly off kilter with three seconds to go until the next entrance. So...WTH, since Andrew Joy is a friend of mine and said it will work on a tuba, I got one and had it put on.
The first time I pulled the tuning slide, um, gobs of water came out. But I had not played it since the Joy Key was installed, so maybe it was Old Water. I don't know why *that* water did not drain. But for the rest of the full hour of playing in a 60 degree room, which would usually result in lots of tuning slide emptyings, nuttin. I had put a washcloth on my lap (not buying one of those silly things they sell to collect the water, I mean, Come On...) and the first report has to be that it works. I've only seen one post about the Joy Key here, and it was mostly being made fun of. But....it does seem to work and if it continues to please me I'll be quite happy. Requires drilling a small hole, probably similar to putting on an amado, and some solder, and in this case, quite a bit of custom filing to make the curve fit the tubing.
http://www.thejoykey.com" target="_blank
And I put it right next to where the water key used to be, at the very bottom. It's not a "valve" but a "drain."

I'm a little surprised at the lack of interest....but the thing works. I have to dump once, after the tuba is upright from sitting overnight, perhaps have starting playing and perhaps have not. After that, I have only a wet washcloth on my lap, and any and all attempts to find water in the tuning slide (where the water key was) result in absolutely nothing. And it is air tight. Perhaps it was a bigger hassle for me to have to maneuver the tuba than it is for you big guys, and yeah if it had still had the water key it would have stayed that way. But it didn't have the water key and I'm just damn happy with this thing that people seem to a) not believe could be air tight, or b) think is silly. Whatever....

Interesting concept. I understand how, with a constant condensation, that it could work really well. I also can see how that, if a horn is not played for awhile and all the water evaporates, it might have some air leakage until it again becomes saturated with water. I can also see how, following the instruction of installing one "on the lowest point possible," that on a typical rotor valve tuba it might function very well and might be a good replacement for the traditional water key on the dogleg going into the main tuning slide.

Cost?

The issue for me is that for the slides and crooks that hold water on my tubas, the dribble out of that mechanism would drain through the pipes of the horn and not neatly onto a wash cloth on my lap. Or, it would drain where I can't put a washcloth, and leave streaks down the front of my shirt (for valves that hold water on the backside). I could see it for the pesky second valve on my Yamaha 621, however. That branch fills with water in about 12 seconds.

Dumping has two advantages: It lets me control where the dumped condensation goes, and it lets me control when I do the dumping.

Rick "who needs something to do during extended rests" Denney

My local hardware store has flexible plastic tubing in many sizes, maybe a effluent could be routed right down to a spittoon on the floor?

For your second valve (or the 1st on my King 1240 that I don't play much any more) ... I don't really have it figured out, but some compact heat option like a handwarmer, to keep it hot enough that water goes somewhere else, without setting your pants on fire, I don't know, 120°F or something like that.

Oh, Joy!!

58mark wrote:Sounds like a good way to have wet pants most of the time

Unfortunate though that in hot climates, like yours and MaryAnn's, it would be at its least effective when most needed, as I suppose condensation is reduced at the hot temperatures where the cooling effect of wet pants would be most delightful. That's a point in favor of my valve crook defroster concept, I think.

This is pretty interesting. I would think for a horn player where they can be bothered by 'gurgling' because of the smaller tubes and more surface area to condensate, it could be a God send. Or for maybe for a British baritone horn that you have to spin to empty, or a King tuba, it might come in handy.

Thanks for sharing.

Cost: 49 euros I think, and $40 to install carefully. I know of one horn player who has 14 of them on his horn. The smaller the tubing, the more mess a little gob of water causes. This was because I realized I needed something to avoid frantic trying to get the tuning slide back in and getting it not quite right, which happens even relaxed in the practice room. I could put a water key back on, or I could try this gizmo. I like this gizmo. Maybe you wouldn't....and the wet washrag is not getting me wet. The vinyl tubing into a cup idea is interesting. I bet the cello next to me would really get a royal kick out of that, almost as much of a kick as she got from my dumping water on the rug right next to her.

I have experimented to get the same effect from placing not too small bits (10 cm by 10 cm or more) of tightly woven thick fiber cloth in my traditional water keys. Doesn’t look smart with yellow cloth, but works for practice purposes. A darker colour might work more discretely.

Anyway, trying it won’t kill your purse.

Klaus

I picked up 2 of them a couple of years ago, fully intending to install one each on the 3rd valve slide (the lower slide whereby you need to 'loop de loop' the tuba to rout the water into the upper channel where it can exit via the mts.) of my f and CC piston front action piston tubas. The problem was nothing to do with the Joy water key, but whether or not I would hang on to the horns. I recall when I purchased the Joy keys (@ $50 each) that you could also purchase a gizmo that would snap onto the key and collect the water, and that you could manually dump at a convenient time. Hardware store hose the right diameter would alternatively work (something like a catheter) and a small rubber stopper for the end would contain things.
Alas, I have not yet installed them, and true to my instincts, at least one of those horns is being liquidated, perhaps both.
I did come up with another solution to water migrating into that region of the valve slides. That is: keeping the tuba upright (vis a vis in a tuba stand.) The water seems to migrate to those nether regions when I invert the horn to sit in on the bell.
Will, I install them on my new Wessex "Wyvern"? I'm not sure. I think a Saturn key at that place could be easily opened by the left hand while the tuba is upright in front of me and drain without dripping on the tubing. There also seems to be room, on the "Wyvern" to drill the hole and install it without removing the adjacent slide for work room. I like simpler solutions. I happen to be one of those people, that if given several good choices, will feel paralyzed and thus not make a choice at all.

Analysis Paralysis strikes again!!

PaulMaybery wrote: I happen to be one of those people, that if given several good choices, will feel paralyzed and thus not make a choice at all.

Well I am now 18 months living in a house that appears to be a construction zone just because of that same problem. It can take me months to decide what color to paint a wall that needs badly to be painted. Right now living with bare concrete floors and patches of tile I hate but can't decide what to replace with. Or whether to put in an under-floor electric radiant heat system since I do not use duct work (mold possibilities, and I'm not going there again.) Etc etc etc.....and simple is good. For me, this was simpler than removing the patch where the water key used to be and putting on another one.