Rotar Maintenance?

[tubafour]

Question for all those with rotar experience:

I've had my horn for 4 months, and I bought it brand new. What should I be doing periodically in order to keep my rotars in top shape?

I just want my baby to last a lifetime.....literally.

Thanks!

[Paul S]

a squirt of valve oil down the lead pipe is the equivalent of an apple a day keeping the doctor away. It will assist in keeping foreign material from sticking inside the tubing as well as maintaing lubrication. Also check out http://www.stusmusic.com/icrotor.html & http://www.osmun.com/reference/Rot_Maint.htm for some good advice on rotor care.

[tubafour]

Haha, rotOr. I should learn to spell. Rotar as in "Rotary" made sense though, didn't it?

[Paul S]

Really, oil down the leadpipe probably only stops stuff from building up in the leadpipe and has a minimal effect on the rotOrs.

It will assist in prevention of corrosion and corrosion is a valve killer.

[Dan Schultz]

Really, oil down the leadpipe probably only stops stuff from building up in the leadpipe and has a minimal effect on the rotOrs.

It will assist in prevention of corrosion and corrosion is a valve killer.

I do not advocate dumping rotor oil down the leadpipe except in cases where the horn is sqeaky-clean and the oil is very light. The discussion on this thread is the reason why....

viewtopic.php?t=5472

[MaryAnn]

Perhaps the difference in size between tuba rotors and horn rotors matters....but I have to, at least weekly, dump several drops of light rotor oil down the slide tubes or my horn rotors act as if they have 50 wt in them. I also oil the bearings and spindles, but if I don't dump oil down the slide tubes the valves just don't function. I suppose it could be migrating slide grease, but I only have to re-grease the slides a couple times a year.

If I dump oil down the leadpipe the horn "plays funny" for a couple days until I get it back out. I'll never do that again....it was one weird instrument when I did do it. Of course horn has a slender lil pipe.

MA, "sticky saliva??"

[Tubaryan12]

Hi,

Slow down Henry....Mandrake may not be funny, but in 5 mins of web searching I found this:

Finally [!], from Alan Cole (AlanCarolC@aol.com) comes musings from long-time hornist Glen Wren:

1. The Horn, often incorrectly referred to as the "French Horn" was not developed in France, but in the Alps of the Germanic countries, commonly used to warn animal intruders who threatened the shepherd's flock. The instrument was constructed entirely of wood and straw, and the conical designed mouthpiece was also wooden. Since those sparse beginnings, the Horn went through a miriad of changes in order to make it more appropriate to play diatonically, but , for some unknown reason, kept its conical bore design which gave it the unique tone quality we identify as the Horn sound. Since the French dominated most of the Alpine region during this developmental stage of the horn, the term "French Horn" became a popular term which has stuck with us 'til this day. Bottom line, the "Horn" should never be called a "French Horn," unless you are speaking with the uninformed public, or don't want to get involved in a heated discussion because you are busy dumping out the spit, and only have 8 measures of rest to do so.

This is from the International Horn Players' Society FAQ's

http://www.boerger.org/horn/

So the jury is still out.
btw....I like Citroens

[Tubaryan12]

I'd apologise to mandrake but its a sign of weakness....

Now that is funny

[Rick Denney]

I do not advocate dumping rotor oil down the leadpipe except in cases where the horn is sqeaky-clean and the oil is very light.

We should recognize the difference between rotor oil and valve oil. Valve oil is very light, and is intended to provide a lubricating seal between the valve body and the casing. With rotary valves, there should be no actual contact there. The light valve oil helps prevent corrosion and buildup.

For the rotor bearings, however, the correct oil is heavier than valve oil, though still light as oils go. I use Hetmans rotor oil with its needle applicator to put the oil right at the bearing, but I have also used Nyalic (if I'm remembering that name correctly), which is a similar light, synthetic machine oil used for watches and camera shutters. The bearings should be kept oiled, but this oil doesn't evaporate or wash away as fast as valve oil and I apply it only occasionally (i.e., once every week or two for instruments getting regular use). The same oil works on the linkages.

Not all rotary oils work as well. One that I bought thickened in the bottle over the course of a year or so, and really made the valves feel gummy. I had to disassemble the rotors and clean it out with a solvent.

It's the bearings that wear, and they will wear faster if you use "valve" oil on them. That oil is too light for rotor bearings, just as rotor bearing oil is too heavy for the bodies of the rotors. But the valve oil is just fine for dumping down the leadpipe to minimize corrosion and buildup. If you dump it down the tuning slides to get at the valve directly, try to hold the instrument such that the drops fall through the greased tuning slide without touching the sides, to keep from carrying that thick slide grease with it into the valves.

Rick "who likes all Hetmans products, even in the terrible new bottles" Denney