Drat! Recovery from wet felts on piston valves?

[Steve Inman]

Tried to take a shortcut whilst cleaning my horn and ended up getting the felt spacers wet whilst cleaning the pistons.

(drat, drat ... double-drat!)

So, do I gently pat them dry with a paper towel, compressing them lightly to remove initial water and then let them air dry? Some other option?

Or do I pitch them and immediately get replacements from my local music repair guy?

Recommendations?

Thanks,

[XtremeEuph]

I actually asked James D. Thornton about this and he basically told me it doesnt matter if they get wet, he doesnt understand why everybody freaks. (what is the reason anyway?)....


I might be misunderstanding, which are the felt "SPACERS"?

O yeah and, speaking of...., My cork on my fourth valve is like really dark because it is wet. The horn never came with one on the 4th So I put one on because I thought it was supposed to. Was this wrong?......................................

Other wise I cant help you. ALl i know is dont compress them if you dont have to, air dry is the best. Wait it out unless youre in a hurry to play.

[WoodSheddin]

it does not matter

[TonyZ]

If they get wet, they can dry hard, and then you get the klunking. Just change them!

[TonyZ]

Or avoid the problem altogether by using a horn with rotor valves.

So you've never felt a rotor tuba?

[iiipopes]

I guess I've just marched too much in the rain to worry about it. If they get hard and clank or compress down, just add another really thin trumpet felt and keep going. If you play regularly, you'll be replacing them again in 6m - 1y anyway, so why worry? I'd be more concerned about the corks molding than the felts clanking.

[Dean E]

.... My cork on my fourth valve is like really dark because it is wet. The horn never came with one on the 4th So I put one on because I thought it was supposed to. Was this wrong?......................................

Depends. The corks and felts affect the valve alignment. Putting felt and cork either (a) under the fingerbutton or (b) on top of the piston alters the way the valve ports match up with the piston. Don't put felts and corks on without checking the alignment before and after--unless you feel lucky.

[Dan Schultz]

When I do a piston alignment, I use as thick a cork spacer as practical and try to use only a 1/16" felt... 1/8" thick at the most. Felts are going to compress a bit with use.... more than cork will. As far as moisture goes... it just doesn't matter if the felts get wet.

[windshieldbug]

How much you figure we're even talkin' here- like would you even notice unless they're already way out of alignment!?

[Steve Inman]

Thanks for the words of wisdom. I think I will:

1. Buy a rotary valved tuba ASAP
2. Visit my local music repairman to buy replacement felt OR cork (current setup has a thin felt and a thicker felt under (below) the valve cap. Similar setup under the valve buttons.
3. ... but I won't make a special trip to do the above ...

Thanks -- panic is over. Horn is back together -- seems okay. But I can't tell if any piston alignment changes have occurred or not.

Cheers,

[windshieldbug]

But I can't tell if any piston alignment changes have occurred or not

And that's the point...

[Chuck(G)]

Basically what Dan said. Felt as a spacer all by its lonesome isn't the happiest of situations. Thin felt over a cork spacer tends to be a lot more stable.

[pulseczar]

the compression of a wet felt should not utterly destroy the alignment of the valves and screw up the sound of your horn.

[SplatterTone]

I slop oil into my horns -- lot's of it. I can't stand to see green stuff on the insides. So, yeah, I do prefer the rotary valves. I've replaced felt on one of my piston valve euphs with "3M pad" (that green nylon-looky scouring pad stuff). It was the right thickness for the horn and has held up very well.

[Thomas Maurice Booth]

Don't they get somewhat wet anyway while your playing?

[windshieldbug]

Don't they get somewhat wet anyway while your playing?

Unless you have one of these...

[dwerden]

Don't they get somewhat wet anyway while your playing?

Many of us tend to put the horn down on the floor resting on its bell. This will cause moisture to run down to the top (is that like "Back to the Future"?) of the piston and soak the felt. I have been trying to get into the habit of putting my horn down horizontally. I suppose it would be best to have one of the instrument stands that holds the horn upright.

I have had to restore felts before and this worked: I washed them in mildly soapy water and didn't compress them more then necessary to get them clean. But that did require compressing them to some extent. Then I rinsed them over and over, squeezing as needed between each rinse. Once they were clear of soap, I soaked them one more time until they regained their normal thickness, placed them on a few sheets of paper towel, and let them dry. They came out almost like new and had good fluffiness. The best way to ruin a set of felts is to squeeze them dry. That will encourage them to stay flatter and less fluffy then they should.

But that was in a situation where I could not get new felts. Best answer is alwaysto have a spare set on hand (they are cheap enough). It's probably also smart to have spare springs and valve guides, plus maybe one water key pad (and glue).

[Dan Schultz]

How much you figure we're even talkin' here- like would you even notice unless they're already way out of alignment!?

You'll notice a difference after a short while if you stack up 3/8" of felts... as is sometimes found in 20J valvesets.

[Dan Schultz]

Well, Dan, what about neoprene pads? How often should those be replaced?

Neoprene pads are OK, but some of the synthetics I've seen tend to harden a bit after they've been in use for a while. It might be due to the moisture and oils. I usually change my felts and corks whenever I chem-clean my horns... which isn't all that often. I stick with good old cork and felt.

[Chuck(G)]

Neoprene pads are OK, but some of the synthetics I've seen tend to harden a bit after they've been in use for a while. It might be due to the moisture and oils. I usually change my felts and corks whenever I chem-clean my horns... which isn't all that often. I stick with good old cork and felt.

On the 20K/20J-type short-stroke valves, I make corks from synthetic (plastic) wine bottle corks using a sharp plug cutter in a drill press. They hold their dimensions and last pretty much forever. They've got enough "give" that you don't need felts.