what valve oil should i use.....

[tubabuddha]

have a rotory valve MW32 and ive heard hetman products work pretty good....or ive also heard sewing machine oil works.......but what do you guys suggest

[iiipopes]

Here's what I was told by Roger Lewis when I got my 186:

For the top & bottom rotor bearings: sewing machine oil (@$2.00 for a 4-oz bottle of real Singer brand at Wally World).

For the linkage: 3-in-1 oil from any hardware store.

For the leadpipe: a couple of drops of Al Cass, but I must say I prefer Roche-Thomas regular valve oil for that. Valve oil opinions on this forum are like, well you know, everyone has one. A lot depends on your playing style, saliva chemistry and amount, and the wear on your rotors. A lot of people swear by blue juice, for me it leaves too much residue. I'm not sure on a rotary tuba that Snake Oil or other teflon oils give any advantage, and after reading some other health research on the negative effects of teflon in the body, I'm not sure I'm going to try it.

For slide grease, Roger recommended Schilke. Lee Stofer and others have their favorite, but I can't remember the name. It's on other threads. Having tried several at this point, the only thing I would say is that it depends on your playing environment. For me, anhydrous lanolin is too tacky. But I can see it being necessary in extreme heat. If I were marching with a souzy regularly, I'd use what Lee recommends. I can use Vaseline on my Besson slides, but it does deteriorate into the valve casings on a rotary, and also either stiffens up when cold or melts out when too hot, and you must keep it clean and refreshed. Zaja is good, although I don't like their valve/rotor oils. Selmer is good. Spacefiller works well on my Besson, but is a little weak for my Miraphone main tuning slide. Ultrapure light works well on the 1st valve slide; I haven't had a chance to try their regular. There are a lot of other brands out there as well I haven't tried (yet?).

Also: have a good tech check and align your linkage thoroughly. Right after I got my 186, the first valve started sticking terribly. It was the linkage binding; the rotor was fine.

More than the brand, just like on a car, what is more important is preventative and regular maintenance. Pick (a) brand(s) that work(s) for you, use (it)(them) regularly, and keep your horn regularly maintained overall. It may not be fun, but consider brushing and rinsing, or at least rinsing your mouth with water before playing to minimize "aerosol" and "calcium" deposits that need cleaning later.

Final caveat: if you change or mix brands of grease and oil, first clean your valve block and slides thoroughly and run something through the valve block and slides to rinse them out and dry them, as some of the "synthetic" formulations will interact or react adversely with the traditional formulations and could cause sludge or gunk to form. If this happens, you'll have to have it cleaned out then change one or the other, or even both, also depending on your body chemistry and playing style.

[Allen]

For my MW 32 I use Hetman products for most points: slide grease, ball joint oil, light bearing oil for the valve upper and lower rotor bearings and paddle bearings.

For down the leadpipe, I use Blue Juice every other day.

I move the first valve slide during playing, so I had the first valve vented and the slide lapped. I use a mixture of ball joint oil and #5 slide oil on the first valve slide, adjusting the proportion until the slide moves the way I like. (Try drops of one, then drops of the other until it feels right.)

Cheers,
Allen

[lgb&dtuba]

A drop of Binak Pro on the rotor journals every few months and nothing else inside the horn.

Seeing how much stuff people are pouring down leadpipes, no wonder those horns need a professional cleaning twice a year.

Seriously, on a rotary horn if the rotors are properly polished and fitted, aligned and clean, and initially oiled properly they just don't need to be constantly re-oiled. Especially if you use something like Binak that doesn't evaporate like a kerosene based oil.

[WakinAZ]

Check out these articles, they really helped demystify the whole rotary oil thing for me.

http://www.osmun.com/reference/Rot_Maint.htm

http://www.lyricbrass.com/spang/oilrotor.pdf

Are there a lot of ways to do this? Yes. Will anyone fault you for doing it the way these articles suggest? Well, I won't and the authors (Spang and Osmun) won't. Knowing the right places to oil is half the battle.

Eric "not currently owning any rotary horns and not missing this chore" L.

[UTTuba_09]

I am a big fan of Zaja valve oil. Scented or unscented. It works surprisingly well.

[Rick Denney]

Seriously, on a rotary horn if the rotors are properly polished and fitted, aligned and clean, and initially oiled properly they just don't need to be constantly re-oiled. Especially if you use something like Binak that doesn't evaporate like a kerosene based oil.

I used BiNaK for a while on my York Master when it first came out. I tried it on the Yamaha, and even after a solvent cleaning the BiNaK was just gooey. On the YM it worked fine for a year or so, but then it started getting gummy and required more aggressive cleaning, especially if the horn is not played regularly.

When Lee Stofer did some work on my Holton, he used Hetmans after the cleaning. Never a problem since, unless let the horn get dirty (which I do). I became a Hetmans convert.

Now, I use it for everything. I use Hetman rotor oil for the rotor bearings and the linkage. It's a light machine oil, similar to Nyoil, 3-in-1, or sewing-machine oil in consistency. It works very well. The rotor oil comes in a bottle with a long needle tip, which allows you to place one drop where needed, which is between the stop arm and the top of the bushing.

The point of squirting valve oil down the leadpipe is not just to lubricate the valves, but to provide an unsticky surface on the leadpipe and to minimize corrosion. I've had problems with new rotary valves building oxide on them from acidic saliva, which can only be cleaned off after a complete disassembly. A frequent rinse in oil, especially before each use, will minimize or prevent that problem. The coating helps prevent red rot in the leadpipe, too.

I use Hetmans slide grease, which, like the Schilke stuff, is lanolin-based.

Rick "who buys enough Hetman at the Army conference every year to last the year, including the bottles left at rehearsals, etc." Denney

[lgb&dtuba]

Seriously, on a rotary horn if the rotors are properly polished and fitted, aligned and clean, and initially oiled properly they just don't need to be constantly re-oiled. Especially if you use something like Binak that doesn't evaporate like a kerosene based oil.

I used BiNaK for a while on my York Master when it first came out. I tried it on the Yamaha, and even after a solvent cleaning the BiNaK was just gooey. On the YM it worked fine for a year or so, but then it started getting gummy and required more aggressive cleaning, especially if the horn is not played regularly.

Rick "who buys enough Hetman at the Army conference every year to last the year, including the bottles left at rehearsals, etc." Denney

Just proves the YMMV axiom. Haven't had that problem. Been using it for around 5 years now. Haven't had to clean the horn or the rotors.

[Uncle Buck]

I've got nothing to add to the question you asked . . . but . . .

Since you got so much advice from this forum before you bought your 32, you now "owe" us a description of how you like it!