Very Dirty Horn

[Stefan Kac]

I'm wondering if anyone has any tips for keeping your tuba clean between chemical cleanings. I last had my YFB-621 cleaned in January. I play it an average of 3-4 hours a day and there is already crud building up all over the place. One of my teachers once recommended using a shoestring with a swab tied into it, but it alomost got stuck and didn't do much good anyway. I'd like to run a snake through the lead pipe, but, again, if the shoestring got stuck I can't see how that would work. I could get a cleaning done every 4 months, but a lot of people have hinted that will unduly thin the metal if done too frequently, not mention the cost.

Any ideas? Get a better toothbrush?b

[Normal]

The big internet instrument sellers like Brass Wind sell products made by Reka for cleaning tubing. It is a sponge hooked to a long plastic "string". The one I have seen is for cleaning trombone slides. They make cleaning kits for all kinds of instruments. They cost more than fast moving water, but they work.

The other thing I have seen used is a device made for cleaning water pipes. It is a long plastic tube with a nozzle on the end. The nozzle shoots jets of water out of the sides with enough pressure to clean the gunk off. The device can hook directly to a sink faucet so you can use different temperatures of water. It works pretty good when it follows a good soaking.

[Chuck(G)]

A plain old trombone snake should do the trick--I doubt that you could get it stuck if it's the "bottle brush" kind.

[winston]

.

[Stefan Kac]

Heck. For "touch-ups", I put three or so soft beach towels outside on the driveway and jet high-velocity water through the instrument (with all of the slides removed and valve felts removed)...

Just to clarify, is it ok to leave the 5th valve rotor in place when running water through this part of the horn? On this model it's the very first thing after the lead pipe, so there would be no way to avoid this. I'm not qualified to remove the valve myself (I know it's not that complicated, but I am, in fact, an utterly inept "handyman").

Thanks for the suggestions.f

[Dylan King]

I recommend the backyard garden hose procedure.

I smoke a lot, eat all kinds of nasty food, and then play the tuba. All kinds of chunky peanut butter, warm biscuits, and sandpaper nuggets build up in my horns. From time to time I have to give them a good cleaning.

I go out into my backyard and grab the garden hose. Laying my horn on the grass, I pull out all of the slides and remove the valves. I then fill every slide, on and off the horn, with regular dishwashing soap. Usually Palmolive. Then I dance around the horn in a Native American Festival like manner, and proceed to wash that sucker out. I run the high-powered, cold water, through everything. The Yorkbrunner gets mighty heavy when doing this, and I must be careful when spinning it to remove the water at the end. I am mental, and can let the water run for a minute or so through each slide, but I think only 10 or so seconds will do the job. I usually do all of this rhythmically to whatever music I may be blasting.

That Palmolive stuff works great inside the horn. I always have players who try my horns comment on how well they play, and how well the valves work. Proper maintanence will keep these things working like new forever. As long as you don't drop them on a marble floor or anything like that.

When I have the horn washed out completely with the hose, I spin it until all of the water is out. One thing about these York tubas is that all of the slides fill up quick. They are a dumping machine! It does take a couple of spins to completely drain the horn. It is good for keeping the upper body in shape.

Once spun, I apply Vaseline to all of the slides before putting them back into the horn. Then I'll blow through the horn and collect any more water that may be sitting around, and proceed to water the grass some more. Then I apply Marvel Mystery Oil to the valves and the first valve slide. I play for a while until my fingers can't take it. The Mystery Oil is thick and makes the pistons quite sticky. This is good, because that stuff is working the mystery, and cleaning those pistons with a mission. It's good to play that way, because it gets you used to sticky valves, just in case that ever happens by accident. And it makes the fingers stronger!

When I con't take it anymore, I apply the Al Cass oil as any tubist might do with their everyday oil. Man. The valves fly fast and easy, and the horn smells clean, not cheesy. It's a great feeling having a clean horn once again.

Just a ramble.

-MSM

[Charlie Goodman]

Is it really dirty or just kind of naughty?

*tips hat*

[Rick Denney]

...in actuality I do this indoors with high-velocity hot water in a bath tub with towels in it...but I doubt that you have access to such a rig...and high-velocity hot water is (needless to say) a bit dangerous.

Are you careful about instruments with old lacquer finishes? We have always heard that hot water will remove a nitro-cellulose lacquer finish, and thus I've never put it to the test. (Nevermind--you answered it in a later post.)

Rick "warning that high velocity does not in any way equate to pressure washer" Denney

[Joe Baker]

Bloke seemed to poo-poo the idea of hot water harming lacquer finishes in one of his later posts; but that's exactly how I took 90% of the lacquer off my Benge 190 (It was a comically orange lacquer with worn spots that just made the lacquer look that much worse, so I purposely removed it). I would be PLENTY cautious about using really hot water with a lacquer instrument.
________________________
Joe Baker, who has found that a combination of semi-annual vinegar baths and warm soapy baths (with a brush snake) as needed keep his tuba clean!

[quinterbourne]

Yeah well, I bathed my 26 year old Conn 3J CC in warm (not HOT) water and laquer stripped off from various places. It still flakes off when I play (my pants get all shiny from the plastic flakes). Problem may have been that I let the horn soak in the water for a good hour... because the water wasn't really that hot.

Most of the stripped laquer was from areas where the laquer was already suffering. I figure the water may have gotten underneath the laquer around the areas where it had already been worn off. The laquer didn't (seem) to come off from the areas where the laquer is 99%.

I'm actually kind of glad this happened, will turn out to be a good thing in the long run.

Corey

[windshieldbug]

Only thing I can add is that once everything is clean and dry, BEFORE I play, I squirt lots of valve oil all different ways down the mouthpipe, espescially on older horns. Play a little (glub, glub) and empty. The oil coating that this puts on the bore seems to help in both the short and long run.

[sinfonian]

Heck. For "touch-ups", I put three or so soft beach towels outside on the driveway and jet high-velocity water through the instrument (with all of the slides removed and valve felts removed)...
"

For clarrification purposes before I do this I assume you are talking about high velocity from a normal garden house with a normal nozel and not a power washer? If from a power washer, how high velocity do you recommend?

Watering the rotor won't hurt anything...

After you water your rotors is there anything that needs to be done to them other then lots of oil?