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How to remove stone from rotary valves in home?

Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2018 12:46 pm
by besson900
Hello!

I have question to all repair guys here

How can I remove stone from rotary valves in home?I know that I can take out valves and put it into some acid but what about the rest of tuba? I have some old Bb Amati which I want to clear and I know that the best way is to give instrument to repair shop but I would like to try to do it alone?You have some experience in this?If YES please tell me how to do it without destroying instrument or what kind of acid you are using for this?

Re: How to remove stone from rotary valves in home?

Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2018 12:52 pm
by Mark
You need very specialized equipment to do a chemical clean safely. This should only be done by a qualified repair shop.

Re: How to remove stone from rotary valves in home?

Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2018 1:31 pm
by Dan Schultz
You can flush the horn with white vinegar followed by a good rinse. Vinegar is a mild acid and it might take a bit of time depending on the amount of calcium you have built up. The next step up is CLR. It's a little quicker but don't forget to rinse it out completely. You can monitor the progress visually.

Re: How to remove stone from rotary valves in home?

Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2018 8:53 pm
by Michael Woods
By the time you buy all the stuff to do a proper chem clean you might as well take it some place to have it done. But if you have to, you can use Klean-Strip concrete etch from Home depot. You can soak valves in it for 5-10minutes and as long as you got all the grease off the parts it should work fine. A good ration for Phosphoric acid(which is what Klean stip is) should be 1 part phosphoric to 7 parts water. You have to work out the math on that as the Klean strip is only 33% phosphoric acid in a 1 gallon bottle.