Rotor Trouble on an old Alexander 163

[bisontuba]

Does anyone know if Blue Juice is considered a thin valve oil?

Yes-thin oil.

[southtubist]

On my Alex I use STP 40 and lamp oil. I put straight lamp oil on my linkages and rotor bearings. On all of my tuning slides (except the first valve) I put straight STP 40 on the slides. On my first valve, I put a thin film of STP 40 on the slide. I then routinely add lamp oil the the first slide in order to make it faster.

This tuba has the best valve set I've ever experienced. I never oil the valves by pouring oil down the slides. I barely use any oil when I do lube up.

[southtubist]

Of course, my Alex does smell like a car... I don't mind it, but most people can't stand breathing in the fumes. I just tell them to stop breathing through the horn

[Dan Schultz]

..... i played off and on all day long. never had a single problem! it's been months tracking this down. i think they're smoother than they were when i bought it.

BRAVO!

[Dan Schultz]

... Now that I have mine working, I'll be much more careful how i lube up and what i use. I've never owned a rotary horn, but did play them in college... Someone else maintained them.

They worked because they received little or no lubrication. Spindle bearings will eventually wear to the point that the rotors drag inside the housings but that takes years when the horn is only picked up a couple of times a week for an hour or so. That's sort of the nice thing about rotors. They really don't require much care. ... until they go bad. Then they are expensive to fix!

[EMC]

Makes me want to try some lamp oil now haha.

[EMC]

Makes me want to try some lamp oil now haha.