Poll: Piston Valve Oil

[Art Hovey]

For the past 6 months or so I have been using a 50-50 mixture of pure glycerin (from a drug store) and formula 409 detergent. There is still a little sludge buildup which requires occasional cleaning, but it's less than I have found with any other lubricant. What I especially like is the fact that if the tuba dries out after a few days of neglect in hot weather I can pour a few drops down the mouthpipe and get everything moving again immediately. There is no longer any accumulation of "lime" on my pistons, and my valve cap threads no longer get stuck. The mixture is also virtually odorless.

[ken k]

couldn't vote for wome reason....Al Cass or whatever is cheapest at the store.....

[Oyba]

Wick - it lasts for ever.

[Michael Bush]

Blue Juice (made in Greer, SC)

I had no idea. No wonder people around here (50 or so miles SW of Greer) are so loyal to it.
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For quite a while I used nine parts lamp oil to one part food grade mineral oil. But then the lamp oil gave out, and now I've gone back to Hetman's #2 or Yahama Vintage, which is what I was using before.

The home brew is definitely cheaper on a percentage basis, but in actual dollars we're not talking about taking food out of the children's mouths.

[discsolar]

Long time lurker, first time poster. Finally something to add.

I play a 40 year old Besson euph. Lots of trouble with sticky values. Tried lots of oils. I suspect the valves are a bit loose due to age. Always had trouble with green slime, and it didn't seem to help that I needed to use a lot of oil to keep valves moving.

On a whim, I tried Yamaha synthetic "vintage" thinking it might help with older valves. All my problems (related to sticking valves) disappeared! It costs double what music store oil dies, but I use a fourth or less. Also cuts down the green slime dramatically, probably due to pure oil volume.

I also switched to Yamaha synthetic (but not vintage) on my 10 year old Yamaha 105, and it also cleaned up the green.