Power washer vs. brass sousaphones

[Chadtuba]

I've been asked by the band directors here on campus to do some cleaning and basic maintenance of the sousas (and other marching brass) to save on some repair bills as part of my summer TA duties. Most of what needs to be done is just cleaning and baths. Would a power washer (with an adjustable pressure stream) be a viable option or is that just looking for problems? I have access to a couple of good power washers here and know that they have the adjustable pressure so I don't peel lacquer off the horns, but I've never tried it, or heard of anybody else trying it so I thought I'd better ask first so that I can tell them if it can or cannot be done safely.

[Dan Schultz]

Chad... you can do about all you need to do with a garden hose, a bottle of Dawn, and a tuba snake.

I know a lot of shops that service school 'fleets' routinely charge lots of money for chemical cleaning. School horns just don't get the kind of use that warrants chem-cleans every year.

I wouldn't attempt using a power washer even on a raw brass horn.

[Rick F]

You could try the QHR (Quick Horn Rinse - with sudser) that attaches to the garden hose and has a lever to add soap as you flush. There's a lever to turn the soap on/off. It works well on euph and only takes about 10 mins. Note: the felts will get wet though.

SLB-001 QHR Sudser for Large Brass (includes HLB-001)

or...
Quick Horn Rinse on Facebook

[Chadtuba]

Thanks for the advice. That's kind of what I was thinking but I was asked and didn't know for sure so I asked and I learned something. Much appreciated.

[Roger Lewis]

Be cautious with water in general. The first law of hydraulics is " You cannot compress a liquid". Loose slides will go shooting across the room even with a garden hose set at a fairly low volume. Speaking from personal experience.

All the best.

Roger